# Built for Reliability: How American Express Processes Payments at Scale

DevFeed: [Built for Reliability: How American Express Processes Payments at Scale](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/built-for-reliability-how-american-express-processes-payments-at-scale-17984.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://blog.bytebytego.com/p/built-for-reliability-how-american>)

Author: ByteByteGo

Published: 2026-09-08T18:31:03Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [ByteByteGo](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/bytebytego.md>)

Topics: [Architecture & Design](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/architecture-design.md>), [Microservice](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/microservice.md>), [Microservices](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/microservices.md>), [Network](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/network.md>), [Server](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/server.md>)

Tags: [account-balance](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/account-balance.md>), [architecture](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/architecture.md>), [bank](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/bank.md>), [card](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/card.md>), [cell-based-architecture](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cell-based-architecture.md>), [microservices](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/microservices.md>), [network](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/network.md>), [payments](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/payments.md>), [scale](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/scale.md>), [server](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/server.md>), [services](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/services.md>)

## AI overview

The article explains how American Express processes payments through a cell-based architecture. Transactions move through independent processing units and microservices, with isolation designed to limit disruption when services fail.

## Source excerpt

In this article, we will try to understand how the transaction runs through such a cell-based architecture and how the payments are processed even when some services are failing.