The American Express Company , also known as Amex , is an American multinational financial services company headquartered at Three World Financial Center in New York City. The company was founded in 1850 and is one of 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is famous for its credit card, credit card, and travel check business.
By 2016, credit cards using the American Express network account for 22.9% of the total dollar volume of credit card transactions in the US. As of December 31, 2017, the company has 112.8 million valid cards, including 50 million cards applicable in the United States, each with an average annual expense of $ 18,519.
In 2017,
The company logo, adopted in 1958, is a gladiator or officer whose images appear on company travel checks, charge cards and credit cards.
Video American Express
Sejarah awal
In 1850, American Express began as a flash letter business in Buffalo, New York. It was founded as a joint-stock company by the incorporation of express companies owned by Henry Wells (Wells & Company), William G. Fargo (Livingston, Fargo & Company), and John Warren Butterfield (Wells, Butterfield & Company) , successor in early 1850 from Butterfield, Wasson & amp; Company). Wells and Fargo also started Wells Fargo & amp; Co. in 1852 when Butterfield and other directors objected to the proposal that American Express expanded its operations to California.
American Express initially set up its headquarters in a building at the junction of Jay Street and Hudson Street in what is then called the Tribeca section of Manhattan. Over the years he has enjoyed a virtual monopoly on the movement of express delivery (goods, securities, currency, etc.) throughout New York State. In 1874, American Express moved its headquarters to 65 Broadway in Manhattan Financial District, a location he maintained through two buildings.
American Express Building
In 1854, American Express Co. bought many items on Vesey Street in New York City as the location of his cage. The company's first New York headquarters are the 1858 Italian marble palazzo at 55-61 Hudson Street, which has a busy cargo depot on the ground floor with a runway from the Hudson River Railroad. Stable was built in 1867, five blocks north on 4-8 Hubert Street.
The company was quite prosperous that the headquarters was moved in 1874 from the wholesale shipping districts to the burgeoning Financial District, and became a leased office in two of the five-story commercial buildings on 63 and 65 Broadway owned by the Harmony family.
In 1880, American Express built a new warehouse behind the Broadway Building at 46 Trinity Place. The designer is unknown, but has a façade of brick arches that reminiscent of a skyscraper in New York. American Express has long been out of this building, but still has a terracotta seal with American Express Eagle. In 1890-91 the company built a new ten-story building by Edward H. Kendall at the site of his former headquarters on Hudson Street.
In 1903, the company had assets of approximately $ 28 million, second only to the National City Bank of New York among financial institutions in the city. To reflect this, the company bought the building and the location of Broadway.
At the end of Wells-Fargo's government in 1914, an aggressive new president, George Chadbourne Taylor (1868-1923), who had worked hard throughout the company for thirty years before, decided to build a new headquarters. The old buildings, dubbed by the New York Times as "amongst the ancient buildings" on the lower Broadway, are insufficient for a rapidly growing problem.
After some delays due to war in Europe, the neo-classic 21-story building of American Express Co. built in 1916-17 with the design of James L. Aspinwall, of the company Renwick, Aspinwall & amp; Tucker, the architectural successor of the famous James Renwick, Jr. The building consolidates two multiple buildings with an address: 65 Broadway. This building is part of the "Express Row" section of the lower Broadway at the time. The building completes a continuous brick wall from the front of its block and assists in transforming Broadway into a "canyon" of the neo-classical stone office tower that is familiar with today.
American Express sold this building in 1975, but retained the travel service there. The building is also a headquarters for many years of other leading companies, including investment bankers J & amp; W. Seligman & amp; Co. (1940-74), the American Sailing Bureau, maritime concern (1977-86), and currently J.J. Kenny, and Standard & amp; Poor's, who has renamed the building for himself.
National expansion
American Express expanded its coverage nationwide by arranging affiliations with other express companies (including Wells Fargo - the successor of two companies that joined to form American Express), trains, and steamship companies.
Financial services
In 1857, American Express began an expansion in financial services by launching a money order business to compete with US Post Office money orders.
Sometime between 1888 and 1890, J. C. Fargo traveled to Europe and came back frustrated and angry. Despite the fact that he is president of American Express and that he's carrying traditional letters of credit, he finds it hard to get cash anywhere but in big cities. Fargo went to Marcellus Flemming Berry and asked him to create a better solution than a letter of credit. Berry introduced American Express Traveler's Check which was launched in 1891 in denominations of $ 10, $ 20, $ 50, and $ 100.
The travel check establishes American Express as a truly international company. In 1914, at the beginning of World War I, American Express in Europe was among several companies to honor credit letters (issued by various banks) held by Americans in Europe, as other financial institutions refused to help these stranded tourists.
The British government appointed American Express as its official agent at the start of World War I. They would send letters, money, and aid packages to British prisoners of war. Their employees went to the camp to cash in a draft for British and French prisoners and arranged for them to receive money from home.
