AmEx, Already Small-Business Card King, Wants More With Kabbage

American Express Co. is acquiring the teams and technology behind the online lender Kabbage Inc. as the credit-card giant seeks to provide more loans and other services to small-business owners.

Details of the acquisition talks emerged last week, and AmEx said Monday in a statement that the deal won’t include Kabbage’s pre-existing loan portfolio. Those loans, including ones tied to the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program, will be managed and retained by a dedicated entity when the deal is completed, AmEx said. It didn’t disclose other terms of the transaction.

AmEx has been encouraging its credit-card customers to borrow more ...