OPEN FOR SMALL BUSINESS _ We deepened our commitment to small business owners with the launch of OPEN: The Small Business Network, a rebranding and enhancement of our small business offerings. Enhanced products and services include new charge and lending cards and an expansion of the  Everyday Savings program, which added partners such as Staples and Kinko’s. New card products launched for small business owners in 2002 included the Business Purchase Account (charge), the Business Management Account (credit), and the Platinum Delta SkyMiles Business Credit Card. We also added several new merchants to the  Everyday Savings program for small business cardmembers, including Cingular Wireless, Kinko’s, Nextel and Staples. As in the United States, the  Membership Rewards program is a powerful driver of cardmember loyalty  in the international consumer business. We now offer Membership Rewards in 30 countries. In 2002, we enhanced our rewards programs in several markets, offering richer and more flexible choices that enable cardmembers to earn points more quickly.  Internationally, we introduced more than 100 new proprietary card products in 17 countries during 2002. These are cards that American Express issued, either on our own or co-branded with partnering institutions. We also continued to expand our Global Network Services (GNS) business in our international markets. In this business, we partner with third-party financial institutions who issue American Express-branded charge or credit cards that are accepted on our mer- chant network. We signed eight new GNS partners in 2002, including Toyota Finance Corporation in Japan and Samsung Card Company, Ltd. in Korea.  The wide array of innovative new products included Blue from American Express in Mexico, the American Express Tiger Woods Credit Card in Canada, and co- branded cards with such high-value partners as Costco in Puerto Rico, Alitalia in Italy, Shinsei Bank in Japan, and Société Générale in France. We also acquired a credit card portfolio from AMP Bank, one of Australia’s leading financial services companies.  Since 1996, American Express has been pursuing a strategy of opening its merchant network to third- party issuers around the world. Our GNS partnerships increase our market presence, drive more transaction Expanded GNS Partnerships in our  International Markets  New Proprietary Products in International Markets  I 17 AXP I