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Golub's most ambitious plan so far remains only a gleam in his eye. He wants to transform the credit-card business by plugging U.S. banks into the American Express network and thereby enabling the lenders to issue Amex credit cards. That's the last thing Visa and MasterCard want to see happen, and they've stymied Golub with bylaws that prevent their U.S. bank partners from offering other cards. Golub may get some help from the Justice Department, which is reportedly investigating the competitive behavior of the two big credit-card associations.
Meanwhile, American Express has signed up banks in 19 countries, which are not bound by the U.S. bylaws, in a drive to boost foreign business from 30% of the company's total to 50% within a decade. Such banks as Britain's NatWest and France's Credit Lyonnais now put their names on American Express cards. As a result, Golub says, the number of merchants that accept American Express plastic outside the U.S. "is coming up rapidly." That means the card will be even less exclusive than ever, but Amex has learned that it no longer pays to thumb its nose at the masses.
--Reported by Valerie Marchant