The American company American Express (also known simply as Amex) operates today in the financial industry, dealing with traveler's checks, credit cards and other similar products. However, its history began exclusively with trading activities. The American Express Company arose in 1850 after the merger of three trading companies at once: Livingston Fargo & Co., Wells & Co. and Butterfield and Wasson.
By the time of formation, the authorized capital of the company was 150 thousand dollars - a considerable amount at that time. Thanks to the same successful activities, by 1885 the capital exceeded 18 million dollars.
And 1891 marked the introduction of the first American Express product, the traveler's check, which was the forerunner of the credit cards so widely used today. Thanks to him, the company was able to significantly transform the tourism business. From now on, travelers have the opportunity not to worry about the safety of the money they take with them.
However, at first, travelers checks were not very popular with tourists due to the fact that they could be exchanged for money only at American Express offices, which were far from everywhere. But the company quickly solved this problem by entering into agreements with various banks around the world. By the beginning of the 20th century, travelers checks had already become very popular, and their sales volumes were already tens of millions of dollars.
Today, American Express is known not only for travelers checks, but also for credit cards, which are extremely popular around the world, although they are inferior to Visa and Mastercard. The company is also included in the Dow Jones Industrial Index and is considered one of the best employers in the world.
