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American Express refocuses services

American Express International (Taiwan) Inc said yesterday it would refocus on upscale customers as a low-risk, high-consumption profit base by developing its credit payment business. The company expressed concern, however, that the disputed personal bankruptcy bill may hamper its business outlook this year.

"We have seen some changes going on in the market following the consumer credit abuse storm last year," American Express Taiwan chairman Patrick Foo (胡柏迪) told reporters yesterday.

Despite a 30 percent fall in the revolving balance, the spending amount did not drop, indicating that the bad consumer loans issue had led to a reshuffle of customer composition, he said.

In the first quarter of this year, average spending of the US credit card issuer rose 50 percent year-on-year to NT$19,000 per card, beating the average market growth, which was 20 percent to NT$5,600 per card.

American Express hopes to continue its spending growth by further exploring the market for affluent customers with its premium charge card services as these customers are willing to pay annual fees for exclusive and differential benefits such as assistance with medical services in China, Foo said.

American Express Taiwan remained in the red with a loss of NT$141 million in the first quarter, accroding to government's data.
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