Company Report for 441

1. American Express
James Lee (jajulee)

2. Brief History
1850 1882
Establishment
Money Order
1891
Traveler’s Check
1958. . .
First Credit Card
1978
IPO
. . .

3. Problems to Solve
How to provide premium
financial services to incentive
consumer spending
How to provide a comfortable
and secure payment medium
for travelers

4. Core Products
Card Products
Non-Card Products

5. Hidden Products or Secret Sauce
Prestige
Perks

6. Business Model
Closed Loop
Higher Merchant
Fees
Charge Card

7. Financials (NYSE:AXP)

8. Financials (NYSE:AXP)

9. Revenue vs. Return

10. Comparison Chart
American
Express
Visa,
Mastercard
Chase, Citi
Debit/Bank
Venmo,
PayPal
Universal
Acceptance
Prestige
Online
Platforms
Closed Loop
Model
Low User
Cost

11. Future/Outlook
Despite Costco fallout, users are spending
more than ever ~7% increase
Growing customer and merchant base (~10
Million new cards and ~1 Million new
merchants in 2016)
Weak technology and “secret sauce” base

12. References
https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/01/23/revenue-and-earnings-fall-at-
american-express.aspx
https://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/02/21/the-14-billion-difference-
how-visa-mastercard-and.aspx
https://image.slidesharecdn.com/americanexpresscompany-
aresearchbyhassankhan-150427141841-conversion-gate02/95/american-express-
company-a-research-by-hassan-khan-6-638.jpg?cb=1430144448
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Express#Non-card_products
https://www.google.com/search?
q=american+express+card+visa&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi
ynPCc06DSAhUEOCYKHeEFAQcQ_AUICCgB&biw=841&bih=611#imgrc=6V6S
Ckz9i7S9HM: