(18 February 2016 – Global) American Express (AmEx) has announced that it is reorganising management and consolidating its marketing activities as the biggest credit-card issuer by purchases seeks to cut US$1 billion (A$1.4 billion) in costs over the next two years.
“To get ahead of the changes that are altering the dynamics of the payments business, we need to readjust our expense base,” Chief Executive Officer Ken Chenault has said in a statment.
“This is a big task. It essentially means that we must transform the way the company works.”
AmEx is creating a global marketing operations unit led by Mike McCormack, who will report to Tammy Weinbaum, executive vice president of global business services, according to the statement.
Luke Gebb will head a newly created enterprise digital group, centralising Web, mobile and digital products.
The payment service provider expects its quarterly results to be uneven, with a rise in expenses driven by the company’s need to focus on customer acquisition.
Organisational changes will result job losses across the firm according to Chenault.
“At this time, we do not know what the magnitude of those reductions will be, as decisions on specific positions affected are yet to be made,” the statement said.