american express summer internship report.docx

7/29/2019 American Express Summer internship report.docx

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Summer Training Report

On

Retail Sales & Promotion of Credit Cards

AT

Submitted to

Institute of Business Management & Research

In partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the degree of

Master of Business Administration

2012-2014

Submitted By

Anand Khadka


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Acknowledgement

This project entitled RETAIL SALES in AMERICAN EXPRESS. is the

outcome of the research conducted in partial fulfillment of Master of Business Management

Curriculum.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to Prof. Director, (IIBR) for their support

and co-operation.

I owe a deep sense of gratitude to my project guide, Prof. for his valuableguidance & encouragement which enabled me to complete this project successfully.

I would also like to sincerely thank all faculty members of MBA, (IIBR) for their

valuable guidelines.

I would also like to thank all the other employees of AMERICAN EXPRESS who

have largely contributed to completion of this project.

Date:

Place: Pune


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter Description Page No.

Cover Page

Certificates

Acknowledgement

1 Introduction

2 History

3 Company Profile

4 Review of Literature

5 Merger Acquisition & Business Growth

6 Vision, Mision & Values

7 Research Methodology

8 Data Analysis Findings & Conclusion

9 Suggestions & Recommendations

Bibliography

Annexure


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Evaluation Sheet-Summer Project

Name of the student Mr. /Ms __________________________________________

Course __________________________________________

Roll No. __________________________________________

Kindly rate on the scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is for minimum & 10 is for maximum rating

Attendance -

Efforts-

Attitude-

Adherence to the rules & guideline of organization-

Subject knowledge-

Usefulness of the project to your organization-


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Your Suggestion /recommendation (if any)- _________________________________

Signature of the External Guide-

Name ______________________________________

Designation ______________________________________

Contact No.,E-mail Id. _______________________________

Stamp of the organization


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AMERICAN EXPRESS

Introduction

American Express Company (American Express) is a global service company. Its principal

products and services are charge and credit payment card products and travel-related servicesoffered to consumers and businesses worldwide. The Company operates in four segments: U.S.

Card Services, International Card Services, Global Commercial Services (GCS) and Global

Network & Merchant Services (GNMS). Corporate functions and auxiliary businesses, including

the Company's Enterprise Growth Group, publishing business and other company operations, are

included in Corporate & Other. American Express and its principal operating subsidiary,

American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (TRS), are bank holding companies.

During 2011, American Express completed the integration of Accertify Inc. During 2011, it

acquired a controlling interest in Loyalty Partner, which is a marketing services company

operating in Germany, Poland and India.

American Express is the only company with a strong, global presence across the entire payments

chain.

We are the worlds largest card issuer, the premium network for high -spending cardmembers, a

processor of millions of transactions daily, and a partner that provides business-building services

to a worldwide merchant base.

Having this horizontal scale across payments gives us diverse opportunities to grow our business

and drive innovation in the marketplace. Its also a gateway to a broader array of services that

further differentiate American Express.


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Our direct relationships with many millions of consumers, businesses and merchants worldwide -

- combined with our leading-edge marketing, information management and rewards capabilities -

- enable us to offer an array of valuable services that enrich lives, build business success,

encourage financial responsibility, and create communities of people with common interests.

This is what makes American Express a unique, and uniquely powerful, services company.

Each day, American Express makes it easier, safer and more

rewarding for consumers and businesses to purchase the things

they need

and for merchants to sell their goods and services. An engine of commerce, American Express

provides innovative payment, travel and expense management solutions for individuals and businesses of all sizes.

Most of all, we help our customers realize their dreams and aspirations through industry-leading benefits, access to

unique experiences, business-building insights, and global customer care. We enable our customers to do more and

achieve more.


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History of the company

American Express was started as an express mail business in Buffalo, New York, in 1850. It was

founded as a joint stock corporation by the merger of the express companies owned by Henry

Wells (Wells & Company), William G. Fargo (Livingston, Fargo & Company), and John Warren

Butterfield (Wells, Butterfield & Company, the successor earlier in 1850 of Butterfield, Wasson

& Company). The same founders also started Wells Fargo & Co. in 1852 when Butterfield and

other directors objected to the proposal that American Express extend its operations to

California.

