American Express

American Express Company

American Express logo
Company type	Public (NYSE: AXP)
Industry	Finance and Insurance
Founded	1850
Headquarters	New York, New York
Key people	Kenneth Chenault, Chairman & CEO
Products	Financial services
Revenue	$27.136 billion USD (2006) [1]
Operating income	5,694,000,000 United States dollar (2007)
Net income	$3.707 billion USD (2006) [2]
Total assets	166,503,002,000 United States dollar (2021)
Number of employees	65,800 (2005)
Website	www.americanexpress.com

American Express (NYSE: AXP), sometimes known as "AmEx" or "Amex", is a diversified global financial services company, headquartered in New York City. The company is best known for its credit card, charge card and traveler's cheque businesses.

The company's common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "AXP." It is one of the 30 stocks that comprise the Dow Jones Industrial Average and is ranked as the 74^th largest company by Fortune. In 2007, BusinessWeek and Interbrand ranked American Express as the 15^th most valuable brand in the world, estimating the brand to be worth US$20.87 billion.

The current CEO is Kenneth Chenault, who took over in 2001.

History

Early history

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Beginning of the original announcement forming American Express in 1850.

American Express was founded in 1850, in Buffalo, New York, as a joint stock corporation that was a merger of the express mail companies owned by Henry Wells (Wells & Company), William Fargo (Livingston, Fargo & Company), and John Butterfield (Butterfield, Wasson & Company), as an express business. American Express first established its headquarters in a building at the intersection of Jay Street and Hudson Street in the TriBeCa section of Manhattan, and enjoyed a virtual monopoly on the movement of express shipments (Goods, Securities, Currency, etc.) throughout New York State. In 1874, American Express moved its headquarters to 65 Broadway in what was becoming the Financial District of Manhattan, a location it was to retain through two buildings.

American Express Buildings

In 1854 the American Express Co. purchased a lot on Vesey Street in New York City as the site for its stables. The company's first New York headquarters were in an impressive marble Italianate palazzo at 55-61 Hudson Street between Thomas Street and Jay Street (1857-58, John Warren Ritch), which had a busy freight depot on the ground story with a spur line from the Hudson River Railroad. A stable was constructed nearby at 4-8 Hubert Street , between Hudson Street and Collister Street(1866-67, Ritch & Griffiths), five blocks north of the Hudson Street building.

The company prospered sufficiently that headquarters were moved in 1874 from the wholesale shipping district to the budding Financial District, and into rented offices in two five-story brownstone commercial buildings at 63 and 65 Broadway, between Exchange Alley and Rector Street, and between Broadway and Trinity Place that were owned by the Harmony family.

In 1880, American Express built a new warehouse behind the Broadway Building at 46 Trinity Place, between Exchange Alley and Rector Street. The designer is unknown, but it has a façade of brick arches that are redolent of pre-skyscraper New York. American Express has long been out of this building, but it still bears a terra cotta seal with the American Express Eagle. In 1890-91 the company constructed a new ten-story building by Edward H. Kendall on the site of its former headquarters on Hudson Street.

By 1903 the company had assets of some $28 million, second only to the National City Bank of New York among financial institutions in the city. To reflect this, the company purchased the Broadway buildings and site.

At the end of the Wells-Fargo reign in 1914, an aggressive new president, George Chadbourne Taylor (1868-1923), who had worked his way up through the company over the previous thirty years, decided to build a new headquarters. The old buildings, dubbed by the New York Times as "among the ancient landmarks" of lower Broadway, were inadequate for such a rapidly expanding concern. In March 1914, Renwick, Aspinwall & Tucker filed for the construction of a 32-story concrete-and steel-framed office tower in which all of the company's operations, then in four separate buildings, were to be consolidated. The building proposal of 1914 was abandoned, probably due to the war in Europe, but was resurrected two years later in a reduced form, at an estimated cost of $1 million.