At the end of the war, they sent 150 tons of packets per day to prisoners in six countries.
Loss of rail express business
American Express became one of the monopolies that President Theodore Roosevelt had the Interstate Trade Commission (ICC) investigate during his reign. The interests of the ICC are interested in the tight control of the express rail business. However, the solution did not come soon. The solution to this problem came as a coincidence for other problems during World War I.
During the winter of 1917, the United States suffered from severe coal shortages and on December 26, President Woodrow Wilson ordered trains on behalf of the United States government to move federal troops, their supplies, and coal. Finance Minister William Gibbs McAdoo was tasked with consolidating railroads for war effort. All contracts between express companies and railroads were canceled and McAdoo proposed that all existing express companies be consolidated into one company to serve the needs of the country. This ends the express business of American Express, and removes it from ICC interests. The result was that a new company called the American Railway Express Agency was formed in July 1918. The new entity took all the equipment collected and the properties of the existing express company (the largest, 40%, came from American Express, which has the right to express business more than 71,280 miles (114,710 km) from the railway line, and has 10,000 offices, with more than 30,000 employees).
Investment banking
During the 1980s, American Express began an effort to become a supercomponent of financial services and undertook a number of acquisitions to create investment banking arm. In mid-1981, he bought Sanford I. Weill's Shearson Loeb Rhoades, the second-largest securities firm in the United States to form Shearson/American Express.
After Shearson's purchase, Weill was given the position of president of American Express in 1983. Weill was increasingly dissatisfied with responsibility in American Express and his conflict with American Express CEO James D. Robinson III. Weill soon realized that he was not positioned to be appointed CEO and left in August 1985. In 1984, American Express acquired investment banking and trading firm Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb, and added it to the Shearson family, creating Shearson Lehman/American Express. It is the CEO of Lehman and former Lewis Glucksman merchant who will next lead Shearson Lehman/American Express.
In 1984, Shearson/American Express purchased a 90-year-old diversified Investor Service, carrying a fleet of financial advisers and investment products. In 1988, Shearson Lehman acquired the E.F. Hutton & amp; Co.. E.F. Hutton joined the investment banking business and investment banking arm renamed Shearson Lehman Hutton, Inc.
However, when Harvey Golub became CEO of American Express in 1993, American Express decided to quit the investment banking business and negotiate the sale of Brokerage and Shearson asset management to Primerica. Shearson's business was merged with Primerica Smith Barney to create Smith Barney Shearson. In the end, the name Shearson was dropped in 1994.
In 1994, American Express broke away from the rest of the banking investment and institutional business as Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. After nearly fifteen years of independence, Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy protection in 2008 as part of the financial crisis of the late 2000s.
Maps American Express
Recent history
Former CEO Ken I. Chenault took over the leadership of American Express in 2001 from Harvey Golub, CEO from 1993 to 2001. Prior to that, the company was led by James D. Robinson III from 1977 to 1993, Howard L. Clark Sr. from 1960 to 1977, and Ralph Reed from 1944 to 1960. Current CEO: Stephen Joseph Squeri since February 1, 2018.
Charge card service
The American Express executive discussed the possibility of launching travel billing cards as early as 1946, but it was not until the Diners Club launched a card in March 1950 that American Express began seriously considering the possibility. At the end of 1957, American Express CEO Ralph Reed decided to go into the card business, and at the launch date of October 1, 1958, public interest became so significant that 250,000 cards were issued before the official launch date. This card is launched with an annual fee of $ 6, $ 1 higher than Diners Club, to be seen as a premium product. The first card is made of paper, with account number and name of the typed card member. In 1959, American Express began issuing an ISO/IEC 7810 plastic card, an industry first.
In 1966, American Express introduced the Gold Card. In 1984, the company launched the Platinum Card, clearly defining different market segments in its own business, a practice that has mushroomed in various industries. Platinum cards are billed as super-exclusive and have a $ 250 annual fee (currently $ 550). This is offered only by invitation to an American Express customer with at least 2 years tenure, significant expenses, and an excellent payment history; now open for applications on request. In 1987, American Express introduced the Optima card, its first credit card product that did not have to be paid in full by the end of the month.
American Express formed a venture with Warner Communications in 1979 called Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, which created MTV, Nickelodeon, and The Movie Channel. This partnership lasted until 1984. The property was sold to Viacom soon after.
In April 1992, American Express separated its subsidiary, First Data Corp, in an initial public offering.
In 1994, the Grace Grace True card was introduced. The card is unique because it offers a grace period on all purchases whether the balance is made on the card or not (as opposed to a traditional revolving credit card charging interest on new purchases if $ 1 gets carried away). The card was discontinued several years later; Which is now discontinued One of the American Express cards offers a similar feature called "Flower Protection."
