BL Interview: We are watching UPI developments in the credit space closely: Amex chief Marrs

India has made big strides in the digital payments space in recent years, led by UPI and innovative offerings from fintechs. BusinessLine spoke to Anna Marrs, Group President, American Express, who was visiting India, to understand how Amex saw competition and developments in the payments and credit space in India. 

Excerpts: 

What’s the purpose of your India visit?

The American Express India office has the largest employee base outside of the US. These colleagues play very important roles in our company globally, from building the technology that our customers interact with, to creating advanced models that help us manage both growth and risk, to serving our customers every day. 

My last trip to India was in February 2020, and it was my last business trip before the pandemic. Many of our colleagues in India only returned to the office in October, so I wanted to make sure I came back as soon as they were ready. This office is where several of our credit fraud and risks teams sit, doing some of our most innovative and important work for the company and our customers, and I wanted to spend time with them as we plan for 2023.

I also managed to learn more about how our teams have been supporting their communities through the pandemic. I had the privilege to meet with Laila Tyabji, renowned social worker and co-founder of the non-profit Dastkar, for a conversation for Amex colleagues in Gurgaon, about empowering small, women-owned businesses.

How do you see competition to cards from the new age fintechs? Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is growing by leaps and bounds in India, and now moving to the credit space – your views on the same?

The digital payments space has witnessed extraordinary growth in the last few years, fuelled by consumers and businesses increasingly looking for easier, faster, and more efficient ways to make payments, as well as a strong push from Governments and regulators towards the adoption of digital channels. 

Digital payments adoption has been a catalyst for our continued growth around the world, and with our strong position in facilitating consumer, small business, and corporate payments, this is a trend we’re going to lean into. In the corporate and small business space I oversee, we are accelerating our progress through acquisitions and partnerships – with both established financial players and fintechs.

I don’t see competition as much as I see opportunity, because of our focus on continued partnership with global fintechs. We have best-in-class risk capabilities, fraud protection and controls, which gives us the ability offer up partnership opportunities to fintechs that leverage these capabilities in innovative ways.

Regarding UPI credit, we’re watching it’s development closely. We’re seeing a tremendous increase in digital payments volume led by UPI, but it’s also a trend that’s helping people get comfortable with paying digitally in a number of ways. Overall, the digital payments ecosystem is expanding, people and businesses are getting comfortable transacting that way, and that is a good development for American Express as well.

The American Express brand stands for exclusivity, premium appeal -- and it is one of the few brands across the world that commands strong customer loyalty. What does it take to build a premium brand in today’s cluttered global marketplace?

A strong brand is much more than just a collection of products – it creates an emotional connection with its customers, colleagues and communities.

Brands cross borders. The American Express brand is equally strong in many international markets as it is in the U.S.  I believe the things we stand for – trust, security, and service – resonate with Indian customers more than ever before.

We believe there is a strong demand for the Amex brand in India – especially now that so many Indians are excited to travel again after the pandemic.

With the US and the EU facing likely recession, do you see Amex making rapid strides in emerging economies like India in the next few years? Do you see any slowdown in the consumer and business spend?

We remain focused on growing the business globally. We’ve had a presence in India since 1921, and it continues to be a strategic market for us, with lots of opportunity. We have several global Centers of Excellence in India and it’s become a critical talent hub, with one out of every four Amex colleagues based here. Our Credit and Fraud Risk center of excellence in India is at the forefront of cutting-edge innovation in AI/ML and analytics.

As India takes its place among the world’s leading economies, we also see a growing customer base here and more small and mid-sized businesses that are fuelling demand for our products and services.

Do you see the gender equity gap in corporate boardrooms narrowing?

The gender equity gap is narrowing in the corporate board room, but there’s still more work to be done. Companies now have a known set of tools that can make a big difference – what we need to do is continue to invest in and deploy them.

Through our Colleague Networks and global forums, we enable talented women to build stronger, more meaningful relationships across the company, which drives their sponsorship, retention, and progression into leadership roles. For example, we host a bi-annual Global Women’s Conference that brings together our most senior global leaders. We also have the G100 Women’s Leadership Acceleration Program, which brings together a diverse group of 50 high-potential women who aspire to C-suite positions. It focuses on supporting their leadership development and strengthening participants’ external network of peers.

Perhaps a silver lining as we come out of the pandemic is our new flexible working model – Amex Flex. Although the last two years were often the hardest on women as they had to juggle virtual work, home schooling and care for elderly relatives, looking forward the understanding that flexible working is not an exception but the norm, will ultimately benefit many women.

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