NEW YORK—American Express has published its first comprehensive Corporate Social Responsibility Report since 2008. The report highlights the company’s efforts to create social, environmental and economic value for its stakeholders as well as operate ethically and responsibly.
“At American Express, we are dedicated to treating everyone we serve with the utmost care and respect,” said Kenneth I. Chenault, Chairman and CEO, American Express Co. “As the world evolves, we will continue transforming to meet the needs of our stakeholders while remaining true to the values that have always sustained us.”
“The Service Effect” highlights the myriad ways in which American Express’ commitment to service shapes its daily work and approach to CSR across the following spheres:
Its People
The report features the ways the company makes it welcoming, purposeful and rewarding to be part of the American Express team. Highlights include:
- Women comprise more than 50 percent of its global workforce and 30 percent of its senior executives;
- 41 percent of U.S. employees are engaged in a flexible work arrangement; and
- From 2004 to 2015, American Express scored 100 percent on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index.
Customers and Partners
The report offers examples of how American Express uses its relationships, technology and data to better serve its customers and open up commerce opportunities for its partners. Highlights include:
- The company was rated one of Ponemon’s Most Trusted Companies for Privacy, and number one in financial services from 2006 to 2015;
- More than 95 million U.S. consumers said they shopped at a small business on Small Business Saturday 2015, 8 percent more than the previous year; and
- From 2010 to 2015, Card Members donated $77 million in dollars and Membership Rewards points to charitable causes.
Communities
The report provides a snapshot of the company’s philanthropic and community work to empower volunteers, promote stewardship of historic places and support those who are addressing some of society’s most complex issues. Highlights include:
- Its grants helped engage over 350,000 volunteers, resulting in more than $70 million in donated time and talent, based on the estimated value of volunteer time by the Bureau of Labor Statistics;
- Since 1974, the company has invested more than $60 million in 500 historic sites, and in 2015, it provided preservation funding to 33 endangered sites through $9.1 million in grants; and
- From 2008 to 2015, the company invested more than $50 million to provide leadership development to 33,000-plus social purpose leaders who are tackling some of society’s most complex issues.
The Environment
The report describes how American Express does its part to sustain the world’s resources across three main action areas: building a clean, efficient enterprise; enabling its customers to reduce their environmental impacts; and encouraging employees to help the company achieve its goals. Highlights include:
- 65 percent of the electricity purchased to power its operations worldwide were carbon-free;
- The company reduced its carbon emissions by 10 percent from 2011 levels; and
- 91 percent of paper used in its U.S. direct-marketing efforts was certified as being from sustainably managed forests.
American Express is reporting in alignment with the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) G4 Guidelines. To learn more about American Express corporate social responsibility efforts and to review the Corporate Social Responsibility Report, visit: amex.co/csr-report.
