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American Express wants to make it easier for its cardholders to nab those tricky reservations.
The credit card giant bought Tock — a reservation, table, and event management platform — from Squarespace for $400 million in cash, Amex announced Friday. The company will also acquire Rooam, a mobile payments company used by restaurants and event venues, it also said Friday. The details of that transaction were not disclosed.
Tock, which launched in 2014 and was acquired by Squarespace in 2021, services approximately 7,000 restaurants, wineries, and other bookable venues in the Americas and Europe. Its focus is on premium restaurants and events.
Howard Grosfield, president of U.S. consumer services at Amex, said the additions of Tock and Rooam to its portfolio will allow more restaurants to offer pre-paid experiences like tasting menus, and give customers more convenience in paying the bill.
The addition of Rooam, founded in 2015, to the Resy dashboard will also help restaurants personalize marketing, build loyalty, and turn tables faster, the company said.
Restaurants are one of the largest spending categories among Amex clientele, with $100 billion in volume in 2023, Grosfield said in a statement.
These acquisitions build on American Express’ growing offerings within the restaurant and event space, starting with its purchase of reservations platform Resy in 2019. Since then, Resy has tripled the number of reservations and notifications set on its platform, and increased the number of restaurants more than five-fold, Pablo Rivero, vice president of American Express Global Dining and CEO of Resy, said in a statement.
Dining and travel perks are among the key ways Amex has differentiated its offerings from competitors, and lured in new customers. The company has long positioned itself as a luxury credit card, with high annual fees and a focus on high-end benefits. In recent years, however, these bonuses have been instrumental in expanding its reach among younger consumers, particularly Gen Z and millennials.
The two youngest generations accounted for 75% of new consumer platinum and consumer gold accounts in 2023, Grosfield told Fortune earlier this month — despite the $695 annual fee on the platinum card.
“Until about 10 to 15 years ago, we thought that no-fee cards were the entry point to bring in younger customers to the franchise,” Grosfield said. “We’ve learned that that’s not the right strategy for millennials and Gen Zs. They like the brand affiliation. They like to travel and eat out, and they like the special access and experiences that come with our premium cards.”