American Express 2001 Annual Report Download - page 19

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INVESTING IN KEY GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES
The events of 2001 forced us to take a more critical look at our future growth
opportunities. Like many other companies, we had to reprioritize our invest-
ment spending and make difficult trade-offs. As a result, we have identified
opportunities in our core businesses that offer the potential for the highest lev-
els of return and the greatest chances of success. In particular, there are three
areas that we think can provide sustainable growth for American Express over
the short, moderate and long terms.
EXPANDING OUR CARD BUSINESS IN INTERNATIONAL MARKETS
In the consumer, small business and commercial card areas, we are investing
significant resources in a number of key international markets. Many countries
have much lower charge and credit card usage rates than those in the United
States, and we believe the opportunities for growth in those countries will be
substantial for the foreseeable future.
Over the past couple of years – despite economic downturns in some regions –
we have significantly grown our business in many international markets. This
is due largely to the introduction of new products and the creation of new
alliances. While we have made good progress, our presence in many markets is
still relatively small, providing us with significant additional potential for
expanding our business.
Our total number of cards in force outside the United States rose to 20.6 mil-
lion, up from 18.4 million a year earlier. This is a 12 percent increase for the
year. International loan receivables grew by 32 percent during the year.
Importantly, our credit quality has remained strong, despite economic pressures
in many countries.
We launched a number of new consumer card products in international markets
during 2001, including Blue from American Express in Australia, Austria, France
and Germany. In addition to the British Airways products cited earlier, we
launched cobrand cards with Indian Airlines, Accor in Germany and a small busi-
ness card with Australia’s Westpac Bank. In total, we launched proprietary charge
and credit products in 14 countries, as well as 41 affinity card products and 30 dis-
tribution agreements.
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