Consumers loaded more than $1.9 billion on American Express Co.s prepaid cards this year through April, almost triple the amount from a year earlier, said Dan Schulman, group president of enterprise growth.
Amex added 2.4 million new customers to its platform that includes Bluebird and Serve reloadable cards, Schulman said May 14 during an investor conference in New York. Thats in addition to the 7 million customers on the network at the end of 2013, he said.
Whats happening is were gaining scale, Schulman said. Scale really gives you the ability to think about all sort of different revenue streams that we werent really able to play in before.
Amex is seeking ways to expand its reach beyond affluent shoppers with prepaid cards aimed at consumers lacking access to traditional banking services. The New York-based company makes money on the products from swipe fees, ATM and monthly user costs.
