American Express 2015 Annual Report Download - page 13

This report discusses the reportable operating segments consistent with financial information as presented in the
Consolidated Financial Statements.
Securities Exchange Act Reports and Additional Information
We maintain an Investor Relations website on the internet at http://ir.americanexpress.com. We make available
free of charge, on or through this website, our annual, quarterly and current reports and any amendments to those
reports as soon as reasonably practicable following the time they are electronically filed with or furnished to the
Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). To access these materials, click on the “SEC Filings” link under the
caption “Financial Information” on our Investor Relations homepage.
You can also access our Investor Relations website through our main website at www.americanexpress.com by
clicking on the “Investor Relations” link, which is located at the bottom of our homepage. Information contained on our
Investor Relations website, our main website and other websites referred to in this report is not incorporated by
reference into this report or any other report filed with or furnished to the SEC. We have included such website
addresses only as inactive textual references and do not intend them to be active links.
This report includes trademarks, such as American Express®, which are protected under applicable intellectual
property laws and are the property of American Express Company or its subsidiaries. This report also contains
trademarks, service marks, copyrights and trade names of other companies, which are the property of their respective
owners. Solely for convenience, our trademarks and trade names referred to in this report may appear without the ®or
TM symbols, but such references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that we will not assert, to the fullest extent
under applicable law, our rights or the right of the applicable licensor to these trademarks and trade names.
Products and Services
Our range of products and services includes:
• Charge and credit card products
• Network services
• Merchant acquisition and processing, servicing and settlement, merchant financing, and point-of-sale,
marketing and information products and services for merchants
• Fee services, including fraud prevention services and the design and operation of customer loyalty and rewards
programs
• Expense management products and services
• Travel-related services
• Stored value/prepaid products
Our various products and services are sold globally to diverse customer groups, including consumers, small
businesses, mid-sized companies and large corporations. These products and services are sold through various
channels, including direct mail, online applications, in-house and third-party sales forces and direct response
advertising. Business travel-related services are offered through our non-consolidated joint venture, American
Express Global Business Travel (the “GBT JV”).
Our general-purpose card network, card-issuing and merchant-acquiring and processing businesses are global in
scope. We are a world leader in providing charge and credit cards to consumers, small businesses and corporations.
These cards include cards issued by American Express as well as cards issued by third-party banks and other
institutions that are accepted by merchants on the American Express network. American Express®cards permit Card
Members to charge purchases of goods and services in most countries around the world at the millions of merchants
that accept cards bearing our logo. At December 31, 2015, we had total worldwide cards-in-force of 117.8 million
(including cards issued by third parties). In 2015, our worldwide billed business (spending on American Express cards,
including cards issued by third parties) was $1.04 trillion.
Our business as a whole has not experienced significant seasonal fluctuations, although card billed business tends
to be moderately higher in the fourth quarter than in other quarters. As a result, the amount of Card Member loans and
receivables outstanding tend to be moderately higher during that quarter. The average discount rate also tends to be
slightly lower during the fourth quarter due to a higher level of retail-related billed business volumes.
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