"Boston Fee Party"
From the early 1980s to the early 1990s, American Express was known for cutting interchange fees (also known as "discount rate") to merchants and restaurants if they only accepted American Express and no credit cards or other bills. This prompted competitors such as Visa and Mastercard to cry for a moment as a tactic of "locking" restaurants into American Express. Leveraging this elitist image, American Express often mentions such exclusive partnerships in advertising.
Apart from a few holdouts including Neiman Marcus (who continued exclusivity through 2011), the practice largely ended later in 1991. A group of restaurants in Boston stopped receiving American Express while accepting and encouraging the use of Visas and Mastercards, including some exclusively for American Express. The reason is because the cost is much lower than the cost of American Express at the time (which is about 4% for each transaction versus about 1.2% at that time for Visa and Mastercard). The rebellion, known as the "Boston Fee Party" (referring to Boston Tea Party), spread to over 250 restaurants across the United States, including restaurants in other cities like New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. Visa offers to pay Fee Party legal bills, and Discover Card can increase their acceptance in Boston restaurants by 375%. Kenneth Chenault, then head of Travel Related Services before becoming CEO of American Express, cut costs to restore these restaurants. American Express then shifted its focus from exclusivity to expand acceptance, adding mainstream merchants like Walmart to the American Express network.
Convert to bank's parent company
On November 10, 2008, during the 2007-2008 financial crisis, the company won the approval of the Federal Reserve System to convert into a parent company of the bank, thus qualifying for government assistance under the Troubled Asset Assistance Program. At that time, American Express had a total consolidated asset of approximately $ 127 billion. As of June 2009, $ 3.39 billion of TARP funds paid off plus $ 74.4 million in dividend payments. In July 2009, the company terminated its obligations under TARP by repurchasing $ 340 million in Treasury bonds.
Controversy of the filling sequence in the UK
In November 2010, the English division of American Express was warned by the Fair Trade Office for the use of controversial charging orders against those in debt. The regulator said that the company is one of four companies that encourage customers to change their unsecured credit card debt into a form of guaranteed debt.
CFPB enforcement actions
In October 2012, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced enforcement action with an order requiring three American Express subsidiaries to refund approximately $ 85 million to approximately 250,000 customers for illegal card practices between 2003 and 2012. The allegations included that American Express made misleading statements. regarding registration bonuses, unauthorized late fees, discrimination against applicants due to age, and failing to report consumer complaints to regulators.
Costco exclusivity settings (2004-2016)
Beginning in 2004, Costco issued American Express co-branded cards that were also doubled as membership cards. Costco terminates this arrangement in 2016 in the United States and 2015 in Canada. The card does not have an annual fee and offers cash in the form of rebates at the store at a certain purchase level. The TrueEarnings card issued by Costco in the United States is an extension of an exclusive credit card deal between Costco and American Express until 1999. Costco is the last US merchant to accept American Express cards exclusively. In November 2011, Neiman Marcus, who provided exclusivity of a common purpose card similar to American Express since 1987, began receiving Visa and Mastercard.
Canadian Shops Costco terminates its exclusive agreement with American Express in January 2015 and supports one with Capital One and Mastercard. Capital One does not purchase accounts and balances from American Express, which requires Canadian Costco members to apply for new cards rather than automatically qualify.
On February 12, 2015, it was announced that a partnership between American Express and Costco in the United States would dissolve March 31, 2016, which is then extended until June 19, 2016. On March 2, 2015, Costco announced that Citigroup would be the exclusive issuer of Costco credit cards and that Visa Inc.. will replace American Express as an exclusive credit card network accepted at Costco stores in the United States. The Costco deal with Visa begins on June 20, 2016, and in addition to the new Citi card, Costco accepts all other Visa cards. All TrueEarnings card accounts and TrueEarnings held by American Express are sold to Citigroup, and a new Costco Anywhere Visa card is sent to the Costco member prior to the switch date. Along with the switch to Visa, Costco no longer accepts American Express in stores, at Costco.com, or through Costco Travel.
The Costco partnership represents 8%, or $ 80 billion, of Amex billed businesses and about 20%, or about $ 14 billion, of the interest-bearing loan portfolio, according to Richard Shane of JPMorgan Chase & Co. The impact of losing Costco's card account is significant; in the first quarter without the Costco card, the company's profit fell 10% and revenue fell 5% over the previous year.
Card product
As of December 31, 2017, the company has 112.8 million valid cards, including 50 million cards applicable in the United States, each with an average annual expense of $ 18,519. This includes consumer cards, small businesses and companies issued by American Express itself and cards issued by its Global Service Network partners running on its network (such as Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and NAB in Australia and Lloyds Bank and Barclays Bank in the UK). On March 1, 2017, Australia's fourth largest bank, ANZ, announced that it no longer issued an American Express card, with this support completely removed on 5 August 2017.
American Express is the world's largest card issuer by volume of purchases. This is the 4th largest card network in the world, based on the number of cards in circulation.
