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Internet Initiatives
The Internet continues to represent a wealth
of unique and exciting opportunities for American Express
across our businesses. Through the Internet, we have been
able to extend the brand to new markets and new customers in
ways that are unmatched by any other distribution channel in
our 150-year history. In fact, we believe that by
effectively integrating the speed and reach of the Internet
with our considerable physical world assets - which include
our financial advisor network, customer service
representatives, sales forces and marketing groups, and
travel offices around the world - we will create a powerful
competitive advantage that many others in our businesses
should be hard-pressed to match. We also know that by
expanding our use of online servicing for both our customers
and merchants, we can realize substantial cost benefits.
In 2000, we launched our new home page and
added a number of new capabilities and functions to our
site. Additionally, the number of cardmembers enrolled in
our online "Manage Your Card Account" service rose to 3.5
million at year-end 2000, up from 1.5 million at year-end
1999. We also made strategic equity investments in more than
20 interactive companies, which will provide us with
important capabilities that we believe will make our site
even more attractive and relevant to consumers - from online
restaurant reservations to voice-enabled customer service.
While we have seen increases in the number
of cardmembers who shop online, we know that many others
have concerns about the safety of business on the Internet.
To address these concerns, we introduced Private Payments.SM
Private Payments allows consumer and small business
cardmembers to use a unique, one-time card number for their
online purchases. This product, an industry breakthrough in
the United States, enhances our position as a privacy leader
and generated a tremendous amount of public attention about
our online security initiatives. Separately, the launch of
the Offer ZoneSM consolidates all of our American Express
and merchant offers in a single site, creating a one-stop
online shopping experience for consumer and small business
cardmembers.
During 2000, we expanded our Internet
presence and capabilities outside the United States as well,
with the launch of new sites in France, Italy, the
Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. We also expanded the
availability of online functions that allow customers to
check and pay their bills, book travel arrangements and
complete online card applications.
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Using a random, unique number for each online
purchase, Private PaymentsSM enables U.S. consumer and small
business cardmembers to purchase online without transmitting
their actual card account numbers over the Internet. This unique
number expires after the merchant authorization process is
completed, and the Private Payments number cannot be used again
if it is stolen. |
These services, combined with our other
online offerings, help extend the American Express brand
while deepening our relationships with both customers and
merchants. These developments demonstrate that we have
gained momentum in defining and implementing our Internet
strategy - both in making key strategic investments and in
developing a solid Internet presence in many areas of our
business. But we don't want to simply change our businesses
to incorporate the Internet. Rather, we want to embed the
Internet into everything we do - our products, our services
and our processes. In doing so, we can create a powerful new
business model that will help us win in the marketplace.
The recent troubles experienced by many
Internet companies are a warning flag - but we believe they
are also an opportunity. We can take advantage of other
companies' missteps and learn from their mistakes to help us
reassess and adapt our own Internet strategy.
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