American Express first established its headquarters in a building at the intersection of Jay Street

and Hudson Street in what was later called the Tribeca section of Manhattan. For years it

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 marbleItalianate palazzo at 5561 Hudson Streetbetween Thomas Street and Jay Street (185758, JohnWarren Ritch), which had a busy freight depot on the ground story with a spur line fromthe Hudson River Railroad. A stable was constructed nearby at 48 Hubert Street, betweenHudson Street and Collister Street (186667, Ritch & Griffiths), five blocks north of the HudsonStreet building.

The company prospered sufficiently that headquarters were moved in 1874 from the wholesaleshipping district to the budding Financial District, and into rented offices in two five-storybrownstone commercial buildings at 63 and 65 Broadway, between Exchange Alley and RectorStreet, and between Broadway and Trinity Place that were owned by the Harmony family.[12]

In 1880, American Express built a new warehouse behind the Broadway Building at 46 TrinityPlace, between Exchange Alley and Rector Street. The designer is unknown, but it has a faadeof brick arches that are redolent of pre-skyscraper New York. American Express has long beenout of this building, but it still bears a terracotta seal with the American Express Eagle.[13]In189091 the company constructed a new ten-story building by Edward H. Kendall on the site ofits former headquarters on Hudson Street.
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By 1903, the company had assets of some $28 million, second only to the National City Bank ofNew Yorkamong financial institutions in the city To reflect this, the company purchased theBroadway buildings and site.

At the end of the Wells-Fargo reign in 1914, an aggressive new president, George ChadbourneTaylor(18681923), who had worked his way up through the company over the previous thirtyyears, decided to build a new headquarters. The old buildings, dubbed by the New YorkTimes as "among the ancient landmarks" of lower Broadway, were inadequate for such a rapidlyexpanding concern. In March 1914, Renwick, Aspinwall & Tucker filed for the construction of a32-story concrete-and steel-framed office towerin which all of the company's operations, then infour 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 anestimated cost of $1 million.

The 21-story (plus basement), neo-classical, American Express Co. Building, was constructed in191617 to the design ofJames L. Aspinwall, of the firm of Renwick, Aspinwall & Tucker, thesuccessor to the architectural practice of the eminent James Renwick, Jr.. The buildingconsolidated the two lots of the former buildings with a single address: 65 Broadway. Thisbuilding 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 centrallight courts, a type of plan employed from the 1880s through the 1910s to provide offices withmaximum light and air. Faced in white brick and terra cotta above a granite base, both facadesemploy the tripartite composition of base-shaft-capital then popular for the articulation ofskyscrapers, with a colonnaded base and upper portion. The famous American Express Eagleadorns the building twice: there is an asymmetric eagle on the lower arch, while a symmetriceagle adorns the arch atop the building. The Broadway entrance features a double-storyCorinthian colonnade with large arched windows. The building completed the continuousmasonry wall of its block-front poda nae and assisted in transforming Broadway into the"canyon" of neo-classical masonry office towers familiar to this day[14]

American Express sold this building in 1975, but retained travel services here. The building wasalso the headquarters over the years of other prominent firms, including investment bankers J.&
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W. Seligman & Co. (194074), the American Bureau of Shipping, a maritime concern (197786), and currently J.J. Kenny, and Standard & Poor's, who has renamed the building for itself.

Nationwide expansion

American Express extended its reach nationwide by arranging affiliations with other expresscompanies (including Wells Fargothe replacement for the two former companies that mergedto form American Express), railroads, and steamship companies.

Financial services.

In 1882, American Express started its expansion in the area of financial services by launchinga money orderbusiness[11]to compete with the United States Post Office's money orders.

