American Express 2007 Annual Report Download - page 22

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• Capability Investments—Behind all of our unique products and services is a sophisticated infrastructure.
In 2007, we continued to invest in the capabilities that enable us to continually improve our customers’
overall experience with American Express, from online applications to service training to payment
functionality.
Improving the customer experience is always a top priority for us, so we were especially gratified to
learn during the year that our commitment to providing differentiated service earned us high praise
from cardmembers.
American Express ranked highest in customer satisfaction among credit card companies in a study by
J.D. Power and Associates, one of the world’s most respected consumer research firms. The study, which
compared the 10 largest U.S. credit card issuers, looked at the key drivers of satisfaction: benefits and
features, rewards, billing and payment processes, fees and rates, and problem resolution. Recognition of
this caliber is a source of pride for American Express people, who feel a deep responsibility for upholding
the company’s long-standing service legacy.
2007 RESULTS: GLOBAL BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS
Since most of the advertising and marketing the public sees from American Express relates to our
consumer products, our B2B businesses are sometimes less well-known. But they have played a major
role in our company’s overall results. They have excellent returns on equity, generating strong growth
with less capital than our other businesses. Each of our B2B businesses has relatively low credit risk:
Corporate Card is a pay-in-full product; our GNS issuing partners assume the credit risk for the cards
they issue on our network; and our merchant risk is limited. As we enter a weaker credit environment,
the relatively lower levels of risk in B2B are an important advantage.
Our Global Business-to-Business Group turned in a strong performance across the board in 2007.
Worldwide spending on proprietary Commercial Cards rose 14 percent. In Global Network Services,
spending on cards issued by our network partners climbed 49 percent to $53 billion, and we added
more than 5 million cards during the year, bringing total GNS cards-in-force to 20.3 million. Global
Corporate Travel sales rose 11 percent worldwide.
LETTER TO SHAREHOLDERS
20
EXPANDING ARRAY OF NETWORK CARDS
Global Network Services (GNS) works with 117 financial institutions around the world that issue cards
accepted on the American Express merchant network. In its 10th year, GNS continued its rapid growth,
and spending on cards issued by our partners rose 49 percent. New cards launched in 2007 included the
China CITIC Bank card, the Cyprus Airlines SunMiles card, Blue from Bradesco, the Lloyds TSB
Airmiles Duo card, and two premium card products for wealthy clients in the U.S.—the Citi Chairman
Card and the Bank of America Accolades™ American Express Card.