American Express is one of the partner banks both for Google and Apple's mobile wallet systems (Google Pay and Apple Pay respectively) which means that cardholders can use their American Express card-to pay at a company where NFC payments are received.
Consumer card
American Express is famous for its iconic Green, Gold, and Platinum charge cards.
In 1958, American Express issued its first charge card, which required payment at the end of each month. In 1966, the company issued its first gold card, in an attempt to meet the upper echelon of a business trip. His platinum card debuted in 1984.
In 1999, American Express introduced the Centurion Card, often referred to as the "black card," which serves a more affluent and elite customer segment. This card was originally only available to select a Platinum card user. The annual fee for the card is $ 2,500 (up from $ 1,000 at the time of introduction) with an additional one-time initiation fee of $ 7,500. American Express created card lines amid rumors and urban legends in the 1980s that produced ultra-exclusive black cards for elite users who could buy anything with it.
American Express cards have a cost range between no annual fees (for Blue and many consumer and other business cards) and a $ 550 annual fee (for Platinum cards). Annual fees for Green cards start at $ 95 (free first year), while the Gold Card's annual fee starts at $ 195.
American Express has several co-branded credit cards, with most entering into one of three categories:
- Airline: Aerolineas Argentinas, Air Canada, Air France, Alitalia, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Delta Air Lines, Icelandair, KLM, Qantas, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, SriLankan Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia , among others.
- Hotel: Best Western Hotel, Hilton. Starwood Hotels & amp; Resorts Worldwide
- Retailers: David Jones, Holt Renfrew, Harrods, Macy, Bloomingdales, Lowe, Mercedes Benz, and others.
Credit cards intended for young adults are called Blue , which has no annual fee and loyalty program. The television media campaign for Blue adopted the 1979 British Synthpop entitled "Cars" by Gary Numan as the theme music. A cashback rewards program version, "Blue Cash", was soon followed. Amex also targets young adults with City Reward Cards who earn INSIDE Rewards points to eat, drink and play in hot spots of New York, Chicago and LA. American Express began gradually issuing INSIDE cards in mid 2008, with no new apps taken in July 2008.
In 2005, American Express introduced Clear, advertised as the first credit card for no cost. Other cards introduced in 2005 include "The Knot" and "The Nest" Credit Cards from American Express, a co-branded card developed with theknot.com wedding planning website.
In 2006, United Express divisions in the United States joined the Red Products coalition and issued the Red Card, contributing with every purchase through the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to help African women and children with HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases.
In 2009, American Express introduced the ZYNC charge card. White, this card is made for people aged 20-40. American Express no longer uses ZYNC charge cards.
By the end of 2012, American Express and Walmart announced the launch of Bluebird, a prepaid debit card similar to Green Dot. Bluebird is being praised for having some of the benefits of traditional American Express cards, such as roadside assistance and identity theft protection. This card can also be used instead of a traditional checking account. Unlike other cards, Bluebird is insured by FDIC. Bluebird accounts have standard FDIC deposit insurance and check writing skills, and customers can now have Social Security payments, military payments, Tax Refunds, paychecks and other government allowances deposited directly into their accounts.
Card acceptance outside the United States
American Express credit cards are recorded by travel guides, including Rough Guides and Lonely Planet, as they are less accepted in Europe than Visa or Mastercard. In an interview with an American Express spokesperson in 2010 about card acceptance in the UK, the Daily Mail 's financial website This is Money , noting that "List of places that take Amex seems to grow, not slow down, but it seems a bit hit-and-miss.This is not a good feeling to enter the store, do not know if they accept the card or not. "
Card design
The company logo, gladiator or officer, appears in the center of Zync, Green, Gold, Platinum, and Centurion's iconic cards. The figure and the pose evokes classical beauty. These cards also feature intricate border designs and backgrounds that read "American Express." The designs on these cards, especially the Green cards, are similar to those in the Federal Reserve of the United States.
ExpressPay
In 2005, American Express introduced ExpressPay, the same as MasterCard PayPass and Visa payWave, all of which use the symbols that appear on the right. This is a non-contact payment system based on wireless RFID, where transactions are settled by holding a credit card near the recipient where the debt point is immediately added to the account. The three contactless systems use the same logo. The card is not swiped or inserted into the smart card reader and no PIN is entered.
Many merchants, in the US and globally, now offer payments without American Express contact, including Meijer, Walgreens, Best Buy, Chevron Corporation, Starbucks, and McDonald's.
American Express OPEN
American Express OPEN, a small business branch of American Express, offers different types of charge cards for small businesses to manage their expenses.
At the end of 2007, the company announced a new Plum Card as the latest addition to their line of cards for small business owners. This card provides an initial payment discount of 1.5% or up to two months to delay payments on purchases. A 1.5% discount is available for the billing period in which card members spend at least $ 5,000. The first 10,000 cards were issued to members on December 16, 2007.
