American Express : Announces First Debit Card Products to Support Renminbi Transaction

American Express Announces First Debit Card Products to Support Renminbi Transaction

Chinese banks will issue debit cards on the American Express network.

Shanghai,China, September 16,2021 -American Express (NYSE: AXP)announcedthat today its joint venture in China - Express (Hangzhou) Technology Service Co., Ltd. ("ExpressCompany") joined hands with China Industrial Bank to introduce two American Express-branded debit cards, the first debit products to support renminbi transactions on the American Express network.

Other Chinese issuers, such as China Merchants Bank, China CITIC Bank and China Guangfa Bank, will also launch American Express-branded debit products in the coming months.

"American Express has been investing to enhance our customers' experiences around the world by expanding the range of services that we offer along with increasing our global reach," said Doug Buckminster, Vice Chairman and Group President of American Express' Global Consumer Services Group."We're pleased with the continued progress we're making in China, where since last August wehavelaunchedmore than fifty American Express-branded renminbi products through our bank partners, increasedthe number of merchants accepting our cards, and achieved an important milestone byenabling our network to supportdebit."

According to the Payment System Report bythe People's Bank of China, at the end of the first quarter of 2021, the number of bankcards in use rose to 9.03billion, of which more than 91percent are debitcards.

"Adding debit capabilities to our network is another example of our unwaveringcommitment to China." said Walter Liu, Chief Executive Officer, Express Company."Working with our local partners and regulators, wehave already delivereda series of industry-firsts in less than ayear sinceour business launch; commercializingdual-app chip technology, debuting the American Express Red Cardtailormade forthe Chinamarket, and launching the first pet-related and the first parent-child benefit platforms. We will bring differentiated value to our partners and to the market by continuing to upgrade and enrich our unique offering of products and services."

American Express is the first,and currently the only foreign payments network licensed to process renminbi transactions in China. Since its commercial launch on August 6, 2020, Express Company hasalready achieved strong momentum:

• Partneredwith 18 major Chinese bank partnersto issuemore than 50 American Express-branded renminbi credit card products.

• Reached mobile wallet parity coverage through partnerships with the four top mobile wallet providers.
• Partnered with 21 Chinese banks and local non-bankpayments institutions to quickly expand the company'sdomestic merchant coverage, addingmillions of merchants to the network at the point of sale,with more to comeover time.

American Express and Express Company havealso been demonstrating its differentiated capabilities and valueswith local partnersthrough a series of risk management, product management, and network operation platformsto stimulate the steady and healthy development of the Chinese payments market.

In July, Express Company joinedits local acquiring partners to support the post-flooding recovery work by waiving the interchange fee and the brand fee (POS, pre-authorization, ATM withdrawal, online, etc.)of all American Express renminbi transactions for the merchants in Henan Provincebetween 21stJuly 2021 and 20thOctober 2021. After the relief period, the waived transaction fees will be refunded to the merchantsin a lump sumthrough Express Company's acquiring partners in China.

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