American Express Company 2015 Corporate Social Responsibility Report

WELCOME FROM OUR CEO
Welcome.
I’m pleased to share our Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR) Report.
New standards for social responsibility are taking shape around
the world. In an age when customers, employees, shareholders,
regulators and partners expect that the institutions they do
business with operate responsibly and sustainably, CSR has never
been more important.
American Express has been in the service business since our
founding in 1850. From the beginning, we established a reputation
as a company people could trust to do the right thing and stand
behind our promises.
We started as a freight company, moving valuable goods across
U.S. states and territories for our customers. By the early 20th
century, we expanded internationally, shifting into travel, payments
and other services designed to help enrich lives and make
businesses more successful.
Today, American Express is the largest global payments network
that owns relationships with both Card Members and merchants.
We provide products and services to consumers and businesses
around the world, enable millions of transactions daily, and drive
more than $1 trillion in commerce a year. From our earliest days,
we also demonstrated our commitment to community service
– dating back to the U.S. Civil War, during which we shipped
donations of supplies to soldiers’ hospitals free of charge.
Through the decades, we’ve managed through times of
transformation, change and opportunity. We’ve faced significant
challenges, but we’ve always emerged a better, stronger
company by adhering to our core values: keeping the needs of
our customers front and center, offering outstanding products