The 23-story (plus basement), neo-classical, American Express Co. Building, was constructed in 1916-17 to the design of James L. Aspinwall, of the firm of Renwick, Aspinwall & Tucker, the successor to the architectural practice of the eminent James Renwick, Jr.. The building consolidated the two lots of the former buildings with a single address: 65 Broadway. This building was part of the "Express Row" section of lower Broadway at the time. The concrete-and-steel-framed building has an H-shaped plan with tall slender wings arranged around central light courts, a type of plan employed from the 1880s through the 1910s to provide offices with maximum light and air. Faced in white brick and terra cotta above a granite base, both facades employ the tripartite composition of base-shaft-capital then popular for the articulation of skyscrapers, with a colonnaded base and upper portion. The famous American Express Eagle adorns the building twice: there is an asymmetric eagle on the lower arch, while a symmetric eagle adorns the arch atop the building. The Broadway entrance features a double-story Corinthian colonnade with large arched windows. The building completed the continuous masonry wall of its block-front and assisted in transforming Broadway into the "canyon" of neo-classical masonry office towers familiar to this day

American Express sold this building in 1975, but retained travel services here. The building was also the headquarters over the years of other prominent firms, including investment bankers J.& W. Seligman & Co. (1940-74), the American Bureau of Shipping, a maritime concern (1977-86), and currently J.J. Kenny, and Standard & Poors, who has renamed the building for itself

American Express extended its reach nationwide by arranging affiliations with other express companies, (including Wells, Fargo – the replacement for the two former companies that merged to form American Express.) railroads, and steamship companies. In 1882, American Express started its expansion in the area of financial services by launching its money order business. to compete with the US Post Office's money orders. This product quickly spread to Europe where no such financial product existed.

American Express today

Sometime between 1888 and 1890, J.C. Fargo took a trip to Europe and returned frustrated and infuriated. Despite the fact that he was president of American Express and that he carried with him traditional letters of credit, he found it difficult to obtain cash anywhere except in major cities. Mr. Fargo went to Marcellus Flemming Berry and asked him to create a better solution than the traditional letter of credit. Mr. Berry created the American Express Travelers Cheque which was launched in 1891 in denominations of $10, $20, $50, and $100.

The travelers cheque established American Express as a truly international company. This was not the firm's first foray into this field, however. In 1914, at the outbreak of the First World War, American Express offices in Europe were among the few companies to honor the letters of credit (issued by various banks) held by Americans in Europe, despite other financial institutions having refused to assist these stranded travellers.

American Express became one of the monopolies that President Theodore Roosevelt had the Interstate Commerce Commission investigate during his administration. The interest of the ICC was drawn to its strict control of the railroad express business. However, the solution did not come immediately to hand.. The solution to this problem came as a coincidence to other problems during World War I.

During the winter of 1917 the US suffered a severe coal shortage and on December 26 President Woodrow Wilson commandeered the railroads on behalf of the US government to move US troops, their supplies, and coal. Treasury Secretary William Gibbs McAdoo was assigned the task of consolidating the railway lines for the war effort. All contracts between express companies and railroads were nullified and McAdoo proposed that all existing express companies be consolidated into a single company to serve the country's needs. This ended American Express's express business, and removed them from the ICC’s radar. The result was a new company called the American Railway Express Agency company formed in July 1918. The new entity took custody of all the pooled equipment and property of existing express companies (the largest share of which, 40%, came from American Express, who had owned the rights to the express business over 71,280 miles of railroad lines, and had 10,000 offices, with over 30,000 employees).

Travel Division

American Express established a Travel Division in 1915 that tied together all of the earlier efforts at making travel easier, and soon established its first travel agencies.

Charge card services history

American Express executives discussed the possibility of launching a travel charge card as early as 1946, but it was not until Diners Club launched their own card in March 1950 that American Express began to seriously consider the possibility. At the end of 1957 American Express CEO Ralph Reed decided to get into the card business, and by the launch date of October 1, 1958 public interest had become so significant that they actually issued 250,000 cards prior to the official launch date. The card was launched with an annual fee of $6, $1 higher than Diners Club, to be seen as a premium product. The first cards were paper, with the account number and cardmember's name typed. It was not until 1959 that American Express began issuing embossed ISO 7810 plastic cards, an industry first.

