Banks could make their own decisions, based on their own requirements, about what their customers want. They could tailor their card offerings more effectively to specific consumer segments, thus better serving their customers. Consumers could then select from a greater variety of attractive financial services. For instance, there might be a bank-issued American Express Card that offers customers access to individualized products and services. And consumers would also benefit because more merchants would accept more kinds of cards as consumer usage grew.
Competition is great.
At American Express we welcome it. And, they have succeeded in maintaining this status quo by threatening and intimidating their bank members. The associations have made it clear they will throw banks out of their network, disrupting service to customers on their existing cards, preventing banks from serving their customers and potentially causing serious loss of business and revenues. In short, they would put a bank's financial soundness at risk. When American Express first signed an agreement with a major bank in Brazil to issue our products, Visa's Latin American and Caribbean Region president, James Partridge, sent a clear message to the region's banks.