In 2008, American Express closed all Business Line of Credit accounts. This decision was reached in conjunction with Federal Reserve approval at the request of American Express to become a commercial bank.
In July 2016, American Express had several credit cards designed for small businesses. This includes Business Credit Cards SimplyCashÃ,® Plus. The earned cash back is automatically credited to the cardholder's statement and other benefits are included. Other cards include Platinum Business Card from American Express OPEN, Gold Express Business Gift Card from American Express OPEN, American Express Business Blue Express Credit Card from American Express OPEN, American Express OPEN Business Gift Card and Prem Card from American Express OPEN. These cards have return protection, year-end summaries and other tools to help with accounting and business control.
Commercial cards and services
In 2008, American Express acquired GE's Corporate Payment Service business, which primarily focuses on providing Purchase Card solutions for large global clients. As part of a $ 1b transaction, American Express also added a new product, called V-Payment, to its product portfolio. V-Payment is unique because it allows the use of strictly controlled single-card numbers to improve control.
In July 2016, American Express offered several credit cards, credit cards, and data and service services as well as data and information on business and travel services related to their use in the competitive market for these cards.
The online "American Express @ Work" function gives companies a site to file, cancel or suspend cards, monitor policy compliance and track expenses. Cardholder companies can create and generate reports for corporate expense account programs, including analytics and data consolidation or integration. Reports can be customized for different company sizes. Through the Standard Spending Reporting feature in "Manage Your Card Account Sites", American Express corporate cards provide cardholder access to the most popular expense reports. The cardholder needs to annotate the expenses and add additional costs after the completion of which the report can be downloaded in electronic or paper format.
The American Express Corporate Card program can be used with third-party on-demand expenditure management tools by Concur, travel service providers and integrated cost management. This tool simplifies creating cost account reports and company approval processes. Corporate card activity, including viewing reports, making payments, organizing alerts and raising queries and dispute fees, can be managed through online accounts or through mobile devices through this service.
Corporate cards have benefits including discounts and rebates for travel and transportation, travel and emergency assistance, travel insurance, and baggage protection. Upgrades from the Company's "Green" Card to the Corporate Gold Card or Platinum Card of the Company, while subject to fees and terms and conditions, have some additional benefits at each card level, such as free breakfast or late payment at many hotels. American Express/Business Extra Corporate credit cards are affiliated with American Airlines and provide a 4% discount on qualifying American Airlines travel purchased with the card.
American Express has a credit card special corporate meeting. Other special American Express business cards are American Express Corporate Purchasing Cards, which can be provided to each employee or department. Reconciliation and accounting services are available to make these functions easier for the company.
Non-exclusive card
In December 2000, American Express agreed to acquire US $ 226 million Bank of Hawaii credit card portfolio, then Pacific Century Financial Corp. division. 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 name Bank of Hawaii.
Until 2004, Visa and Mastercard regulations prohibited their card issuers from issuing American Express cards in the United States. This means, as a practical matter, that a US bank can not issue American Express cards. These rules were decided as a result of an antitrust lawsuit brought by the US Department of Justice, and are no longer applicable. In January 2004, American Express reached an agreement to have a card issued by a US bank, MBNA America. Initially denounced by Mastercard executives as "experiments", these cards were released in October 2004. Some said that the relationship would be threatened by the MBNA merger with Bank of America, main Visa publisher and original developer of Visa (and its predecessor, BankAmericard). 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 have a customer loan and American Express will process the transaction. Also, American Express will refuse Bank of America from antitrust litigation against Visa, Mastercard, and a number of US banks. Finally, both, Bank of America and American Express also said that there is a partnership issuing cards between MBNA and American Express will continue after the merger of Bank of America-MBNA. The first card of the partnership, American Express American Express card at no annual fee, was released on June 30, 2006.
Since then, Citibank, Wells Fargo, First National Bank of Omaha, USAA, Synchrony Financial, and US Bancorp have started issuing American Express cards. Citi publishes Macy and Bloomingdale's American Express cards along with Citi-branded cards. Wells Fargo issued an American Express card under their own brand and for Dillard's. US Bancorp publishes American Express branded cards to the US Bank along with Elan Card Services, a subsidiary that issues credit cards on behalf of small to medium-sized banks. Some credit unions, including PenFed, also issue American Express cards. JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank and the only Big Four bank in the US that does not partner with American Express. Instead, JPMorgan made a decision in 2013 to partner with Visa on a similar ChaseNet closed-loop network in terms of functionality to the American Express network.
Merchant account
Many retailers do not accept American Express cards. American Express charges traders significantly higher fees than other credit card providers. In the case of US court v. V. American Express Co., merchants filed a class action lawsuit against American Express and claimed that charging high fees was a violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. According to the lawsuit, accepting American Express cards costs most merchants. In January 2017, the second US Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed a lower court ruling that American Express may block merchants who received their cards from directing customers to other cards, such as those offered by Visa and Mastercard. In October 2017, the Supreme Court agreed to hear an antitrust case.