Sometime between 1888 and 1890, J. C. Fargo took a trip to Europe and returned frustrated andinfuriated. Despite the fact that he was president of American Express and that he carried withhim traditional letters of credit, he found it difficult to obtain cash anywhere except in majorcities. Fargo went to Marcellus Flemming Berry and asked him to create a better solution thanthe traditional letter of credit. Berry introduced the American Express Traveler's Cheque whichwas launched in 1891 in denominations of $10, $20, $50, and $100.[15]

Traveler's cheques established American Express as a truly international company. In 1914, atthe outbreak of World War I, American Express offices in Europe were among the fewcompanies 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 travelers.

Loss of railroad express business

American Express became one of the monopolies that President Theodore Roosevelt hadthe Interstate Commerce Commission investigate during his administration. The interest of theICC was drawn to its strict control of the railroad express business. However, the solution did notcome immediately to hand.[11]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 December26 President Woodrow Wilson commandeered the railroads on behalf of the US government tomove US troops, their supplies, and coal. Treasury Secretary William Gibbs McAdoo wasassigned the task of consolidating the railway lines for the war effort. All contracts betweenexpress companies and railroads were nullified and McAdoo proposed that all existing expresscompanies be consolidated into a single company to serve the country's needs. This ended
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American Express's express business, and removed them from the ICCs interest. The result wasthat a new company called the American Railway Express Agency formed in July 1918. The newentity took custody of all the pooled equipment and property of existing express companies (thelargest share of which, 40%, came from American Express, who had owned the rights to theexpress business over 71,280 miles (114,710 km) of railroad lines, and had 10,000 offices, with

over 30,000 employees).

Investment banking

During the 1980s, American Express embarked on an effort to become a financial servicessupercompany and made a number of acquisitions to create an investment banking arm. In mid-1981 it purchased Sanford I. Weill's Shearson Loeb Rhoades, the second largest securities firmin the United States to form Shearson/American Express.

After the purchase of Shearson, Weill was given the position of president of American Express

in 1983. Weill grew increasingly unhappy with responsibilities within American Express and hisconflicts with American Express' CEO James D. Robinson III. Weill soon realized that he wasnot positioned to be named CEO and left in August 1985. In 1984, American Express acquiredthe investment banking and trading firm, Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb, and added it to theShearson family, creating Shearson Lehman/American Express. It was Lehman's CEO andformer traderLewis Glucksman who would next lead Shearson Lehman/American Express.

In 1984 Shearson/American Express purchased the 90-year-old Investors Diversified Services,bringing with it a fleet of financial advisors and investment products. In 1988, Shearson Lehmanacquired E.F. Hutton & Co., a brokerage firm founded in 1904, this was merged with theinvestment banking business and the investment banking arm was renamed Shearson LehmanHutton, Inc.[16]

However, when Harvey Golubbecame CEO of American Express in 1993, American Expressdecided to get out of the investment banking business and negotiated the sale of Shearson's retailbrokerage and asset managementbusiness to Primerica. The Shearson business was merged withPrimerica's Smith Barney to create Smith Barney Shearson. Ultimately, the Shearson name wasdropped in 1994.[17]
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In 1994, American Express spun off of the remaining investment banking and institutionalbusinesses as Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc which after almost fifteen years of independencewould file for bankruptcy protection in 2008 as part of the Late-2000s financial crisis.

Recent history

Current CEO Ken I. Chenault took over leadership of American Express in 2001 from HarveyGolub, CEO from 1993 to 2001. Prior to that, the company was headed by James D. RobinsonIII from 1977 to 1993.

Charge card services

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

American Express executives discussed the possibility of launching a travel charge card as earlyas 1946, but it was not until Diners Clublaunched their card in March 1950 that AmericanExpress began to seriously consider the possibility. At the end of 1957, American ExpressCEO Ralph Reed decided to get into the card business, and by the launch date of October 1, 1958public interest had become so significant that they 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 beseen as a premium product. The first cards were paper, with the account number andcardmember's name typed. It was not until 1959 that American Express began issuingembossed ISO/IEC 7810plastic cards, an industry first.

