8-KRegulation FD

AMERICAN EXPRESS CO 8-K Report, Regulation FD Disclosure (Aug 15, 2011)

Filed August 15, 2011For Securities:AXP

Summary

This 8-K filing by American Express Company (AXP) provides updated delinquency and write-off statistics for its U.S. Card Services (USCS) operating segment for the months ending May 31, June 30, and July 31, 2011. The report aims to offer investors additional insight into the credit performance of the company's lending portfolio beyond what is reported through securitized trusts. The data covers total cardmember loans, including both securitized and non-securitized balances, and presents key metrics such as 30-day delinquency rates and net write-off rates. For the USCS total portfolio, the 30-day past due rate remained stable at 1.5% for June and July 2011, after a slight dip from 1.6% in May. The net write-off rate, which excludes interest and fees, showed a positive trend, decreasing from 3.2% in May to 2.7% in June, and then slightly increasing to 2.8% in July. These figures suggest a generally stable to improving credit quality within the broader USCS lending book during the period.

Key Highlights

  • 1American Express is providing updated credit performance data for its U.S. Card Services (USCS) segment for May, June, and July 2011.
  • 2The report includes delinquency and write-off statistics for the total USCS lending portfolio, encompassing both securitized and non-securitized loans.
  • 3The 30-day past due rate for the USCS portfolio remained stable at 1.5% for June and July 2011, following a 1.6% rate in May.
  • 4The net write-off rate (principal only) for USCS decreased from 3.2% in May to 2.7% in June, before slightly rising to 2.8% in July, indicating improving credit quality.
  • 5The filing also presents data for the American Express Credit Account Master Trust, showing a stable annualized default rate of 2.9% for the periods ending June 24 and July 25, 2011.
  • 6The company clarifies that the USCS total portfolio metrics may differ from the Lending Trust metrics due to variations in loan mix, securitization structure, and calculation methodologies.

Frequently Asked Questions

The primary purpose of this filing is to furnish investors with additional, timely information regarding the credit performance of American Express's U.S. Card Services (USCS) lending portfolio. It provides updated delinquency and write-off statistics for the months of May, June, and July 2011, which is supplementary to the data reported through securitized trusts.

The key statistics regarding 30-day past due rates and net write-off rates are specifically for the U.S. Card Services (USCS) operating segment's total lending portfolio. The filing also provides some credit performance data for the American Express Credit Account Master Trust, which is a subset of the overall portfolio.

For the USCS total portfolio, the 30-day past due rate was 1.6% in May 2011, decreasing slightly to 1.5% in June and remaining at 1.5% in July. The net write-off rate (principal only) showed improvement, falling from 3.2% in May to 2.7% in June, then ticking up slightly to 2.8% in July.

The filing explains that differences can arise due to various factors, including differing loan mixes (e.g., proportion of small business loans in non-securitized portions), variations in securitization structures, the number of days in the reporting period, and different calculation methodologies for write-off statistics (e.g., using end-of-period balances for the trust versus average balances for the total portfolio).