Non-card products
Traveler's check
Amex is the largest travel check provider in the world.
In 2005, American Express released American Express Travelers Check Card, a stored value card that serves the same purpose as travelers checks, but can be used in stores such as credit cards. AmEx discontinued the card from October 31, 2007, for "changing market conditions" and issued a refund check to the cardholder for the remaining balance. Shearson/American Express Shearson/American Express Shearson/American Shepherd/American Express Sheets
During the 1980s, American Express began buying a stock brokerage firm as part of its expansion. In mid-1981, he bought Sanford I. Weill's Shearson Loeb Rhoades, the second-largest securities firm in the United States to form Shearson/American Express. Shearson Loeb Rhoades, itself was the culmination of several mergers in the 1970s such as Weill's Hayden, Stone & amp; Co joins Shearson, Hammill & amp; Co. in 1974 to form Shearson Hayden Stone. Shearson Hayden Stone later joined Loeb, Rhoades, Hornblower & amp; Co (formerly Loeb, Rhoades & Co. to form Shearson Loeb Rhoades in 1979. With a capital of $ 250 million at the time of the acquisition, Shearson Loeb Rhoades trailed only Merrill Lynch as the largest brokerage firm in the securities industry by American Express, renamed Shearson/American Express.
In 1984, Shearson/American Express purchased a 90-year-old diversified Investor Service, carrying a fleet of financial advisers and investment products. Also in 1984, American Express acquired investment banking and investment firm Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb, and added it to the Shearson family, creating Shearson Lehman/American Express. In 1988, the company acquired E. F. Hutton & amp; Co., formed Shearson Lehman Hutton until 1990, when the company's name became Shearson Lehman Brothers. When Harvey Golub took control in 1993, he negotiated the sale of Shearson's brokerage business and asset management in retail to Primerica and the following year, breaking away from the remaining investment banking and institutional business as Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
Financial advisor
On September 30, 2005, American Express separated its American Express Financial Advisory unit, Ameriprise Financial, to its shareholders. On September 30, 2005, RSM McGladrey acquired American Express Tax & amp; Business Services (TBS).
International bank
In 2008, Standard Chartered Bank acquired American Express Bank Ltd, an international banking subsidiary of American Express for US $ 823 million.
Travel
American Express founded the Travel Division in 1915 which tied up all previous attempts at making the journey easier, and soon set up its first travel agency. In the 1930s, the Travel Division has grown widely. Albert K. Dawson was instrumental in expanding business operations overseas, even investing in tourist relations with the Soviet Union. During World War I, Dawson was a photographer and film correspondent with the German army.
Currently, the Travel Division focuses on business customers and business travelers and provides travel management services as a travel management company.
Publish
American Express Publishing Corporation publishes Travel Leisure, Food & amp; Wine, Individual banking
American Express FSB (federal savings bank) is a direct bank that offers a standard savings account to individuals. Checking account services is not provided.
Ad campaigns
Do not Leave Home Without Them
In 1975, David Ogilvy of Ogilvy & amp; Mather developed the highly successful "Do not Leave Home Without Them" ad campaign for American Express Tourist Checks, featuring Oscar-winning actor Karl Malden. Malden served as the public face of American Express Travelers Checks for 25 years. In the UK, the spokesperson was the television personality of Alan Whicker.
After Malden's departure, and since cards are considered important over traveler's checks, American Express continues to use celebrities, such as Mel Blanc and ballerina Cynthia Gregory. Typical American Express Card advertisements begin with celebrities asking viewers: "Do you know me?" Though he gives instructions for his identity, the star's name is never mentioned except as stated on the American Express Card, after announcer Peter Thomas told viewers how to apply for it. Each ad closes with a celebrity that reminds viewers: "Do not Leave Home Without It." The slogan "Do not Leave Home Without It" was revived in 2005.
Adventure Seinfeld & amp; Superman
American Express continues to use celebrities in their ads. Some notable examples include the late-1990s advertising campaign with comedian Jerry Seinfeld, including two 2004 webisodes in the series entitled "The Adventures of Seinfeld & Superman."
My life. My card./Are You a Cardmember?
In late 2004, American Express launched "My life My card." brand campaign, and then "Are You a Cardmember?" brand campaign in 2007 (both by Ogilvy & Mather), featuring famous American Express card members talking about their lives. This ad features actor/actress Kate Winslet, Robert De Niro, Ken Watanabe, and Tina Fey; Duke University basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski; fashion designer Collette Dinnigan and Diane von FÃÆ'¼rstenberg; comedian and talk show Ellen DeGeneres; golfer Tiger Woods; professional snowboarder Shaun White; tennis players Venus Williams, Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi; surfer Laird Hamilton Real Madrid manager Josà ©  © Mourinho; film director Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, and M. Night Shyamalan; singers Sheryl Crow, Alicia Keys and Beyoncà © ©.
