Innovator Incubator

American Express is working on a vision for the future. And to do so more effectively, the New York credit card specialist is breaking away from the past—literally.

Its new nerve center for fresh thinking is a nondescript office building just a stone's throw from the Holland Tunnel, in a Manhattan neighborhood known as Silicon Alley, home to a cluster of tech startups. It's not so far from Amex's headquarters in the World Financial Center that you couldn't take a brisk walk from one to the other. But you could argue that they're worlds apart.

One operation, unquestionably successful, is grounded in the way things have been. The other, yet to make a profit, is charged with envisioning how things will be.

Dan Schulman, Amex's group president of enterprise growth, oversees this outpost, which opened in August. It is meant to nurture a digital payments initiative called Serve. But the broader mission, as Schulman describes it, is to stay ahead of how trends in mobile technology and Big Data reshape the financial services industry.

He foresees a day when the information yielded by transactions—what you bought, and where and when you bought it—is worth more to Amex than what the company earns now on fees and services. "We are beginning to realize that data is actually more valuable than the payment transaction itself," Schulman says.

He orchestrated the decision to create a separate space for Serve, in no small part to remove these 200 employees from the button-down culture and traditions of its corporate parent.

Schulman talks openly about this motivation while hosting reporters at the new office this spring. He's wearing his usual uniform of cowboy boots and jeans, along with a blue polo shirt. Others here share his fashion sense. All of the developers and programmers seen going about their work during the press visit are in T-shirts and jeans. A guy with heavily tattooed arms is in short sleeves.

Schulman once said at a payments conference that his attire helps him recruit more relaxed, tech-savvy talent. Now he considers the office a recruitment tool as well. "I think that just being in Silicon Alley allows us to attract talent," Schulman says.

He wants Serve to adopt the culture of California's Silicon Valley, which inspired this neighborhood's name. An idea. A quick hack. A few resources. Voila, an improved product. Think, do, fast.

Employees can sketch their ideas on the frosted glass that separates the small conference rooms; in effect, the walls function as dry erase boards. Programmers, Web developers, marketers and sales people work together in teams, on projects that involve collaborating with the likes of Facebook and Verizon Wireless.

A Serve app introduced in February allows users to exchange money with Facebook friends in just a few clicks, and presumably other features are in development. Plans to preload the Serve digital wallet on many Verizon mobile phones and tablets have been announced as well. Schulman offers no specifics on what else is in the works with either of these partners.

In the credit card world, Amex has long inspired envy of its marketing prowess with upscale customers and small-business owners. But as with other major players in the financial industry, it's still scoping out the possibilities in the newly emerging, but rapidly growing, digital payments sector.

On this frontier, agility is considered crucial. So besides having Serve ensconced in Silicon Alley, Schulman also opened an office for his enterprise growth group in Silicon Valley late last year. Led by Harshul Sanghi, who previously handled venture activities for Motorola, the office is charged with forging partnerships with local startups to benefit Amex's mobile and online initiatives.