How American Express plans to expand its dining business through TheFork

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American Express’s agreement to acquire restaurant reservation platform TheFork for $700 million is about far more than booking tables. The transaction reflects a broader shift across hospitality and consumer services, where access to customer relationships has become as valuable as the transactions themselves.

For years, restaurant reservation platforms were viewed primarily as operational tools that helped venues manage bookings and reduce no-shows. Today, they sit at the center of a growing ecosystem that connects payments, loyalty, dining experiences and customer acquisition. By adding TheFork to a portfolio that already includes Resy and Tock, American Express is making a significant statement about where it believes value will be created in hospitality over the coming decade.

The deal also highlights how restaurant technology continues to attract strategic investment despite wider economic uncertainty. As operators face rising labor costs, changing consumer expectations and growing competition, technology platforms that can deliver diners directly to restaurants have become increasingly important.

American Express is building a dining ecosystem rather than a payments business

American Express has spent much of the past decade transforming itself from a traditional card issuer into a lifestyle and membership platform. Travel benefits, premium experiences and dining access have become central pillars of its value proposition.

The acquisition of Resy in 2019 gave the company a foothold in restaurant reservations, particularly in North America. Its purchase of Tock in 2024 expanded its capabilities into reservations, events and hospitality management. The addition of TheFork significantly extends that reach across Europe, where the platform serves more than 50,000 restaurants across 11 countries.

Viewed together, these acquisitions reveal a consistent strategy. American Express is not simply seeking additional revenue streams. It is creating an interconnected network that allows card members to discover restaurants, make reservations, attend events and pay through services that increasingly sit within a single ecosystem.

This approach offers several advantages. Dining remains one of the most popular spending categories for premium cardholders. By controlling more of the customer journey, American Express can strengthen engagement, improve loyalty and generate deeper insights into consumer behavior.

The result is a dining network expected to encompass approximately 75,000 bookable venues worldwide once TheFork joins Resy and Tock. That scale creates opportunities that extend well beyond reservations.

Restaurants may gain access to larger audiences but competition will increase

On the positive side, access to a larger global dining ecosystem could increase visibility among high-value consumers. American Express has long cultivated an affluent customer base that spends heavily on dining and travel experiences. Connecting restaurants more closely to that audience could strengthen customer acquisition efforts, particularly in major European markets.

Operators are also increasingly looking for technology partners that can help manage multiple aspects of guest engagement. Reservation management, loyalty programs, marketing and customer data are becoming interconnected functions rather than standalone tools. Larger platforms can often invest more heavily in product development, analytics and innovation.

At the same time, industry consolidation raises questions about competition. As reservation technology providers grow through acquisition, restaurants may find themselves relying on a smaller number of increasingly influential platforms.

That dynamic is not unique to hospitality. Similar trends have emerged across e-commerce, travel distribution and digital advertising. As platforms grow larger, operators often gain access to greater reach and functionality while becoming more dependent on the ecosystems that control customer access.

The long-term balance between those benefits and risks will shape how operators respond to the next phase of restaurant technology consolidation.

The value of restaurant data is becoming increasingly important

Restaurants collect data on booking habits, dining preferences, spending patterns, visit frequency and customer loyalty. When aggregated across tens of thousands of venues, that information becomes strategically valuable.

For technology providers, reservation platforms have evolved into customer relationship engines. Understanding where people dine, how often they return and what influences their choices creates opportunities to improve personalization and marketing effectiveness.

This helps explain why companies from financial services, travel and technology sectors continue to show interest in hospitality platforms. The reservation itself may represent only a small transaction, but the surrounding customer relationship can generate substantial long-term value.

American Express already possesses extensive expertise in customer engagement and rewards programs. TheFork potentially adds another layer of insight that can strengthen recommendations, experiences and member benefits. The acquisition reflects a wider industry trend in which data, loyalty and customer relationships increasingly sit at the center of competitive advantage.

Sources:
American Express