40 Fun Facts About American Express

Which TV channel was launched in 1981 by a cable venture half-owned by American Express?

MTV came from Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, the cable venture American Express formed with Warner Communications in 1979. The same partnership ran Nickelodeon until American Express sold its half in 1985.

The first American Express cards, issued to customers in 1958, were made of which material?

Paper was all the first cards were, with the member's name and account number typed on. American Express moved to embossed plastic a year later, the first major issuer to do so.

Which comic-book superhero teamed up with Jerry Seinfeld in American Express commercials and two 2004 web films?

Superman was animated for the ads and voiced by Patrick Warburton, the actor who played Puddy on Seinfeld. The web films ran under the title The Adventures of Seinfeld & Superman.

In 1983, American Express pledged a penny per card purchase toward restoring which American landmark?

The Statue of Liberty drive raised $1.7 million for the restoration, and card use jumped by about 28%. Marketers took note, and the promotion became a model for tying sales to a good cause.

Which investor put 40% of his partnership's money into American Express after a 1963 scandal battered its shares?

Warren Buffett paid about $13 million for just over 5% of the company, the biggest bet his partnership had ever made. Three decades later his Berkshire Hathaway owned almost a tenth of it.

Which warehouse club accepted only American Express credit cards in its US stores until 2016?

Costco switched to Visa in 2016, taking with it about 8% of all spending on American Express cards. Profit fell 10% in the first quarter after the deal ended.

Which Roman soldier appears at the centre of American Express cards and gives the company's black card its name?

Centurion is the name of the invitation-only black card launched in 1999, after years of rumours that such a card already existed. The helmeted figure also sits at the centre of the Green Card.

In which city in New York State was American Express founded in 1850, where co-founder William Fargo later became mayor?

Buffalo is where three rival express firms merged to form the company, though its first headquarters opened on Wall Street. William Fargo served as the city's mayor from 1862 to 1866.

Which annual shopping day did American Express create in 2010 to steer holiday shoppers toward local independent shops?

Small Business Saturday falls the day after Black Friday, and American Express owns the trademark. A British version followed in 2013.

Which English football club plays its home matches at the American Express Stadium, known to fans as the Amex?

Brighton & Hove Albion have played there since 2011 under a sponsorship deal worth £100 million. American Express also runs its European service centre in the same city.

Which actor, a 1970s TV police detective and Oscar winner, was the long-running face of American Express ads?

Karl Malden fronted the company's television ads through the 1970s and 1980s, with his last spot airing in 1994. His Oscar came for playing Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire.

What did American Express introduce in 1891 after its president struggled to get cash while touring Europe?

The Travelers cheque was devised by employee Marcellus Berry after letters of credit failed J. C. Fargo outside Europe's big cities. It launched in denominations of $10, $20, $50 and $100.

Which rival's pioneering 1950 card pushed American Express to launch a card of its own eight years later?

Diners Club charged $5 a year, so American Express set its fee at $6 to look like the premium choice. Demand was so strong that 250,000 cards went out before launch day.

Henry Wells and William Fargo founded a second firm in 1852 after American Express refused to expand into which state?

California was a step too far for their fellow directors, so the pair set up Wells, Fargo & Company to carry express and banking business there. Both men stayed on at American Express as well.

Which US state has its largest city named after William Fargo, a co-founder of American Express?

North Dakota's biggest city was first called Centralia and was renamed to honour him as a director of the Northern Pacific Railway. It sits on the Red River, facing Moorhead in the next state.

American Express's invitation-only black card, introduced in 1999, is made from which metal?

Titanium, anodized and laser-engraved, is what the card is minted from in most countries. American Express does not disclose what it takes to be invited.

Which talk show host starred in Animals, a black-and-white American Express ad that won a 2007 Emmy?

Ellen DeGeneres carried the two-minute spot to the Emmy for Outstanding Commercial. Other famous cardholders in the company's ads of those years included Tina Fey, Beyoncé and Tiger Woods.

Restaurants in which US city began a 1991 revolt against American Express merchant charges?

Boston restaurateurs dropped the card over fees near 4% a sale, against about 1.2% for Visa and Mastercard. The revolt, nicknamed the Boston Fee Party, spread nationwide until American Express cut its rates.

American Express had to leave its New York headquarters in 2001 because the tower stood opposite which complex?

World Trade Center debris tore into the tower's southeast corner on September 11, though the building never risked collapse. Staff began moving back into the repaired offices in 2002.

The PGA Tour event that took the name The American Express was for decades named after which comedian?