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

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 allowedcustomers to carry a balance (the charge cards also now allow extended payment options on

qualifying charges based on credit availability). Although American Express no longer acceptsapplications for the Optima brand of cards, since July 13, 2009, Optima cards are still listed onthe American Express website, as a reference to existing members only. According to AmericanExpress, Optima accounts were not converted or closed. However, Blue from American Expresshas prevailed as the replacement for the original Optima style of credit card. Blue includesmultiple benefits free of charge, unlike Optima, including the Membership Rewards program. InOctober 2012, The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced an enforcementaction with orders requiring three American Express subsidiaries to refund an estimated $85million to approximately 250,000 customers for illegal card practices. This action was the resultof a multi-part federal investigation which found that at every stage of the consumer experience,from marketing to enrollment to payment to debt collection, American Express violated

consumer protection laws. American Express did send letters to some previous customers: "Weinvite you to apply for the Optima Card from American Express. This opportunity is inconnection with a settlement solicitation, which did not clearly disclose that a settlement couldprevent you from being approved for a new account with us in the future. This is in response toan enforcement action by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Consumer FinancialProtection Bureau regarding this issue. Your attached application will be approved unless wedetermine that you do not have the financial capacity to make the minimum payment on this newOptima Card account, or we receive the application after 04/25/2013."

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

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

"Boston Fee Party

From 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 onlyAmerican Express and no other credit or charge cards. This prompted competitors suchas Visa and MasterCard to cry foul for a while as the tactics "locked" restaurants into AmericanExpress. The practice ended in 1991, as several restaurants in Boston started accepting andencouraging the use of Visa and MasterCard because of their far lower fees as compared toAmerican Express' fees at the time (which were about 4% for each transaction versus around1.2% at the time for Visa and MasterCard). A few even stopped accepting American Expresscredit and charge cards. The revolt, known as the "Boston Fee Party" (in reference to the Boston
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Tea Party), was orchestrated by a PR firm hired and paid by Discover Card. The campaignspread to over 250 restaurants across the United States, including restaurants in other cities suchas New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles. In response, American Express reduced itsdiscount rate gradually to compete more effectively and add new merchants such assupermarkets and drugstores to its network. Many elements of the exclusive acceptance program

were also phased out and American Express pursued other programs to effectively encouragebusinesses to add American Express cards to their existing list of payment options.

Cable TV

American Express formed a joint venture with Warner Communications in 1979 called Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, which created MTV, Nickelodeon, and The Movie Channel. Thepartnership lasted only until 1984. The properties were sold to Viacom soon after.

Conversion to bank holding company

On November 10, 2008, during the financial crisis of 2008, the company won Federal ReserveSystem approval to convert to a bank holding company, making it eligible for government helpunder the Troubled Asset Relief Program.[18][19]At that time, American Express had totalconsolidated assets of about $127 billion.[19]In June 2009, $3.39 billion in TARP funds wererepaid plus $74.4 million in dividend payments, and in July 2009 they ended their obligationsunder TARP by buying back $340 million in Treasury warrants.[20][21][22]

Controversy in the UK

In November 2010 the UK division of American Express was cautioned by the Office of FairTrading for the use of controversial charging orders against those in debt.[23]The regulator saidthat the company was one of four companies who were encouraging customers to turn theirunsecured credit card debts into a form of secured debt.

Loyalty acquisition

In March 2011, American Express completed a $685m purchase of Loyalty Partner, whichoperates the Payback loyalty program in Germany and Poland, and the i-Mint loyalty program inIndia.[24]

Business model
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Typical credit card business model

When a consumer makes a purchase using a credit or charge card, a small portion of the price ispaid as a fee (known as the merchant discount), with the merchant keeping the remainder. Thereare typically three parties who split this fee amongst themselves:

1. Acquiring bank: the bank which processes credit card transactions for a merchant,including crediting the merchant's account for the value charged to a credit card less all

fees.2. Issuing bank: the bank which issues the consumer's credit card. This is the bank a

consumer is responsible for repaying after making a credit card purchase. The issuer'sshare of the merchant discount is known as the interchange fee.

3. Network: the link between acquiring banks and issuing banks. These banks haverelationships with a network, rather than with each other, for fulfilling card purchases.This allows a card issued by a community bank in Peru to be used at a shop in SouthAfrica, for instance, without requiring the banks to have a direct relationship with eachother. The two largest networks in the world are Visa and MasterCard. AmericanExpress operates its own network.