In 1966 American Express introduced the Gold Card and in 1984 the Platinum Card, clearly defining different market segments within its own business, a practice that has proliferated across a broad array of industries. The Platinum Card was billed as super-exclusive and had a $250 annual fee (it is currently $450). It was offered by invitation only to American Express customers with at least 2 years of tenure, significant spending, and excellent payment history.

In 1987, American Express introduced the Optima card, their first credit card product. Previously, all American Express cards had to be paid in full each month, but Optima allowed customers to carry a balance (the charge cards also now allow extended payment options on qualifying charges based on credit availability). Although Optima is no longer heavily promoted, Optima and Optima Platinum cards are still available on the American Express website. Today American Express offers a wide range of other credit cards products including cobranded cards like the JetBlue Card and the Starwood Preferred Guest Card as well as other credit cards promoting customer rewards like the Blue from American Express Card and the Blue Cash Rebate Card.

In 1994, the Optima True Grace card was introduced. The card was unique in that it offered a grace period on all purchases whether a balance was carried on the card or not (as opposed to traditional revolving credit cards which charge interest on new purchases if so much as $1 was carried over.) The card was discontinued a few years later; however, the currently-available One from American Express card offers a similar feature called "Interest Protection".

In 1999 American Express introduced the Centurion Card or "black card" catering to an even more affluent and elite customer segment. The card charged a $1,000 annual fee at the time of its introduction (today, it is $2,500) and offered (and continues to offer) a variety of exclusive benefits. There have always been rumors of a super-exclusive card that gives American Express' richest and most powerful customers special perks. It was this rumor that sparked the launch of Centurion.

Also in 1999, the company introduced Blue from American Express, which quickly became a popular card among young adults. Based on a successful product for the European market, Blue had no annual fee, a rewards program, and a multi-functional onboard chip. A cashback version, "Blue Cash", quickly followed.

American Express also launched an exclusive agreement with Costco in 1999, replacing an earlier agreement with Discover Card. Under the agreement, American Express cards replaced Discover as the only credit/charge card accepted at the warehouse club in the US, and American Express became the first and only credit/charge card accepted at Costco's locations outside the US. To introduce Costco members to American Express, a no-annual-fee co-branded cashback credit card was also introduced. The agreement was highly successful and was renewed in 2004 for an additional 10 years.

As of 2005, the US Centurion card has a $2500 annual fee, while other American Express cards range between no annual fee (for Blue and many other consumer and business cards) and a $450 annual fee (for the Platinum Card.) Annual fees for the Green card start at $95, while Gold card annual fees start at $125.

In 2005 American Express introduced Clear, advertised as the first credit card with no fees of any kind. It also incorporates the ExpressPay technology premiered with the Blue card. Also in 2005, American Express introduced One, a credit card with a "Savings Accelerator Plan" that contributes 1% of eligible purchases into an FDIC-insured High-Yield Savings Account. Other cards introduced in 2005 included "The Knot" and "The Nest" Credit Cards from American Express, co-branded cards developed with the wedding planning website theknot.com. They have also introduced City Reward Cards that earn INSIDE Rewards points to eat, drink, and play at New York, Chicago and LA hot spots.

Also, in 2005, American Express introduced ExpressPay, a wireless RFID payment method that requires a card to simply be tapped to a special reader and not swiped. This technology replaced the smart chip on the Blue card. Many merchant and restaurant partners including 7-Eleven, CVS/pharmacy, McDonald's, Regal Entertainment Group, and Ritz Camera, now offer ExpressPay at most or all of their locations. The technology was tested on the ski bus from Salt Lake City to local resorts.

In 2006, the UK division of American Express licensed the Product Red brand and began to issue a Red Card. With each cardmember purchase the company contributes to good causes through The Global Fund to help African women and children suffering from HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.

In 2007, American Express again raised the annual fee for their American Platinum charge cards, moving the Personal cards fee to $450, and the Business division to $395. With the increase, customers now receive four complimentary companion coach tickets per calendar year. Additionally, a long rumored "relationship" fee of $5,000 to establish a Centurion card was added. The annual fee of $2,500 remains the same, however.

