American Express Deemed Most Innovative Financial Services Company

Before leaving American Express recently, I'd established and led the company's inaugural Chairman's Innovation Fund.  I was glad to recently see that Fortune Magazine recognized American Express as the most innovative company in the Financial Services industry.  The company's CEO, Ken Chenault, spoke about the organization's innovation efforts and the Chairmans's Innovation Fund in particular.

"A difficult economic environment argues for the need to innovate more, not pull back," says American Express CEO Ken Chenault. A few months ago he established a $50 million innovation fund to finance "employees' ideas for how to transform our business long term. We want great ideas to come from all over the company, not just the chain of command," Chenault says. AmEx (AXP, Fortune 500) (No. 13) has a venerable history of making risky moves during downturns. Back in 1958, despite a slumping economy, the company launched a little thing called the American Express card. "When I first came here, I saw a copy of a letter from an analyst that earnestly explained to our then chairman why the card was a terrible idea and how it would cannibalize our traveler's check business," says Chenault. "It was an impeccably logical argument - that couldn't have been more wrong."