The average merchant discount in the United States is 1.9%. Of this, approximately 0.1% goes tothe acquirer, 1.7% to the issuer, and 0.09% to the network.[25]

Most Prime and Superprime card issuers use the majority of their interchange revenue tofund loyalty programs like frequent flyer points and cash back, and hence their profit from cardspending is small relative to the interest they earn from card lending.

Card products

Consumer cards

The cards

See also: Centurion Card, American Express Red, andExpressPay

American Express is best known for its iconic Green, Gold, and Platinum charge cards, andoffers credit cards of similar color levels in most countries.
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In the 1950s, American Express issued its first credit card, which caught on quickly in thebooming postwar economy and signaled the company's transition to a wider consumer base. In1966, the company issued its first gold card, in an effort to cater to the upper echelon of businesstravel. Its platinum card debuted in 1984 and continues to be immensely popular as it is secondin exclusivity only to the Centurion Card.

In 1999, American Express introduced the Centurion Card, often referred to as the "black card,"which caters to an even more affluent and elite customer segment. The card was initiallyavailable only to select users of the Platinum card. The annual fee for the card is $2,500 (up from$1,000 at introduction) with an additional one-time initiation fee of $5,000. American Expresscreated the card line amid rumors and urban legends in the 1980s that it produced an ultra-exclusive black card for elite users who could purchase anything with it.[26]

American Express cards range between no annual fee (for Blue and many other consumer andbusiness cards) and a $450 annual fee (for the Platinum card). Annual fees for the Green cardstart at $95 (first year free), while Gold card annual fees start at $125.

American Express has several co-branded credit cards, with most falling into one of three

categories:

Airlines: e.g., Aerolineas Argentinas, Air Canada, Air France, Alitalia, BritishAirways, Cathay Pacific, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, Qantas, ScandinavianAirlines,Singapore Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, among others.

Hotels: e.g., Hilton Hotels. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Retailers: e.g., Costco, David Jones, Holt

Renfrew, Harrods, Macys, Bloomingdales, Lowe's, Mercedes Benz, and others.

Their card aimed at young adults is called Blue from American Express. A television mediacampaign for Blue adopted the 1979 UKSynthpop hit "Cars" by Gary Numan as itstheme song.Based on a successful product for the European market, Blue had no annual fee, a rewardsprogram, and a multi-functional onboard smart chip. A cashbackversion, "Blue Cash", quicklyfollowed. Amex also targeted young adults with City Reward Cards that earn INSIDE Rewardspoints to eat, drink, and play at New York, Chicago and LA hot spots. American Express beganphasing out the INSIDE cards in mid-2008, with no new applications being taken as of July2008.

In 2005, American Express introduced Clear, advertised as the first credit card with no fees ofany kind. Also in 2005, American Express introduced One, a credit card with a "SavingsAccelerator Plan" that contributes 1% of eligible purchases into a High-Yield SavingsAccount insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Other cards introduced in 2005included "The Knot" and "The Nest" Credit Cards from American Express, co-branded cards

developed with the wedding planning website theknot.com.In 2006, the UK division of American Express joined the Product Red coalition and began toissue a Red Card. With each card member purchase the company contributes to causesthrough The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to help African women andchildren suffering from HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases.
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In 2009, American Express introduced the ZYNC charge card. White in color, this card wascreated for people in their 20s and 30s. American Express is no longer taking applications for theZYNC charge card.

In late 2012, American Express and Walmart announced the launch ofBluebird, a prepaid debitcard similar to that ofGreen Dot.[27]Bluebird is being touted as having lower fees than other

prepaid debit cards with some of the benefits of traditional American Express cards, suchas roadside assistance and identity theftprotection. The card can also be used as a substitute to atraditional checking account. Unlike other such cards, Bluebird is FDIC-insured.[28]FDICbacking means Bluebird accounts now have deposit insurance, check writing capabilities andcustomers can now have Social Security checks, military pay and other government benefitsdeposited directly into their accounts.