Features: Some versions of the card include various features such as Damage waiver on cars rented with the card, and accident insurance during travel bought with the card.

The "Boston Fee Party"

From the early 1980s until the early 1990s, American Express was known for cutting its merchant fees (also known as a "discount rate") to merchants and restaurants if they accepted only American Express and no other credit or charge cards. This prompted competitors such as Visa and MasterCard to cry foul for a while as the tactics "locked" restaurants into American Express.

However, in 1991, several restaurants in Boston started accepting and encouraging the use of Visa and MasterCard because of their far lower fees as compared to American Express's fees at the time (which were about 4% for each transaction versus around 1.2% at the time for Visa and MasterCard). A few even stopped accepting American Express credit and charge cards. The revolt, known as the "Boston Fee Party" in reference to the Boston Tea Party, quickly spread nationwide to over 250 restaurants across the US, including restaurants in other cities such as New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles. In response, American Express decided to reduce its discount rate gradually to compete more effectively and add new merchants to its network such as supermarkets and drugstores. Many elements of the exclusive acceptance program were also phased out so American Express could effectively encourage businesses to add American Express cards to their existing list of payment options.

Currently, American Express' average US merchant rate is about 2.5%, while the average Visa/MasterCard credit card US merchant rate is about 2% (Visa/MasterCard signature debit cards are at 1.7%). Some merchant sectors, such as quick-service restaurants including McDonald's, have special reduced rates to accommodate business needs and profit margins.

Not all the changes from 1991 have taken wind: A very small number of restaurants in major cities still exclusively accept American Express because the vast majority of their customers primarily use Amex cards. Likewise, Neiman Marcus accepts only American Express and their store card; however, the current exclusive agreement with American Express is due to expire soon and may not be renewed as an exclusive agreement. Costco also has an exclusivity agreement with American Express; however, Costco's agreement with Amex was the result of a long negotiation process for exclusive acceptance with multiple parties that also included Visa, MasterCard, and Discover.

Financial services history

During the 1980s, American Express embarked on its dream to become a financial services supercompany. In mid-1981 it purchased Shearson Loeb Rhoades Inc the second largest securities firm in the US. In 1984 it purchased the 90-year old Investors Diversified Services, bringing with it a fleet of financial advisors and investment products. Also in 1984, American Express acquired the investment banking and trading firm, Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb, and added it to the Shearson family, creating Shearson Lehman/American Express. In 1988, the Firm acquired E.F. Hutton, forming Shearson Lehman Hutton until 1990, when the Firm's name became Shearson Lehman Brothers. When Harvey Golub took the reins in 1993 he negotiated the sale of Shearson's retail brokerage and asset management business to Primerica and in following year, spun-off of the remaining investment banking and institutional businesses as Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

In April 1992, American Express spun off its subsidiary, First Data Corp., in an IPO. Then, in October 1996, the company distributed the remaining majority of its holdings in First Data Corp., reducing its ownership to less than 5%.

In December 2000, American Express agreed to acquire the credit card portfolio of Bank of Hawaii, then a division of Pacific Century Financial Corp. Bank of Hawaii, along with its sister bank, Pacific Century Bank, became the first U.S. banks to issue American Express cards when the deal was completed the following year. In January 2006, American Express sold its Bank of Hawaii card portfolio to Bank of America (MBNA). Bank of America will issue Visa and American Express cards under the Bank of Hawaii name.

In January 2004, American Express reached a deal to have its cards issued by a U.S. bank, MBNA America. Initially decried by MasterCard executives as nothing but an "experiment", these cards were released in October of 2004. Some said that the relationship was going to be threatened by MBNA's merger with Bank of America, a major Visa issuer and original developer of VISA. However, an agreement was reached between American Express and Bank of America on December 21, 2005. Under the terms of the agreement, Bank of America will own the customer loans and American Express will process the transactions. Also, American Express will dismiss Bank of America from its antitrust litigation against Visa, MasterCard and a number of U.S. banks. Finally, both Bank of America and American Express also said an existing card-issuing partnership between MBNA and American Express will continue after the Bank of America-MBNA merger. The first card from the partnership, the no-annual-fee Bank of America Rewards American Express card, was released on June 30, 2006.

