American Express Credit Card Company

The American Express card company, which is also known as "Amex" or "AmEx", is a financial services company that offers its services worldwide. It is based in New York City and the company is most known for its traveler's cheque, credit card, and charge card businesses.

It was in 1850 that the American Express card company was started as a joint stock corporation in Buffalo, New York. It was a corporation that was a merger of express mail companies such as Wells & Company (which was owned by Henry Wells), Livingston, Fargo & Company (which was owned by William Fargo), and Butterfield, Wasson & Company (which was owned by John Butterfield).

American Express originally had their office located in Manhattan's TriBeCa section. They enjoyed monopolizing the movement of express shipments such as securities, goods, and currencies across the New York State. During 1874, the headquarters of American Express were moved to 65 Broadway, a location that was starting to become known as Manhattan's financial district.

American Express started to extend its reach across the whole of the United States by being affiliated with various express companies, steamship, and railroad companies. During 1882, American Express expanded its services further by commencing a money order business that was meant to be an alternative to the US Post Office's money order services.

It was during 1987 that the Optima Card was launched. This is the first American Express credit card product. Prior to the launching of this card, American Express card balances had to be paid by customers in full every month. However, Optima let customers carry a balance for a longer period of time. Nowadays, even though Optima is no longer as promoted as other American Express credit cards, Optima Platinum and Optima cards can still be availed.

Today, there are many American Express credit cards available, some of which are co-branded cards. These co-branded cards include the Starwood Preferred Guest Card and JetBlue Card. There are also other cards that offer customers with great rewards. Some of these cards are the Blue Cash Rebate Card and the Blue from American Express Card.

Interbrand and Businessweek ranked American Express as 15th among the most valuable brands across the world. In fact, estimates state that the brand is worth approximately US$20.87 billion. The United States based Working Mothers magazine also named American Express in 2006 and 2007 as one among the 100 Best Companies for United States' working mothers.