Do You Take American Express?

Here is just a glimpse into one of the things that I find myself thinking about. American Express…the charge and credit card company…here is a company that charges each retail location more to accept their card than any other. For most merchants the going rate is anywhere from 1.79% to 2.29%. I could be off a bit but that is very close. American Express charges every retailer 3.5% of every dollar that they charge when accepting their card. When retailers apply for a merchant account Visa, MasterCard, Discover are usually all lumped into one. American Express is its own separate entity. You must apply separately for a merchant account with them.

Then…for the consumer…American Express cards are usually harder to get. They generally have an annual fee and unless you have one of their Blue Cards the balance must be paid in full within thirty days. You cannot carry over a balance. Also…American Express is not accepted at all retail locations. And now you know why after reading the above paragraph. Yet guess which card is one of the most desired and the card that brings with it the most prestige? You guessed it…American Express.

American Express was founded in 1850 as an express delivery company. While the US Postal Service was very unreliable and did not offer delivery of anything larger than an envelope…American Express provided reliable transportation of envelopes and small packages. One of their biggest clients turned out to be banks that needed safe and reliable delivery of important documents.

In 1882 American Express launched its money order business and by the early 1900’s it was selling more than $6 Million annually in travelers cheques annually. As you can imagine American Express experienced extreme challenges through both World Wars and the great depression…yet the company had a determination to survive. Even during the period that Chase Bank secretly over a period of several years bought up 97% of American Express’ stock and staged a takeover. Again…through the determination of the company and the remaining stockholders and also some fortunate legal rulings that went their way…American Express remained American Express.

Even though there was such tremendous strength in the company…during the late 1980’s and early 1990’s American Express was nearly eliminated from the Charge and Credit Card business. In 1991 a group of Boston Retailers organized a revolt against American Express and its high fees…this revolt became known as the Boston Fee Party. Outside the United States American Express was experiencing card suppression…when merchants try to dissuade the consumer from using a particular method of payment. Years later the CEO of American Express commented, “If not for the strength of our brand name, American Express would have collapsed by the late 1980’s.”

It’s interesting to me to consider the history of a company and read through the various challenges and hurdles that they have had to overcome. And for a company like American Express to come through such challenges as one of the most desired card companies…while still being one of the most expensive…is interesting to me as well. It truly shows the importance of the image and the status that we put forward.

All of that to say this…I think the same holds true for what we as Christians portray to the world around us. Does our life reflect something to the world that says, “I want what they have?” Does our life say to the world that even though it may not appear to be the easiest way…it is absolutely the best and only way?

Too often I think that we project the wrong thing to the world. Serving Christ is not a matter of just right and wrongs and dos and don’ts. It is a matter of living a privileged life. A life truly designed by the Creator for us. When you look at the beauty of the world that was created for us….can you imagine our creator designing anything less beautiful in the life he has planned for us?

Today…take the American Express approach. Live your life in such a way that says…even though it may not be the easiest to get…it’s not the least expensive…and not everybody is going to accept it…it is absolutely, positively the life you desire!!

Colossians 1:10-14 – “And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Have a blessed day,

RodZ

© 2008 – Rodney Zimmerman – All rights reserved