See Note 6 for further information regarding the company’s use of interest rate products related to short- and long-term debt obligations. The company’s off-balance sheet financial instruments principally relate to extending credit to satisfy the needs of its clients. The contractual amount of these instruments represents the maximum potential credit risk, assuming the contract amount is fully utilized, the counterparty defaults and collateral held is worthless. Management does not expect any material adverse consequence to the company’s financial position to result from these contracts. The company issues commercial and other letters of credit to facilitate the short-term trade-related needs of its banking clients, which typically mature within six months. At December 31, 2002 and 2001, the company held $684 million and $583 million, respectively, of collateral supporting bank standby letters of credit and bank guarantees and $148 million and $159 million, respectively, of collateral supporting commercial and other letters of credit.  The company has commitments aggregating $126 billion and $112 billion related to its card business in 2002 and 2001, respec- tively, primarily related to commitments to extend credit to certain cardmembers as part of established lending product agree- ments. Many of these are not expected to be drawn; therefore, total unused credit available to cardmembers does not represent future cash requirements. The company’s charge card products have no preset spending limit and are not reflected in unused credit available to cardmembers. The company also has committed payments for worldwide business arrangements, principally related to TRS, with maximum related future payments which would not exceed $3.8 billion. Other financial institutions have committed to extend lines of credit to the company of $12.1 billion and $13.8 billion at December 31, 2002 and 2001, respectively. The company leases certain office facilities and operating equipment under noncancellable and cancellable agreements. Total rental expense amounted to $461 million, $491 million and $477 million in 2002, 2001 and 2000, respectively. At December 31, 2002, the minimum aggregate rental commitment under all noncancellable operating leases (net of subleases) was (millions): 2003, $273; 2004, $229; 2005, $192; 2006, $157; 2007, $132; and thereafter, $1,418. In addition to the contingencies and commitments listed above, the company has entered into many other contracts in the normal course of business that involve future cash payments that are either required or contingent upon the occurrence of certain events. The company and its subsidiaries are involved in a number of legal and arbitration proceedings, including class actions, concerning matters arising in connection with the conduct of their respective business activities. The company believes it has meritorious defenses to each of these actions and intends to defend them vigorously. The company believes it is not a party to, nor are any of its properties the subject of, any pending legal or arbitration proceedings which would have a material adverse effect on the company’s consolidated financial condition, results of operations or liquidity. However, it is possible that the outcome of any such proceedings could have a material impact on results of operations in any particular reporting period as the proceedings are resolved. The company, through its TRS operating segment, provides cardmember protection plans that cover losses associated with purchased products, as well as certain other guarantees in the ordinary course of business. In the hypothetical scenario that all claims occur within one year, the aggregate maximum amount of potential future losses associated with such guarantees would not exceed $86 billion. The total amount of related liability accrued at December 31, 2002 for such programs was I 72 AXP I NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Note 11 GUARANTEES December 31, (Millions) 2002 2001 Loan commitments and other lines of credit $ 1,036 $ 1,128 Bank standby letters of credit and bank guarantees $ 1,029 $ 845 Bank commercial and other bank letters of credit $ 371 $ 260 Note 10 OFF-BALANCE SHEET ITEMS