American Express: Consumer Head Talked PayPal, BNPL & Debit at Autonomous Conference
(Free on Substack) Company Update (AXP US) (Neutral)
A version of this was published on my Twitter account today.
Introduction: American Express (“AXP”) Vice Chairman and Global Consumer Services Group President Doug Buckminster appeared at an investor conference (with Autonomous) on Friday. We highlight his comments on PayPal, BNPL and debit cards.
Co-operation with PayPal
AXP’s co-operation with PayPal has included the "provisioning of credentials" between the two platforms, "unique customer experiences like Send & Split" and using AXP reward points in PayPal-accepting merchants. AXP sees PayPal as a way to help it ensure parity with Mastercard/Visa in merchant acceptance, or even preference:
Two Types of “Buy Now, Pay Later”
AXP sees two types of Buy Now, Pay Later (“BNPL”):
Simple "pay in 4" instalments - these are mostly used by debit users and "marginal credit quality" consumers; they provide relatively limited float benefit compared to conventional credit cards (on average 21 days, vs. credit cards’ 42 days); they are not a compelling…