AmEx sees spending rise
AMERICAN Express said second quarter earnings rose yesterday, as customers spent more on their cards and the firm trims its riskier businesses.
Average spending on the company’s cards rose 15 per cent to $3,767 and the number of outstanding American Express cards rose six per cent to 94m.
The firm’s quarterly earnings rose to $1.32bn, a jump on 32 per cent on the same quarter last year.
American Express has been focusing its business on processing credit and debit card transactions, which is less risky than lending.
The company said earlier this week it is working with merchants to offer coupons to customers via Facebook, which is designed to generate more sales volume on American Express cards.
In the years leading up to the credit crunch, American Express boosted profit by making more loans, only to be burned by customer defaults.