American Express Expand Digital Dining Access, Acquires of Resy Platform

New York (United States) – May 21, 2019 (travelindex.com) – American Express today announced it has signed an agreement to acquire Resy, the digital restaurant reservation booking and management platform. The acquisition will build on the growing suite of digital-first benefits and services from American Express that extend beyond traditional rewards and points, to provide Card Members with access and experiences across travel and lodging, airport lounges, exclusive events, and dining.

Founded in 2014, Resy offers a table management, CRM and booking technology suite for restaurants, with a consumer-facing restaurant reservation app and website to elevate and enhance dining experiences worldwide. Resy currently works with approximately 4,000 restaurants in 154 U.S. cities and 10 countries, seating more than 2.6 million diners a week. The acquisition is expected to be completed in summer 2019 and builds on a number of recent acquisitions made by American Express in the dining, travel and lifestyle space that are part of the company’s strategy to become an essential part of Card Members’ and merchants’ digital lives.

“Resy was created to both connect people who love dining out with new, notable and hard to get into restaurants across the globe, as well as help restaurants’ businesses grow and thrive. Similarly, American Express has strong relationships with premium dining partners and restaurants across the globe, and provides our Card Members with access to incredible dining experiences through our exclusive benefits and programs,” said Chris Cracchiolo, Senior Vice President, Global Loyalty and Benefits, American Express. “We look forward to working with the Resy team to continue to grow the Resy digital platform, and develop new ways to further connect our Card Members and restaurant partners through unique access and experiences.”

Resy has built important relationships across the restaurant industry, with the mission of powering the world’s best restaurants using technology to imagine the future of hospitality. Focused primarily in the U.S. but with locations in the UK, Europe, Canada and Australia, Resy offers restaurants sophisticated reservation management solutions at affordable pricing that are designed to help restaurants optimize tables and increase revenue, while at the same time providing consumers with a seamless booking experience with the top restaurants across the globe.

“American Express is a brand that we have admired and sought to partner with from our inception. There are myriad points of synergy between Resy and American Express that we look forward to pursuing together in the name of creating an end-to-end global dining platform that thrills both diners and restaurants alike. As it does today, Resy will continue to focus on delivering world-class hospitality software to our amazing restaurant partners, connecting diners to insider experiences, and reimagining the future of dining,” said Resy’s co-founder and CEO, Ben Leventhal.

In line with this news, American Express is working with recently acquired companies—personal travel assistant app Mezi, UK dining reservation platform Cake Technologies, airport lounge discovery and booking platform LoungeBuddy, and Japanese premium restaurant reservation platform Pocket Concierge, to develop a suite of new digital capabilities that will provide unique digital services, experiences, and access for American Express customers.

After the acquisition, the Resy brand and digital platform will continue to be led and operated by its co-founder and CEO, Ben Leventhal. Resy’s co-founder and CTO, Michael Montero, will also remain in place. Additionally, existing Resy reservation booking and management services and capabilities will continue to be offered.

ABOUT AMERICAN EXPRESS
American Express is a globally integrated payments company, providing customers with access to products, insights and experiences that enrich lives and build business success. Learn more at americanexpress.com and connect with us on facebook.com/americanexpress, instagram.com/americanexpress, linkedin.com/company/american-express, twitter.com/americanexpress, and youtube.com/americanexpress.

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ABOUT RESY
Resy is a hospitality technology company, built for and powered by restaurant lovers. We connect the world’s most sought-after restaurants with the best guests around the globe.

Resy offers superior reservation management software and a consumer-facing restaurant reservation app to elevate and enhance dining experiences worldwide. Resy works with approximately 4,000 restaurants in 154 U.S. cities and 10 countries, seating over 2.6 million diners a week. Resy boasts an industry-low, global no-show rate of approximately 2%.

Consumers can book and manage reservations on Resy.com and on the app from a carefully curated selection of the world’s most distinguished restaurants, including n/naka in Los Angeles and Lilia in New York City. Users now have even better access to restaurants thanks to an enhanced Notify waitlist system, which sends alerts when hard-to- get reservations become available. The app is free and available for download on both iOS and Android.

Resy was co-founded by Ben Leventhal, cofounder of Eater and restaurant industry entrepreneur; Gary Vaynerchuk, an entrepreneur, investor, author; and Michael Montero, founder of CrowdTwist and Fotolog and noted CTO. Resy’s investors and partners include Airbnb, RSE Ventures, First Data, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Slow Ventures, TOMS Capital and Union Square Hospitality Group.