Animal
In 2007, a two-minute black-and-white ad, titled "Animal" and starring Ellen DeGeneres, won an Emmy Award for Extraordinary Advertising.
C F. Frost
Many American Express credit card ads show an example of an American Express card under the name "C. F. Frost" on the front. This is not a fake name; Charles F. Frost is an advertising executive at Ogilvy & amp; Mather.
Causes of marketing
American Express is one of the earliest marketing users, leading to great success. A 1983 promotion advertises that for every purchase made with American Express Card, American Express will donate a penny for the Renovation of the Statue of Liberty. The campaign generated a $ 1.7 million contribution to the Statue Liberty restoration project. What will soon attract the attention of the big corporate marketing department is that it generates about a 28% increase in the use of American Express cards by consumers.
In May 2007, American Express launched an initiative called Project Member. Cardholders are invited to submit ideas for the project, and are told that American Express is funding a winning project.
Cultural project
American Express supports initiatives to improve architectural and cultural heritage, with the aim of raising awareness of the importance of historical and environmental preservation, through the restoration of historical monuments. American Express is the founding sponsor of the "World Monuments Watch" global program, launched in 1995 by the World Monuments Fund. During the first edition of the Corporate Art Awards, in 2016 American Express is accepted by the Corporate Art Award for its international restoration program.
Workplace
Office
In April 1986, American Express moved its headquarters to 51-Story Three World Financial Center in New York City. After the events of September 11, 2001, American Express had to leave its headquarters for a while as it lay face-to-face with the World Trade Center and was damaged during the fall of the tower. The company began to gradually move back to the rehabilitated building in 2002.
The company has principal offices in Sunrise, Florida, Salt Lake City, and Phoenix, Arizona with its main data centers in North Carolina and Phoenix.
AMEX Bank of Canada was founded in 1853 in Toronto. There are currently 3,000 employees at its headquarters on Sheppard east of Highway 404 in Toronto (moved from Markham, Ontario (Toronto's northern suburb where he lived from 1985 to 2015), as well as an office in Hamilton, Ontario, began operations as a bank on July 1 1990, following an order-in-council made by the government of Brian Mulroney on November 21, 1988. This decision was not without controversy because federal banking policy at that time would not generally permit American Express to operate as a bank. It is a member of the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) and registered members of Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC), a federal agency that insures deposits at all Canadian charter banks.
American Express has offices in the UK, including a 9-storey European Service Center, known as Amex House, in the Carlton Hill area of ​​Brighton, England. It is a large white tower block, built in 1977 and surrounded by several other small offices around town. Amex House deals with card services, sales, deception, and merchant services. The official headquarters of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa is located in the Belgravia district of Westminster, in central London, at Belgrave House on Buckingham Palace Road, SW1; other UK offices are based in Sussex in Burgess Hill. In November 2009, Brighton and Hove City Council granted planning permission for American Express to redevelop the Amex House site.
The headquarters of Japan, Asia-Pacific, and Australia are located in Singapore, at 16 Collyer Quay, and in the area of ​​King Street Wharf Sydney, with a new building receiving greenhouse status due to the environmentally friendly work space it provides.
Latin America and Caribbean division headquarters are in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
American Express also has a significant presence in India. Its two centers are located in Gurgaon, Haryana and at Mathura Road in New Delhi. Indian American Express operations revolve around back office customer service operations apart from credit card business for the domestic Indian Economy, arguably the American Express campus in Gurgaon is the largest employee location based on the head number for Amex and supports the Amex business continuity goals including during Hurricane Sandy, center works 24/7 and includes a second building located in a place that has recently been redirected to a third party service provider but works a lot for Amex.
Job satisfaction
In 2008, American Express was named the 62nd best company to work in the United States by Fortune , ranking number one for bank card companies. In October 2008, Amex Canada Inc. was named one of Toronto's major Entrepreneurs by Mediacorp Canada Inc., announced by the Toronto Star newspaper. By 2018, Fortune rated the 23 best companies to work.
Corporate governance and governance
Company officers are listed on the company website as follows:
- Stephen J. Squeri: Chief and Chief Executive Officer
- Douglas E. Buckminster: Group President, Global Customer Service
- Jeffrey C. Campbell: Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
- L. Kevin Cox: Chief Human Resources Officer
- Paul D. Fabara: President, Global Services Group
- Marc D. Gordon: Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer
- Michael J. O'Neill: Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs & amp; Communication
- Denise Pickett: President, Global Risk, Banking & amp; Chief Compliance and Risk Officer
- Elizabeth Rutledge: Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer
- Laureen E. Seeger: Executive Vice President and General Counsel
- AnrÃÆ' Â © Williams: Group President, Global Merchants & amp; Network Services
The members of the company's board of directors are listed on the company website as follows:
- Stephen J. Squeri: Chairman and CEO of American Express Company
- Charlene Barshefsky: Senior International Partner at WilmerHale
- John J. Brennan: Chairman Emeritus and Senior Adviser of the Vanguard Group
- Ursula Burns: Chairman, VEON Supervisory Board
- Peter Chernin: Founder and CEO of The Chernin Group, LLC
- Ralph de la Vega: Chairman and Founder of the De La Vega Group
- Anne L. Lauvergeon: Founder and CEO of A.L.P.
