Portal:American Express
Portal maintenance status: (October 2018)
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Introduction
The American Express Company, also known as Amex, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Three World Financial Center in New York City. The company was founded in 1850 and is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best known for its charge card, credit card, and traveler's cheque businesses.
In 2016, credit cards using the American Express network accounted for 22.9% of the total dollar volume of credit card transactions in the US. As of December 31, 2017, the company had 112.8 million cards in force, including 50 million cards in force in the United States, each with an average annual spending of $18,519.
Selected general articles
In 2005, American Express introduced ExpressPay, similar to Mastercard Contactless and Visa payWave, all of which use the symbol appearing on the right. It is a contactless payment system based on wireless RFID, where transactions are completed by holding the credit card near a receiver at which point the debt is immediately added to the account. All three contactless systems use the same logo. The card is not swiped or inserted into a smart card reader and no PIN is entered.
Many merchants, in the U.S. and globally, now offer American Express contactless payment, including Meijer, Walgreens, Best Buy, Chevron Corporation, Starbucks, and McDonald's. Read more...- Small Business Saturday is an American shopping holiday held on the Saturday after US Thanksgiving during one of the busiest shopping periods of the year. Read more...
- Gary Lewis Crittenden (born 1953) is an American financial manager. He is currently an Executive Director of HGGC, where previously served as CEO and Chairman. He is also the former chairman of Citi Holdings. He has served on the boards of Staples Inc., Ryerson, Inc., TJX Companies, and Utah Capital Investment Corp. From 2000 to 2007, Crittenden was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of American Express, and from March 2007 to March 2009, he was the Chief Financial Officer of Citigroup. Read more...
- James Congdell Strong Fargo (May 5, 1829 – February 8, 1915) was a president of the American Express Company for 30 years, and the brother of American Express Company and Wells Fargo co-founder, William Fargo. Read more...
Kenneth Irvine Chenault (born June 2, 1951) is an American business executive. He was the CEO and Chairman of American Express from 2001 until 2018. He is the third black CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Read more...
A credit card is a payment card issued to users (cardholders) to enable the cardholder to pay a merchant for goods and services based on the cardholder's promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts so paid plus the other agreed charges. The card issuer (usually a bank) creates a revolving account and grants a line of credit to the cardholder, from which the cardholder can borrow money for payment to a merchant or as a cash advance. In other words, credit cards combine payment services with extensions of credit. Complex fee structures in the credit card industry may limit customers' ability to comparison shop, helping to ensure that the industry is not price-competitive and helping to maximize industry profits. Due to concerns about this, many legislatures have regulated credit card fees.
A credit card is different from a charge card, which requires the balance to be repaid in full each month. In contrast, credit cards allow the consumers a continuing balance of debt, subject to interest being charged. A credit card also differs from a cash card, which can be used like currency by the owner of the card. A credit card differs from a charge card also in that a credit card typically involves a third-party entity that pays the seller and is reimbursed by the buyer, whereas a charge card simply defers payment by the buyer until a later date. Read more...
Merchants Despatch Transportation Co. refrigerator car #11329, on display at the Pan-American Exposition in 1901.
The Merchants Despatch Transportation Company (MDT, also known as the Merchants Despatch Refrigerator Line) was established in 1857 or 1858 by the American Express Company of New York (then a freight forwarding service). The entity was reformed as a joint stock trading company on June 1, 1869, with ownership divided among the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railway (CCC&I), the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, and the New York Central Railroad (NYC), all part of the Cornelius Vanderbilt rail empire.
The MDT entered the refrigerated transit business around 1880, and within five years had 1,900 reefers in service, making it one of the largest such concerns in the United States. Historian and author John H. White describes MDT as "the oldest corporate name connected with refrigerated transit to survive into modern times." The company began manufacturing cars on a small scale in 1883, and in spring of 1887 constructed a large manufacturing facility near Rochester, New York in a town they named Despatch (present-day East Rochester). MDT hired 900 workers and embarked on an aggressive car building program; by 1900 the firm owned 6,687 units, slightly more than half of which were refrigerator cars. Read more...- Ronald Allen "Ron" Williams (born 1949) is an American businessman, entrepreneur and management consultant, and is chairman and CEO of RW2 Enterprises, LLC. He is the former chairman, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Aetna Inc., a diversified benefits company.
