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Earnings Preview: American Express

> In addition, the firm thinks that American Express is more vulnerable than its peers to credit market fluctuations because its deposit base is smaller than those of other card issuers.

American Express' model is spend-centric. While they don't discourage customers from carrying a balance, their model centers on getting them to spend big and capturing the economic value from the interchange fees. Their superprime customers are less likely to carry large balances over long terms anyway.