Card design

The company mascot, the Roman Gladiator or Centurion, appears at the center of the iconicZync, Green, Gold, Platinum, and Centurion cards. The figure and his pose evokeclassicalantiquity. These cards also feature intricate border and background designs that read "American

Express." The unique designs on these cards, especially the Green card, bear resemblance tothose on United States Federal Reserve Notes, and enhance the image of the cardholder as anaffluent and conspicuous consumer.

ExpressPay

In 2005, American Express introduced ExpressPay, similar to MasterCard PayPass andVisa payWave. It is a contactless payment system based on wireless RFID, where transactionsare completed by holding the credit card near a receiver at which point the debt is immediatelyadded to the account. The card is not swiped and no PIN is entered. Many U.S. merchant andrestaurant partners now offer ExpressPay, including Meijer, CVS/Pharmacy, Best Buy, ChevronCorporation, Noah's Bagels, and some McDonald'slocations. Office Depot has implementedExpressPay in all 1200 of its stores.[29]

Small business services (also known as American Express OPEN)

For more details on this topic, see American Express Plum Card.

American Express offers various types of charge cards for small businesses to manage theirexpenses, and the company is also the largest provider of corporate cards.

In late 2007, the company announced the new Plum Card as the latest addition to their card lineforsmall business owners.[30]The card provides a 1.5% early pay discount or up to two monthsto defer payment on purchases. The 1.5% discount is available for billing periods where thecardmember spends at least $5,000. The first 10,000 cards were issued to members on December16, 2007.[31]

In 2008, American Express made a decision to close all Business Line of Credit accounts. Thisdecision was reached in tandem with the Federal Reserve's approval of American Express'srequest to become a Commercial Bank.

Commercial cards and services

American Express also offers a comprehensive range of cards designed to support mid-sized andlarge companies manage their travel and day-to-day operational expenses. The core product, the
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American Express Corporate Card is offered in over 40 countries, and a number ofcomplementary products for specific types of spending are offered for special needs. Examplesof these products include the Corporate Meeting Card, the Corporate Purchasing Card, and theBusiness Travel Account. Commercial Cards differ from Business Cards as they enable companyliability (business cards are issued as extensions of credit to the company's owner). In addition,

Commercial Cards offer a comprehensive suite of data and reporting solutions that help clientsgain visibility and control over employee expenditures.

As part of supporting Corporate clients, American Express offers a number of online solutionsdelivered through the American Express @ Work website. From American Express @ Work,clients have access to program management capabilities, online statements, reporting and dataintegration products. Information @ Work, a reporting tool targeted at mid-size companies togive them quick and easy access to their employees' spend data; Customized Reporting isprovided to larger clients who require more advanced analytics and data consolidationcapabilities. American Express also provides data files to clients to power expense reporting andreconciliation tools.

In 2008, American Express acquired the Corporate Payment Services business of GE, whichprimarily focused on providing Purchasing Card solutions for large global clients.[32]As part ofthe $1b+ transaction, American Express also added a new product, called V-Payment, to itsproduct portfolio. V-Payment is unique in that it enables a tightly controlled, single-use cardnumber for increased control.

Non-proprietary cards

In December 2000, American Express agreed to acquire the US$226 million credit card portfolioofBank of Hawaii, then a division ofPacific Century Financial Corp.[33]In January 2006,American Express sold its Bank of Hawaii card portfolio to Bank of America (MBNA). Bank ofAmerica will issue Visa and American Express cards under the Bank of Hawaii name.

