Amex Restructures Senior Management
Reflecting the company's focus on growing its business travel and commercial card segments, American Express today announced the leadership of both units now will report directly to chairman and chief executive Kenneth Chenault.
The company also announced that president Alfred Kelly Jr., who led the consumer and small business card divisions, had decided to leave the company next year. Vice chairman Edward Gilligan, who had been leading the global Business to Business Group, where American Express Business Travel and Global Commercial Card reside, now oversees the company's global consumer, small business and network businesses organizations.
American Express U.S. Consumer Services president and CEO Judson Linville now will report to Gilligan, but his former reports, Global Commercial Card president Anré Williams and Global Business Travel president Charles Petruccelli, will report to Chenault.
In addition, American Express announced the development of new business units designed to handle shifts in the payment industry and business growth as the recession draws to a close.
In a companywide memo to employees, Chenault said, "Expense management, while always important, increasingly is becoming a strategic imperative for companies of all sizes. Our commercial card and business travel businesses are uniquely positioned to offer industry-leading solutions in this arena. The growth potential here is quite substantial, especially in the markets outside the United States. Therefore, we will retain a strong, separate focus on the commercial services sector to help drive our continued growth.
The company also announced that it is implementing a new Global Service organization that houses customer services, technologies, operations, business processing and information management under the leadership of new group president Stephen Squeri, who was CIO and head of technologies for the past four years. Prior to that role, Squeri had senior leadership roles in several business units, including Global Commercial Card.
Working with Squeri, Priyan Fernando, previously American Express Business Travel's president of global customer group and COO American Express Business Travel, has been named executive vice president of Global Business Services, overseeing operations including financial processing and reporting, real estate services, procurement and human resources processing.
Amex is developing an enterprise growth organization that will focus on "leveraging existing assets, generate incremental fee revenue and drive the company's entry into new payment areas and related businesses," the statement said.
In the memo to employees, Chenault described the changes taking place in the payment industry. "First, I believe that, while the global economy will recover, we can expect to see a 'new normal' of slower billings growth as consumers and businesses remain cautious about their spending. Second, new payments products and platforms will evolve, requiring us to be innovative and forward thinking as we look to maintain our industry leadership. And third, given the ongoing challenges presented by a lower growth environment, a premium will be placed on those companies that are lean, flexible and highly productive in delivering value to customers, business partners and shareholders."