Following his retirement from Aetna, Williams formed RW2 Enterprises, LLC, a consulting firm dedicated to serving American business and society. He coaches and consults with senior corporate executives of Fortune 100 companies on transformational leadership strategy, board preparedness and business strategy. He continues to champion value creation in health care in the U.S., and works to move the American health care system toward a value-based approach to health care, where physicians, health care providers, insurers, employers and consumers are working together to achieve the best possible health care. Read more...
Henry Wells (December 12, 1805 – December 10, 1878) was an American businessman important in the history of both the American Express Company and Wells Fargo & Company. Read more...- The Salad Oil scandal, also referred to as the "Soybean Scandal", was a major corporate scandal in 1963 that ultimately caused over $150 million – approximately $1.45 billion in 2017 dollars – in losses to corporations including American Express, Bank of America and Bank Leumi, as well as many international trading companies. The scandal's ability to push otherwise cautious and conservative lenders into increasingly risky practices has prompted some comparisons to recent financial crises including the 2007–2008 subprime mortgage financial crisis. Read more...
William George Fargo (May 20, 1818 – August 3, 1881) was a pioneer American expressman who helped found the modern day financial firms of American Express Company and Wells Fargo with his business partner, Henry Wells. He was also the 27th Mayor of Buffalo, serving from 1862 until 1866 during the U.S. Civil War. Read more...
Kenneth Irvine Chenault (born June 2, 1951) is an American business executive. He was the CEO and Chairman of American Express from 2001 until 2018. He is the third black CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Read more...- The Merrill Accolades American Express Card, previously known as the Bank of America Accolades Card, was the first premium credit card offered by Bank of America. It is targeted exclusively at the bank's "affluent, wealthy and ultra- wealthy clients served through Premier Banking & Investments, The Private Bank of Bank of America and its extension, Family Wealth Advisors." The card is notable as it is the bank's foray into a new market segment as well as a product offered as a result of the bank's acquisition of another bank, U.S. Trust, particularly since the larger Bank of America has taken the smaller bank’s corporate name in establishing a separate legal entity for the first time in history. The entity’s name is U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management.
This card, also called the Bank of America Accolades Card or the Bank of America Accolades American Express Card, is a co-branded card that is accepted by merchants who accept the American Express card. Read more...
Peter Chernin (born May 29, 1951) is an American businessman and investor. He is the chairman and CEO of The Chernin Group (TCG), which he founded in 2010. TCG manages, operates and invests in businesses in the media, entertainment, and technology sectors. Specifically, the company focuses on three areas: developing premium content for film and television, making investments in technology and media companies in the U.S., and capitalizing on strategic business opportunities in emerging markets, especially Asia. In April 2012, Chernin sold a minority stake of TCG to strategic investment partners Providence Equity Partners, a leading private equity firm, and other private investors.
Chernin sits on the Boards of American Express, serves as a Co-Chair of University of California, Berkeley's Board of Visitors, and is a senior advisor to Providence Equity Partners. He is also chairman and co-founder of Malaria No More and a trustee of Malaria No More UK, non-profits dedicated to ending deaths due to malaria. He previously served on the boards of Twitter, Pandora, News Corp, DirecTV, E-Trade, and Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Read more...- Daniel Francis "Dan" Akerson (born October 21, 1948) is the former Chairman and CEO of General Motors, serving from 2010 to 2014. Akerson succeeded Edward Whitacre as CEO on September 1, 2010, and became Chairman of the Board on January 1, 2011. Akerson was a Managing Director of The Carlyle Group and head of global buyout prior to joining General Motors. He joined the General Motors board of directors on July 24, 2009. Akerson also serves on the boards of American Express and the U.S. Naval Academy Foundation, and is now a Vice Chairman and Special Advisor to the Board of Directors for The Carlyle Group. Read more...
- Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment Company was a joint venture owned/operated by Warner Communications and American Express that developed and initiated several successful cable networks that remain well-known.
Notable channels: Read more...
Richard Charles Levin (born April 7, 1947) is an economist and academic administrator. From 1993 to 2013, he was the 22nd President of Yale University. From March 2014 to June 2017, he was Chief Executive Officer of Coursera. Read more...- Edward D. Miller Jr. was the Frances Watt Baker, M.D. and Lenox D. Baker Jr., M.D. Dean of the Medical Faculty at Johns Hopkins University and the Chief Executive Officer of Johns Hopkins Medicine from 1997 to 2012.
