NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) - American Express wants to be in your life before you ever reach for your wallet.

The credit-card company, which would like customers to think of it for everything from hotel bookings to airport-lounge access, said on Wednesday (May 15) it is acquiring Resy, the popular restaurant-reservation system.

The acquisition will help AmEx improve its offerings for dining, the top request through its concierge service and a fast-growing category for its card network, said Mr Chris Cracchiolo, senior vice-president of global loyalty and benefits.

AmEx has made at least five acquisitions since 2017, when it purchased Cake Technologies, an app that allows consumers to split restaurant tabs.

Last year, it acquired Mezi, an app for planning and booking trips.

Earlier this year, it bought both Lounge Buddy, a website for arranging access to airport lounges, as well as Pocket Concierge, a restaurant-reservation website in Japan.

Resy provides reservations software for 4,000 restaurants in 10 countries.

For now, it will continue to operate under the Resy brand, and the platform will continue to remain open to all customers, whether or not they have AmEx cards.