Bob Hope added his name to the desert pro-am in 1965 and became its chairman of the board. Gerald Ford played in it less than three weeks after leaving the White House.

Which Wall Street investment bank did American Express buy in 1984 and spin off again a decade later?

Lehman Brothers was folded into the Shearson brokerage as Shearson Lehman, then set free in 1994 when American Express gave up on Wall Street. The bank collapsed in 2008.

Which future Wall Street bank boss joined American Express in 1982 as assistant to Sandy Weill?

Jamie Dimon, later head of JPMorgan Chase, turned down Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to take the job. His father was already an American Express executive.

A 1963 fraud that cost American Express millions involved storage tanks filled with water instead of which commodity?

Salad oil that did not exist backed huge loans to broker Tino De Angelis, whose firm claimed to hold more than the whole country had. An American Express warehouse unit had vouched for the tanks.

In which city did American Express open its first European office in 1895, under president J. C. Fargo?

Paris got the office under James Congdell Fargo, William Fargo's younger brother, who ran American Express from 1881 to 1914.

Which culinary magazine did American Express own from 1980 until selling its publishing arm to Time Inc. in 2013?

Food & Wine was selling 250,000 copies an issue when American Express bought it. It went to Time Inc. together with Travel + Leisure and Departures.

Who led American Express from 2001 to 2018 as one of the first Black chief executives of a Fortune 500 company?

Ken Chenault joined the company in 1981 and spent 37 years there. After stepping down he became chairman of the venture capital firm General Catalyst.

During World War I, American Express delivered up to 150 tons of parcels a day to which group?

Prisoners of war in six countries received letters, money and relief parcels through the company, which Britain had made its official agent. Staff even went into the camps to cash drafts.

Which retail giant teamed with American Express in 2012 to launch Bluebird, a prepaid alternative to a bank account?

Walmart offered Bluebird to shoppers without a regular bank: wages could be paid straight onto the card, and the money carried federal deposit insurance.

Which restaurant-reservation app did American Express buy in 2019 and build into its own mobile app?

Resy became a perk for rewards cardholders once the deal closed. American Express added a second booking platform, Tock, in 2024.

Which Bono-founded charity brand did American Express join in 2006 with a British card that gave 1% of spending?

Product Red sends its partners' donations to the Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa. The card was open only to UK residents, while Gap, Converse and Armani sold their own versions of the idea.

Which Vanity Fair photographer shot the American Express celebrity portrait campaign that won a Clio award in 1987?

Annie Leibovitz had moved to the magazine from Rolling Stone in 1983. She was still shooting for American Express in 1991, with the actress Sonia Braga.

What was the name of the first American Express card, launched in 1987, that let customers carry a balance?

Optima was the company's first true credit card: until then, every American Express card had to be paid off in full each month.

Which synth-pop star's 1979 hit Cars was the theme of ads launching the American Express Blue card?

Gary Numan's track suited a card aimed at young adults, with a smart chip and bills handled online. Blue reached Britain in 1998 and the United States a year later.

Which American Express co-founder went on to run the Overland Mail, a stagecoach line to the Pacific coast?

John Butterfield's Overland Mail ran from 1858 to 1861 and was the longest stagecoach line in the world. He was also among the directors who objected to taking American Express itself out west.

American Express co-founder Henry Wells used his fortune in 1868 to found which kind of institution in Aurora, New York?

A women's college, one of the first in the United States, grew up beside his mansion at Aurora and took the name Wells College. He retired as president of American Express the same year.

During the 2008 financial crisis, American Express converted into what kind of institution to qualify for federal aid?

Bank holding company status, approved by the Federal Reserve in November 2008, opened the way to $3.39 billion in rescue funds. American Express repaid the money within seven months.

Before the Roman soldier, which animal guarding a shipping trunk served as the American Express trademark?

Bulldog seals in terracotta still mark the company's old stables and a former warehouse in Lower Manhattan. The dog on the trunk told customers their goods were being watched.

Which president's wartime takeover of the railroads ended the original parcel business of American Express?

Woodrow Wilson commandeered the lines in December 1917, and the express firms were pooled into a single American Railway Express Company. American Express supplied 40% of its equipment and property.

Which luxury department store took American Express as its only general-purpose credit card until 2011?

Neiman Marcus had kept the exclusive arrangement since the 1980s, long after most merchants dropped theirs. It began taking Visa and Mastercard in November 2011.

How does the security code printed on an American Express card differ from the three-digit code on a Visa?

Four digits, on the front, printed flat above the account number rather than embossed. American Express adopted the code in 1999 as internet shopping took off.