He is an anesthesiologist who has published over 150 scientific papers and other works on cardiovascular effects of anesthetic drugs and vascular smooth muscle relaxation. Read more...
Sanford I. "Sandy" Weill (/waɪl/; born March 16, 1933) is an American banker, financier and philanthropist. He is a former chief executive and chairman of Citigroup. He served in those positions from 1998 until October 1, 2003, and April 18, 2006, respectively. Read more...
200 Vesey Street, formerly known as Three World Financial Center and also known as American Express Tower, is a skyscraper in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Located on West Street between Liberty Street and Vesey Street, the 739-foot (225 m) building is the tallest in the Brookfield Place complex (formerly known as the World Financial Center). It is similar in design to 225 Liberty Street (formerly Two World Financial Center), except that it is capped by a solid pyramid whereas 225 Liberty is capped by a dome. Read more...- First Data Corporation (NYSE: FDC) is a financial services company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The company's STAR Network provides nationwide domestic debit acceptance at more than 2 million retail POS, ATM, and Online outlets for nearly a third of all U.S. debit cards.
First Data has six million merchants, the largest in the payments industry. The company handles 45% of all US credit and debit transactions, including handling prepaid gift card processing for many US brands such as Starbucks. It processes around 2,800 transactions per second and $2.2 trillion in card transactions annually, with an 80% market share in gas and groceries in 2014. First Data’s SpendTrend Report is a key shopping metric for national news networks such as WSJ, USA Today, ESPN, The New York Times, Vox Media, and Bloomberg. Read more... - Ameriprise Financial, Inc. is an American diversified financial services company. Ameriprise Financial engages in business through its subsidiaries, providing financial planning, products and services, including wealth management, asset management, insurance, annuities, and estate planning.
Ameriprise Financial, Inc., the holding company, is incorporated in Delaware. The company's headquarters are in Minneapolis, Minnesota. James Cracchiolo is the chairman and chief executive officer. The company's primary subsidiaries include Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc., and RiverSource Life Insurance Company.
Following a 2015 merger of Columbia Management and Threadneedle Asset Management, Columbia Threadneedle Investments, is Ameriprise Financial's global asset management brand, and a provider of investments to institutional and retail clients. Read more...
The American Express Centurion Card, known informally as the Amex Black Card, is an invitation-only charge card issued by American Express to platinum card holders after they meet certain criteria. There are three different issues of the Centurion Card: personal, business, and corporate. Read more...- A charge card is a card that provides a payment method enabling the cardholder to make purchases which are paid for by the card issuer, to whom the cardholder becomes indebted. The cardholder is obligated to repay the debt to the card issuer in full by the due date, usually on a monthly basis, or be subject to late fees and restrictions on further card use. It can also be a smart card.
Though the terms charge card and credit card are sometimes used interchangeably, they are distinct protocols of financial transactions. Credit cards are revolving credit instruments that do not need to be paid in full every month. There is no late fee payable so long as the minimum payment is made at specified intervals (usually every thirty days). The balance of the account accrues interest, which may be backdated to the date of initial purchase. Charge cards are typically issued without spending limits, but credit cards usually have a specified credit limit that the cardholder may not exceed. Read more...
Falmer Stadium, known for sponsorship purposes as the American Express Community Stadium, or colloquially as the Amex, is a football stadium in the village of Falmer, near Brighton and Hove, Sussex, that serves as the home of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.. The stadium was handed over from the developers to the club on 31 May 2011. The first competitive game played at the stadium was the 2010–11 season final of the Sussex Senior Cup between Brighton and Eastbourne Borough on 16 July 2011. The first ever league game was against Doncaster Rovers, who were also the opponents in the last ever game played at Brighton's former stadium, the Goldstone Ground, 14 years earlier.
Falmer Stadium hosted Premier League football for the first time in August 2017, following Albion's promotion at the end of the 2016–17 season. Read more...
Vernon Eulion Jordan Jr. (born August 15, 1935) is an American business executive and civil rights activist in the United States. A leading figure in the Civil Rights Movement, he was chosen by President Bill Clinton as a close adviser. Jordan has become known as an influential figure in American politics. Read more...
Charlene Barshefsky (born August 11, 1950) served as United States Trade Representative, the country's top trade negotiator, from 1997 to 2001. She was the Deputy U.S. Trade Representative from 1993 to 1997. She is a partner at the law firm of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. She is also an advisor at Moelis & Company. Read more...- World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and training.