Since then, Citibank, GE Money, and USAA have also started issuing American Express cards. Citibank currently issues several American Express cards including an American Airlines AAdvantage co-branded card, while GE is currently issuing a co-branded card for Dillard's. HSBC Bank USA will also introduce co-branded American Express cards later this year for several of its private-label retail partners; however, those partners have yet to be announced at this time. Also, UBS launched its Resource Card program for US Wealth Management clients issuing Visa Signature credit cards and American Express charge cards linked to their customers accounts and employing a single rewards program for the two cards.

In 2005, American Express released the American Express Travelers Cheque Card, a stored-value card that serves the same purposes as a traveler's cheque, but can be used in stores like a credit card.

On 30 September, 2005, American Express spun off its American Express Financial Advisors unit as a publicly traded company, Ameriprise Financial, Inc.. Due to this, American Express revenues for 2005 are down around $5 billion, however, like-for-like they are up 10.5% in 2005. Also, on September 30, 2005, RSM McGladrey acquired American Express Tax & Business Services (TBS).

Advertising

In 1975, David Ogilvy of Ogilvy & Mather developed the highly successful "Don't Leave Home Without It" ad campaign for American Express Traveler's Cheques, featuring Oscar-award-winning actor Karl Malden. Karl Malden served as the public face of American Express Travelers Cheques for twenty-five years. His television ads were a combination of suspense, excitement, news, and a compelling call to action. First, you would see a thief stealing money from some poor unsuspecting tourist's wallet or beach bag or hotel room. Then Karl would arrive on the scene looking like the cop he played in the famous television series, Streets of San Francisco. He would say, "This could happen to you!" And then the call to action: "Don't let a thief spoil your vacation. Get American Express Travelers Cheques. Don't leave home without them." After Karl Malden's departure, and the card was promoted over the traveller's cheques, American Express continued to use celebrities. A typical ad for the American Express Card showed a celebrity saying "Do you know me?", giving some hints, but the person's name was never mentioned except as imprinted on an American Express card. The "Don't Leave Home Without It" slogan was revived in 2005 for the prepaid American Express Travelers Cheque Card.

• Sesame Street parodied the "Do you know me?/Don't Leave Home Without It" ad campaigns with two skits involving holding a grownup's hand while crossing the street. One skit had Forgetful Jones and the other had Bert and Ernie. Both skits ended with their names being embossed onto a card looking like an American Express card, and a voiceover saying "A grownup's hand. Don't cross the street without it."

The Adventures of Seinfeld & Superman

To this day, American Express continues to use celebrities in their ads. Some notable examples include a late 1990s ad campaign with comedian Jerry Seinfeld, including the two 2004 webisodes in a series entitled "The Adventures of Seinfeld and Superman." In late 2004, American Express launched the "My life. My card." brand campaign (also by Ogilvy & Mather) featuring famous American Express cardmembers talking about their life. The ads have featured actors Kate Winslet, Robert De Niro, Ken Watanabe, Duke University basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, Comedian and talk show hostess Ellen DeGeneres, Professional golfer Tiger Woods, US Open tennis pros Venus Williams and Andy Roddick, Chelsea Football Club manager José Mourinho, and film directors Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, M. Night Shyamalan and most recently superstar Beyonce Knowles. In 2007, a two-minute black-and-white ad entitled "Animals" starring Ellen DeGeneres won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Commercial.

Many American Express credit card ads feature a sample American Express card with the name "C F Frost" on the front. This is not a fabricated name, as Charles F. Frost was an advertising executive.

In addition, American Express was one of the earliest users of cause marketing, to great success. A 1983 promotion advertised that for each purchase made with an American Express card, American Express would contribute one penny to the renovation of the Statue of Liberty. The campaign generated contributions of $1.7 million to the Statue of Liberty restoration project. What would soon capture the attention of marketing departments of major corporations was that the promotion generated approximately a 28% increase in American Express card usage by consumers. Building on its earlier promotion, American Express later conducted a four-year Charge Against Hunger program, which generated approximately $22 million for a charity addressing poverty and hunger relief. In 2006, as part of Bono's Product Red, American Express launched the American Express Red Card. The card, currently available only in the United Kingdom, makes a donation to fight AIDS with every purchase made using the card. In May of 2007, American Express launched an initiative called the "membersproject" [3]. Cardholders were invited to submit ideas for projects and American Express is funding the winning (provide clean drinking water) project $2 million.