Until 2004, Visa and MasterCard rules prohibited issuers of their cards from issuing AmericanExpress cards in the United States. This meant, as a practical matter, that U.S. banks could notissue American Express cards. These rules were struck down as a result of antitrust litigationbrought by the U.S. Department of Justice, and are no longer in effect.[34]In January 2004,American Express reached a deal to have its cards issued by a U.S.bank, MBNA America.[35]Initially decried by MasterCard executives as nothing but an"experiment", these cards were released in October 2004.[36]Some said that the relationship wasgoing to be threatened by MBNA's merger with Bank of America, a major Visa issuer andoriginal developer of Visa (and its predecessor, BankAmericard). However, an agreement wasreached between American Express and Bank of America on December 21, 2005.[37]Under theterms of the agreement, Bank of America will own the customer loans and American Expresswill process the transactions. Also, American Express will dismiss Bank of America from itsantitrust litigation against Visa, MasterCard, and a number of U.S. banks. Finally, both Bank ofAmerica and American Express also said an existing card-issuing partnership between MBNAand American Express will continue after the Bank of America-MBNA merger. The first cardfrom the partnership, the no-annual-fee Bank of America Rewards American Express card, wasreleased 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
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Airlines AAdvantage co-branded card.[37]In January 2006[38]Amex issued Dillard's AmericanExpress card in joint cooperation with GE Money, however, in Mar 2008 [39]GE sold its card unitto Amex for $1.1bn in cash only deal.[32] HSBC Bank USA is currently testing both HSBC-branded and Neiman Marcus co-branded American Express rewards credit cards, with a fullrollout scheduled for late 2007 or early 2008. Also, UBS launched its Resource Card program for

US Wealth Management clients issuing Visa Signature credit cards and American Expresscharge cards linked to their customers accounts and employing a single rewards program for thetwo cards. Fidelity operates a similar program, issuing both American Express and VisaSignature cards through FIA Card Services.[40]

Non-card products

Traveler's checks

Amex is the largest provider oftraveler's checks in the world.

In 2005, American Express released the American Express Travelers Check Card, a stored-valuecard that serves the same purposes as a traveler's check, but can be used in stores like a creditcard. The card has since been discontinued as of October 31, 2007, due to "changing marketconditions". All cardholders were issued refund checks for the remaining balances.

Shearson/American Express

See also: Shearson/American Express

Shearson/American Express logo c. 1982

During the 1980s, American Express began purchasing stock brokerage firms as part of anexpansion. In mid-1981 it purchased Sanford I. Weill's Shearson Loeb Rhoades, the secondlargest securities firm in the United States to form Shearson/American Express. Shearson LoebRhoades, itself was the culmination of several mergers in the 1970s as Weill's Hayden, Stone &Co. merged with Shearson, Hammill & Co. in 1974 to form Shearson Hayden Stone. ShearsonHayden Stone then merged with Loeb, Rhoades, Hornblower & Co. (formerly Loeb, Rhoades &Co. to form Shearson Loeb Rhoades in 1979. With capital totalling $250 million at the time of itsacquisition, Shearson Loeb Rhoades trailed only Merrill Lynch as the securities industry'slargest brokerage firm. After its acquisition by American Express, the firm was renamedShearson/American Express.

In 1984 Shearson/American Express purchased the 90-year-old Investors Diversified Services,bringing with it a fleet of financial advisors and investment products. Also in 1984, AmericanExpress acquired the investment banking and trading firm, Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb, andadded it to the Shearson family, creating Shearson Lehman/American Express. In 1988, the firmacquired E. F. Hutton & Co., forming Shearson Lehman Hutton until 1990, when the firm's name
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became Shearson Lehman Brothers. When Harvey Golub took the reins in 1993 he negotiatedthe sale of Shearson's retail brokerage and asset managementbusiness to Primerica and infollowing year, spun off of the remaining investment banking and institutional businessesas Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

Financial advisors

On September 30, 2005, American Express spun off its American Express Financial Advisorsunit as a publicly traded company, Ameriprise Financial, Inc..[41]Due to this, American Expressrevenues 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 & BusinessServices (TBS).[41]

On September 18, 2007, Standard Chartered Bankagreed to acquire American Express BankLtd, a commercial bank, from American Express Co,[42]for an estimated US$823 million,through a friendly divestiture process.[43][44][45][46][47]

Travel

American Express established a Travel Division in 1915 that tied together all of the earlierefforts at making travel easier, and soon established its first travel agencies. In the 1930s, theTravel Division had grown widely. Albert K. Dawson was instrumental in expanding businessoperations overseas, even investing in tourist relations with the Soviet Union. Dawson duringWorld War I had been a photographer and film correspondent with the German army. Today thefocus of The Travel Division is on business customers and business travel.