Founded in 1965, WMF is headquartered in New York, and has offices and affiliates around the world, including Cambodia, France, Peru, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom. In addition to hands-on management, the affiliates identify, develop, and manage projects, negotiate local partnerships, and attract local support to complement funds provided by donors. Read more...
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (/ˈliːmən/) was a global financial services firm. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Merrill Lynch), doing business in investment banking, equity and fixed-income sales and trading (especially U.S. Treasury securities), research, investment management, private equity, and private banking. Lehman was operational for 158 years from its founding in 1850 until 2008.
On September 15, 2008, the firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection following the massive exodus of most of its clients, drastic losses in its stock, and devaluation of assets by credit rating agencies, largely sparked by Lehman's involvement in the subprime mortgage crisis, and its exposure to less liquid assets. Lehman's bankruptcy filing is the largest in US history, and is thought to have played a major role in the unfolding of the late-2000s global financial crisis. The market collapse also gave support to the "Too Big To Fail" doctrine. Read more...
Obverse and reverse side of traveller's cheque of National Bank of Poland (nominal value: 1000 Polish złoty); sold in April 1989 in Budapest (Hungary), for use during travel to Poland only, never used.
A traveler's cheque is a medium of exchange that can be used in place of hard currency. They can be denominated in one of a number of major world currencies and are preprinted, fixed-amount cheques designed to allow the person signing it to make an unconditional payment to someone else as a result of having paid the issuer for that privilege.
They were generally used by people on vacation in foreign countries instead of cash, as many businesses used to accept traveler's cheques as currency. The incentive for merchants and other parties to accept them lay in the fact that as long as the original signature (which the buyer is supposed to place on the cheque in ink as soon as they receive the cheque) and the signature made at the time the cheque is used are the same, the cheque's issuer will unconditionally guarantee payment of the face amount even if the cheque was fraudulently issued, stolen, or lost. This means that a traveler's cheque can never 'bounce' unless the issuer goes bankrupt and out of business. If a traveler's cheque were lost or stolen, it can be replaced by the issuing financial institution. Read more...
Ursula M. Burns (born September 20, 1958), is an American businesswoman. She is the chairman of VEON, a senior advisor to Teneo, and a non-executive director of the beverage company Diageo since April 2018, among other directorships such as Uber. In 2009, Burns became CEO of Xerox, the first black woman CEO to head a Fortune 500 company, and the first woman to succeed another as head of a Fortune 500 company. Burns served as Xerox CEO from 2009 to 2016 and Xerox chairwoman from 2010 to 2017. In 2014, Forbes rated her the 22nd most powerful woman in the world. Among other civic positions, she was a leader of the STEM program of the White House from 2009 to 2016, and head of the President's Export Council from 2015 until 2016. Read more...
James Dixon Robinson III (born November 19, 1935, in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American businessman best known for his position as the chief executive officer of American Express Co. from 1977 until his retirement in 1993. Read more...
The Railway Express Agency (REA), founded as the American Railway Express Agency and later renamed the American Railway Express Inc., was a national package delivery service that operated in the United States from 1918 to 1975. REA arranged transport and delivery via existing railroad infrastructure, much as today's UPS or DHL companies use roads and air transport. It was created through the forced consolidation of existing services into a federal near-monopoly to ensure the rapid and safe movement of parcels, money, and goods during World War I.
REA ceased operations in 1975, when its business model ceased to be viable. Read more...
Louis Vincent Gerstner Jr. (born March 1, 1942 in Mineola, New York) is an American businessman, best known for his tenure as chairman of the board and chief executive officer of IBM from April 1993 until 2002, when he retired as CEO in March and chairman in December. He is largely credited with turning around IBM's fortunes.
Gerstner was formerly CEO of RJR Nabisco, and also held senior positions at American Express and McKinsey & Company. He is a graduate of Chaminade High School (1959), Dartmouth College (1963) and holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School. He is a former member of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group. Read more...
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Selected images
American Express Italy HQ in Rome
Amex House in Brighton, England, was built in 1977.
Two rescue workers entering the American Express Tower following September 11 terrorist attack on World Trade Center.
The American Express Company Building at 65 Broadway – the former headquarters of the American Express Company
American Express Tower (tallest, left) in New York City
American Express Co. early shipping receipts (1853, 1869)
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