- Michael O. Leavitt: Founder, Leavitt Partners, LLC
- Theodore J. Leonsis: Chairman and CEO, Monumental Sports & amp; Entertainment, LLC
- Richard C. Levin: Senior Advisor and former CEO, Coursera
- Samuel J. Palmisano: Former Chairman, President and CEO, IBM
- Daniel L. Vasella: Honorary Chairman and former Chairman and CEO, Novartis AG
- Robert D. Walter: Founder and Former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Cardinal Health, Inc.
- Ronald A. Williams: Former Chairman and CEO of Aetna, Inc.
Ownership
By 2017, American Express stocks are primarily held by institutional investors (Berkshire Hathaway, Vanguard Group, BlackRock, State Street Corporation, and others.)
In popular culture
Brand names, card designs and slogans have been parodied many times:
- In the episode of The Sopranos , "Mr. & Mrs. Sacrimoni Requesting...", Christopher Moltisanti ended the sale of his stolen credit card number to the Middle East with an allusion: "Do not leave home without they!" This statement confuses the Middle East, which is unfamiliar with advertising campaigns.
- The long-standing PBS children's TV series Sesame Street parodies the "Do you know me?/Do not Leave Home Without It" ad campaign with three plays involving Muppet characters holding Grown- Friends while crossing the street. One comedy featuring Forgetful Jones (played by Richard Hunt) with Olivia (Alaina Reed Hall) as her Grown-Up Friend, the second featuring Bert and Ernie (Frank Oz and Jim Henson respectively) with Gordon (Roscoe Orman) as Their Grown-Up Friend, and the third featuring Big Bird (Caroll Spinney) with Bob (Bob McGrath) as a Growing Friend. All three plays ended with the name of an adult embossed at the bottom of a card resembling an American Express card that had a large left human hand in the middle, with the words "Hand of Friends Growing" on it, and a voiceover saying "Friends of Friends Growing. Do not cross the street without it. "
- Another parody is seen in the episode of the CBS game show Tap Your Luck , when the "Whammy Characters" animation will give "Do you know me?" tag line, followed by a parody display of Amex card, which then "WHAMMY" is typed at the bottom of the card.
- In the premiere episode of Masquerade , a KGB general says the line, "I guess you never left home without him", to the KGB agent when he saw the agent's "National American" card. In a campaign speech during the 1984 election, President Ronald Reagan said, "If the big shopper gets their way, they will charge everything on your taxpayer express card, and believe me, they never leave home without it."
- In the last episode of The Dukes of Hazzard , Boss Hogg was shot by his former comrade, a bullet hitting the wallet he kept in his pocket and stored in several credit cards. Narrator Waylon Jennings noticed the situation and said, "I'm sure he's glad he did not leave home without them" (referring to his credit card).
- The 1997 film Hercules shows a "Grecian Express" credit card that resembles an Amex card during the "Zero to Hero" song.
- The 1989 movie Major League also parodies the campaign. In one scene, where every player wore a tuxedo, the Cleveland Indians told viewers about the movie why every player brought an American Express Card with many explanations done one line at a time by players Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger), Eddie Harris (Chelcie Ross) Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn (Charlie Sheen), Pedro Cerrano (Dennis Haysbert), and Roger Dorn (Corbin Bernsen), and Manager Lou Brown (James Gammon). The scene ends with Willie's "Mays" Hayes (Wesley Snipes dressed in tuxedo) sliding into the home plate in front of the rest of the team, holding the card and saying to viewers: "The American Express Card Do not steal home without it."
- In the movie Batman & amp; Robin , Batman took out a Bat-Credit card and says he never leaves the cave without it.
- The closing of Yakov Smirnoff, America on Six Rubles a Day (ISBN 978-0-394-75523-6), describes a Russian card with the slogan "Do not leave home."/li>
- In the 2017 Riverdale TV series, credit cards are referred to as "America's Advantages".
See also
- The ATM Industry Association (ATMIA)
- 65 Broadway (Standard & Poors Building)
- American Express Community Stadium
- American Express Gold card dress from Lizzy Gardiner
- Disposal of damage to rental car
- Wells Fargo History
- List of banks
- List of banks in the United States
People
- Franklin P. Buyer, member of Los Angeles City Council, 1933-39, managing the American Express office
References
External links
- Official website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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