American Express 2003 Annual Report Download - page 20

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WE’VE USED THESE INVESTMENTS TO STRENGTHEN OUR COMPETITIVE
ADVANTAGE. We gained momentum in the marketplace across our lines of business.
Our global card business had an outstanding year. We added 3.5 million new Amer-
ican Express Cards, reaching an all-time high of 60.5 million cards-in-force. We
were among the top card issuers in both spending and lending balance growth. We
believe these results led to card share gains in the United States.
At AEFA, we added $135 billion in total assets, made good progress toward our
goal of improving investment results, enhanced our line-up of investment and
insurance products and grew our financial advisor field force while many competi-
tors were cutting back.
Similarly, at American Express Bank, we significantly increased business volumes in
our private banking and financial institutions businesses — the areas we’ve targeted
for future growth.