The development of alkaline anion exchange membranes (AEM) has allowed for a myriad of new liquid fuels to be used in fuel cell applications that are not effectively oxidized in PEM fuel cells. Moreover, many of these fuels are readily electrooxidized by nonplatinum catalysts. One such fuel cell that has recently gained a lot of interest is the direct formate fuel cell (DFFC). Herein, palladium supported on reduced graphene oxide (Pd/rGO) was synthesized and its catalytic activity towards formate oxidation reaction (FOR) in alkaline medium was tested. The reduction of GO to rGO and synthesis of Pd nanoparticles were confirmed using XRD, Raman and XPS. The surface morphology was evaluated by SEM and TEM. Half-cell studies demonstrated superior electrocatalytic activity and stability towards FOR for Pd/rGO than commercial Pd/C catalysts. A single cell AEM DFFC was constructed with a Pd/rGO anode catalyst displaying an increase in maximum power density of 20% at 60 °C when compared to commercial Pd/C catalyst.