Management Hierarchy

Key executives include:[4]

Kenneth Chenault: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Douglas E. Buckminster: President, International Consumer and Global Network Services James Bush: Executive Vice President, World Service Kevin Cox: Executive Vice President, Human Resources Edward P. Gilligan: Vice Chairman William H. Glenn: President, Global Corporate Payments and Business Travel Ash Gupta: Chief Risk Officer and President, Risk and Information Management John D. Hayes: Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Daniel T. Henry: Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Louise M. Parent: Executive Vice President and General Counsel Thomas Schick: Executive Vice President, Corporate and External Affairs Daniel H. Schulman: Group President, Enterprise Growth Joshua G. Silverman: President, U.S. Consumer Services Stephen J. Squeri: Group President, Global Corporate Services Anr Williams: President, Global Merchant ServicesCurrent members of the board of directors of American Express are:[57]
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Daniel F. Akerson: Managing Directorof the Carlyle Group Charlene Barshefsky: Former United States Trade Representative Ursula M. Burns: President ofXerox Corporation Kenneth I. Chenault: Chairman and CEO of American Express Co. Peter Chernin: Former President and COO, News Corporation Vernon E. Jordan, Jr.: Senior Managing Director with Lazard Freres & Co. LLC Jan Leschly: CEO ofCare Capital LLC Richard C. Levin: President, Yale University Richard A. McGinn: Former CEO ofLucent Technologies, Partner, RRE Ventures Edward D. Miller: Former President and CEO ofAXA SA Frank P. Popoff: Former Chairman Chemical Financial Corp. Steven S. Reinemund: Former Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo Inc. Robert D. Walter: Chairman and CEO, Cardinal Health Ronald A. Williams: Chairman and CEO, Aetna Inc.

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Benefits from PlatinumBesides indulging yourself with exclusive privileges, you can also enjoy a range of benefits andpersonalized service that is reserved for a select few.

Platinum Concierge3 Platinum Assist4
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Welcome Everywhere Additional & Supplementary Cards5

Eligibility

To save time before you apply foryour Card, its best to make sure you can say yes to the following:

I am over 18 years of age I have a Personal Annual Income of INR 9 Lacs and above (in case of Self Employed) & INR 15 Lacs and

above (in case of Salaried)

I have an Indian or multinationalbanks savings or current account in India I have a permanent residential address in India I have a good credit history and no payment defaults If self-employed: My company has been trading for more than 12 months.

Jet Airways American ExpressPlatinum Credit Card

Card type- Credit Card Annual fee- Rs.10,000 plus applicable taxes Reward Earn Rate- 6 JPMiles for every Rs.100 spent

Highlights

Get a Welcome Gift1 of 20,000 Bonus JPMiles + one-waycomplimentary Jet Airways Base Fare Waived Domestic Ticket2 on your first charge

Enjoy complimentary membership to the American Express Platinum Lounges at Delhi & MumbaiDomestic Airports

3

Earn 6 JPMiles per Rs.100 - the fastest ongoing JPMiles earn rate on all your spending, with no limiton the JPMiles you can accumulate

Experience dedicated 24x7 Platinum Concierge Service Pay in easy installments with the Pay-in-Parts Privilege.

Reward Program

From the moment you start using your Card, it starts making it a more rewarding journey for you.

Welcome Gift1: Get 20,000 Bonus JPMiles on the first charge on your Card + get a complimentary JetAirways Base Fare Waived Domestic Ticket2 Earn 6 JPMiles for every Rs.100 on all your regular spending Earn 12 JPMiles per Rs.100 spent for revenue tickets booked on www.jetairways.com or

www.jetkonnect.com using your Jet Airways American Express Platinum Credit Card

Enjoy an accelerated earn rate of up to 15/20 JPMiles per Rs.100 on your spending a tselect AmericanExpress Platinum Partners 4.
https://www.americanexpress.com/in/content/platinum-reserve-credit-card/https://www.americanexpress.com/in/content/platinum-rese

american express summer internship report.docx

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