American Express 1998 Annual Report Download - page 19

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17
our travel industry presence increases our lever-
age with key suppliers, helping us reduce profit
margin pressure while we provide superior value
to clients.
We further strengthened our roster of Business
Travel clients in 1998 and focused efforts on
deepening our partnerships with major airlines
and hotel companies. We are also expanding this
business through new electronic commerce
services. We strengthened our leadership in on-
line travel systems, enhancing AXI TRAVEL
(American Express Interactive), which now has
nearly 250,000 registered users. Although this list
is growing, we plan to expand the percentage of
business travel our clients book online. Several
initiatives are underway to make Internet transac-
tions easier for our clients.
We also launched a service that allows customers
to file an expense report online by combining
To help American Express become the
primary source of financial and travel
services to U.S. small businesses, we
are expanding our product line. During
the year, we added FedEx to the list of merchants
offering discounts to our Small Business Card-
members and launched an Internet site that helps
small businesses pay international vendors in local
currency. Outside the U.S., we introduced a new Gold
Card for small businesses in the United Kingdom.
Corporate Card charges with travel information.
Co-branded with Concur Technologies, this
service helps business travelers get reimbursed
more quickly.
In addition to traditional travel and enter-
tainment expense management programs, we also
expanded the Corporate Purchasing Card, which
helps companies manage the acquisition of sup-
plies, equipment and services. Business billed on
the Purchasing Card grew significantly in 1998.
This area is profitable and we aim to continue
expanding our presence in this market.
SMALL BUSINESS SERVICES
As we reported last year, we aspire to be the pri-
mary source of financial and travel services for
small businesses in the United States. We made
tremendous strides in 1998. Our Small Business
Corporate Card business continues to grow, with