American Express (AXP): General Introduction

American Express (NYSE: AXP) is a worldwide payments firm that links individuals to products, information, and experiences that improve their lives and help businesses succeed.

Their integrated payments platform comprises card-issuing, merchant-acquiring, and card network companies. American Express is a global leader in offering payment products and services to a diverse spectrum of clients, including individuals, small businesses, mid-sized enterprises, and major corporations.

American Express was founded in 1850 and is based in New York. It has a legacy based on service and is maintained by innovation. American Express® cards issued by American Express as well as third-party banks and other entities on the American Express network are widely accepted at millions of retailers worldwide.

Company’s history

American Express Corporation, is an American financial firm that primarily offers credit cards, handles payments, and offers travel-related services globally.

On March 18, 1850, three enterprises operating in the fast delivery of commodities, jewels, and money between New York City and Buffalo, New York, and places in the Midwest merged to form the original company:

• 1st: Livingston, Fargo & Company, previously known as Western Express, was founded in 1845 by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo.
• 2nd: Wells & Co. (previously Livingston, Wells & Co.), which Wells co-founded in 1846 and still controlled at the time of the merger.
• 3^rd: John Butterfield and James D. Wasson created the third Butterfield & Wasson.

American Express Company

American Express began as a small group of investors led by Wells as president and Fargo as secretary. By the end of the American Civil War, its company had become so large, with over 900 offices in ten states, that it drew competition in the shape of Merchants Union Express Company in 1866.

After two years of fierce competition, the two firms combined on November 25, 1868, to establish the American Merchants Union Express Company, with Fargo remaining president. In 1873, the corporation was renamed American Express Company.

Innovations

After Fargo died in 1881, his younger brother, James Congdell Fargo (1829-1915), became president and directed the firm for the following 33 years. He was responsible for the American Express Money Order (1882) and the American Express Travelers Cheque (1885). (1891). In addition, he established the first European office in Paris (1895).

Foreign development continued with the creation of offices in various European nations, including England (1896) and Germany (1898). In the early 1900s, the corporation began offering services in Brazil, Argentina, Japan, China, Egypt, and India.

When the United States federal government seized the express industry in 1918, combining all domestic express operations under the American Railway Express Company, American Express focused almost entirely on its banking activities and its newly announced travel services in 1915.

Investments

In 1958, American Express created the iconic green charge card. The company diversified its assets by purchasing firms in investment banking, insurance, and publishing from the 1960s to the 1980s. It bought Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company in 1968, Shearson Loeb Rhoades, Inc., which is a major brokerage business, in 1981 as well as Investors Diversified Services, Inc., a significant Minneapolis-based insurance, mutual fund, and financial advising organisation, in 1984. 

American Express’ work

American Express is a large credit card company that offers cards to individuals, small companies, and corporations. Traveller’s checks, credit cards, business and personal travel planning services, tour packages, and agencies for hotel and car-rental bookings are among the company’s travel-related offerings. During the early twenty-first century, American Express expanded to more than 40 nations. There was also a publishing branch that produced publications including Travel & Leisure and Food & Wine. Nevertheless, in 2013, it was sold to Time Inc.

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Disclaimer:

This information is not considered investment advice or an investment recommendation, but instead a marketing communication. IronFX is not responsible for any data or information provided by third parties referenced or hyperlinked, in this communication.