As holidays near, AmEx keeps eye on small retailers

American Express Co. is largely viewed as an upscale charge card company, but it’s increasingly on the pulse of what’s going on with small business.

With the holidays approaching, AmEx will focus on small merchants who’ll take in billions of dollars in sales charged on American Express cards. Susan Sobbott, who heads the company’s small business operation, American Express Open, says that based on what she’s seeing, the holidays may not be the most robust for small retailers, but stores should show sales gains compared with last year.

AmEx keeps tabs on how optimistic small businesses are. A survey in September showed that 62 percent of retailers had a positive view of the economy, compared to 56 percent of small businesses overall. Half the retailers surveyed expected their revenue to rise over the next six months, compared to 43 percent of all businesses. Read more.

AmEx picks JetPay for cut-rate small-merchants program

JetPay Corp., the Berwyn-based electronic payments processor headed by former MAC Card head Bipin Shah of Rosemont, is the first transaction-processing company to start handling American Express Corp. transactions under a new AmEx program for merchants that bill less than $1 million in AmEx transactions a year.

Check out JetPay's AmEx service here. Rival Transfirst is doing this, too. Others are expected to sign up, extending American Express cards to small restaurants and other businesses at reduced rates. Under a program AmEx calls "Opt Blue," AmEx is using the processors to offer small merchants a fee below its usual interchange rate (typically 3.5% or more). Read more.

ThermoGenesis Announces Strategic Reorganization Initiative

ThermoGenesis Corp. (KOOL) today announced a strategic reorganization initiative designed to better align resources with its expected cord blood revenue streams, increase its internal clinical resource capabilities and provide greater focus on new application development to improve the Company's market competitiveness and to speed AXP(R) AutoXpress(R) Platform (AXP) adoption in developed and emerging markets.

The Company expects these changes will enable it to generate cash from its cord blood business in the coming two to three quarters in addition to realigning its professional resources to support its rapid expansion into the regenerative medicine space. "One of our primary objectives is to continue to invest in our AXP Platform and clinical resources needed to further expand the system's clinical intelligence and technological functionality. In this way, we can better meet the evolving cell processing needs of our cord blood customers and expand its use into our vascular and orthopedic cell therapy initiatives," said Matthew Plavan, Chief Executive Officer of ThermoGenesis. Read more.

See How American Express Ranks Among Analysts Top Dow 30 Picks

A study of analyst recommendations at the major brokerages shows that American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) is the #27 broker pick, on average, out of the 30 stocks making up the Dow Jones Industrial Average, according to ETF Channel. Within the broader S&P 500, when components were ranked in terms of analyst favorites.

In forming this rank, the analyst opinions from the major brokerage houses were tallied, and averaged; then, the underlying components were ranked according to those averages. Investors often interpret analyst opinions from different angles when companies have a low rank among analysts, it isn’t necessarily the case that investors should conclude that the stock will perform poorly. It can, of course, but a bullish investor could also take the contrarian angle and read into the data that there is lots of room for upside because the stock is so out of favor. Read more.

American Express Company : Tis’ the Season for Fast & Free Shipping

Just in time for the holiday online shopping season, American Express today announced the launch of a new free 2-day shipping benefit from ShopRunner, available to eligible U.S. Consumer and Small Business Credit and Charge Card Members. ShopRunner offers free 2-day shipping, currently valued at $79 a year, at more than 80+ popular online retail partners, including Neiman Marcus, Lord & Taylor, Brooks Brothers, Toys "R" Us, PetSmart, drugstore.com, and GNC, among others. Starting today, Card Members can enroll an eligible Card at www.shoprunner.com/americanexpress and enjoy ShopRunner's free 2-day shipping on all eligible items at participating stores.

"Shipping costs can really add up and are a major consideration for online shoppers. In fact, according to a recent survey from comScore, 55% of online shoppers abandon their shopping carts because of high shipping costs(1)," said Josh Silverman, President, American Express U.S. Consumer Services. "With free 2-day shipping and free return shipping at 80+ online retailers through ShopRunner, our Card Members can enjoy a stress-free online shopping experience at many of their favorite places to shop." Read more.