Workplace

Offices

American Express Tower (tallest, left) in New York City

In April 1986 American Express moved its headquarters to Three World Financial Center in New York City. The 51-story building was an architectural triumph and noted as a significant and important addition to the city. After the events of September 11, 2001, American Express had to leave its headquarters temporarily as it was located directly opposite to the World Trade Center and was damaged during the fall of the towers. The American Express tower became the backdrop to efforts in rescue, recovery, and reconstruction at Ground Zero. The company began gradually moving back into its rehabilitated building in 2002.

The company also has major offices in Fort Lauderdale, FL; Salt Lake City, UT; Greensboro, NC and Phoenix, AZ. The main data center is located in Phoenix, with a secondary back-up facility in the Boston area.

Amex Canada is based just north of Toronto, in the City of Markham.

American Express has a European Service Center in Brighton, England. It is a large 1970s-built white tower block, surrounded by several other smaller offices around the city. The official UK HQ is located in London at Belgrave House on Buckingham Palace Road, SW1; other important UK offices are based in Sussex at Burgess Hill.

The Asia-Pacific Headquarters is located in Singapore, at 16 Collyer Quay.

The headquarters of the Latin America & Caribbean division is in Miami.

Diversity

American Express was named one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers living in the U.S. in 2006 by U.S. based Working Mothers magazine.

Acquisition of American Express Bank Ltd. by Standard Chartered plc

On 18th of September 2007, it was announced that Standard Chartered plc agreed to acquire American Express Bank Ltd, a commercial bank, from American Express Co, for an estimated $1.1 billion, through a friendly divestiture process. The transaction is currently subject to regulatory approvals. Lehman Brothers is advising American Express in this deal.

Management and corporate governance

Key executives include:

• Kenneth Chenault: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
• Edward Gilligan: Group President - Global Corporate Services and International Payments
• Alfred Kelly, Jr.: Group President - U.S. Consumer and Small Business Services
• Dan Henry: Executive Vice President and acting Chief Financial Officer
• Jonathan Linen: Vice Chairman - American Express Company
• L. Kevin Cox: Executive Vice President Human Resources and Quality
• John D. Hayes: Executive Vice President Global Advertising & Brand Management, and Chief Marketing Officer
• Louise Parent: Executive Vice President and General Counsel
• Steve Squeri: Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer
• Thomas Schick: Executive Vice President Corporate Affairs and Communications

Current members of the board of directors of American Express include:

• Daniel F. Akerson: Managing Director of The Carlyle Group
• Charlene Barshefsky: Former United States Trade Representative
• Ursula M. Burns: Senior Corporate Vice President and President of Business Group Operations Xerox Corporation
• Kenneth I. Chenault: Chairman and CEO of American Express Co.
• Peter Chernin: President and COO, News Corporation
• Vernon E. Jordan, Jr.: Senior Managing Director with Lazard Freres & Co. LLC
• Jan Leschly: CEO of Care Capital LLC
• Richard C. Levin: President, Yale University
• Richard A. McGinn: Former CEO of Lucent Technologies, Partner, RRE Ventures
• Edward D. Miller: Former President and CEO of AXA SA
• Frank P. Popoff: Chairman Chemical Financial Corp
• Robert D. Walter: Chairman and CEO Cardinal Health
• Ronald A. Williams: Chairman, CEO and President, Aetna, Inc.

External links

• AmericanExpress.com
• AmExNetwork
• OPEN for Business
• American Express ExpressPay
• Small Business Forum from OPEN
• American Express Going Once travel promotion
• American Express My WishList promotion
• American Express Travel
• New Cruiser
• Membership Rewards
• Bonus Points Mall
• American Express Incentive Services