american express and the charge card
AMERICAN
EXPRESS
OUR STORY
Becoming American Express:
150+ Years of Reinvention and Customer Service
INTRODUCTION
The story of American Express is a fascinating one, filled with interesting and sometimes quirky characters who -- through a combination of brains, perseverance and luck -- shaped the company's development during the past century and a half.
The express company that forwarded freight and valuables evolved into a company that created and sold financial products like money orders and travelers cheques. Following an era of international expansion, the company became an entity perhaps best known for its charge card. Today, American Express is a global payments company.
The attributes that today are the hallmarks of the American Express brand -trust, integrity, security, quality, customer service -- all have their roots in this compelling story. In this history, as well, are the genesis and development of the company's aspiration to become the world's most respected service brand.
Our History
The three principal founders of the American Express Company:
Henry Wells, William G. Fargo and John Butterfield.
Trust. Security. Vigilance. Service. Long before the creation of the Blue Box logo, American
Express used a watchdog to symbolize these key values when it was founded in 1850. After all, the success of any express company that delivered valuable goods depended upon the confidence customers had that the company would safely deliver money and packages.
EXPRESSMEN JOIN FORCES
Established in 1850 in New York, American Express Company was among the first and most successful express delivery businesses to arise during the rapid westward expansion of the
United States. The U.S. Postal Service at the time was slow, expensive and nonexistent in many areas. Nothing larger than a letter-sized envelope could be sent by mail and certainly nothing valuable, as a fair number of deliveries were lost or stolen enroute.
The
EXPRESS
OUR STORY
Becoming American Express:
150+ Years of Reinvention and Customer Service
INTRODUCTION
The story of American Express is a fascinating one, filled with interesting and sometimes quirky characters who -- through a combination of brains, perseverance and luck -- shaped the company's development during the past century and a half.
The express company that forwarded freight and valuables evolved into a company that created and sold financial products like money orders and travelers cheques. Following an era of international expansion, the company became an entity perhaps best known for its charge card. Today, American Express is a global payments company.
The attributes that today are the hallmarks of the American Express brand -trust, integrity, security, quality, customer service -- all have their roots in this compelling story. In this history, as well, are the genesis and development of the company's aspiration to become the world's most respected service brand.
Our History
The three principal founders of the American Express Company:
Henry Wells, William G. Fargo and John Butterfield.
Trust. Security. Vigilance. Service. Long before the creation of the Blue Box logo, American
Express used a watchdog to symbolize these key values when it was founded in 1850. After all, the success of any express company that delivered valuable goods depended upon the confidence customers had that the company would safely deliver money and packages.
EXPRESSMEN JOIN FORCES
Established in 1850 in New York, American Express Company was among the first and most successful express delivery businesses to arise during the rapid westward expansion of the
United States. The U.S. Postal Service at the time was slow, expensive and nonexistent in many areas. Nothing larger than a letter-sized envelope could be sent by mail and certainly nothing valuable, as a fair number of deliveries were lost or stolen enroute.
The