GLOBAL PAYMENTS GROWTH _ The Shinsei American Express Card in Japan, Blue from American Express in Mexico, the American Express Tiger Woods Credit Card in Canada and the American Express-Société Générale Gold Card in France were some of the more than 100 new proprietary card products launched in 2002 in international markets. We also launched the American Express Cash Rebate Card for U.S. consumers. This product carries no annual fee and offers up to 5 percent cash back, based on a cardmember’s annual spending and payment activity. Following their launch, the new American Express Rewards Green and Gold cards and the Cash Rebate Card had good early performance, together accounting for almost 500,000 new cards in 2002, with most coming in the fourth quarter.  Rewards-based products not only drive higher spending, they also have very favorable economics in terms of cardmember attrition, credit and payment performance. In addition to these new product launches, we continued to grow our existing rewards-based lending products in the U.S., such as our highly successful co-brand portfolios with Delta Air Lines and Costco.  We also focused on expanding our industry leading Membership Rewards program — the largest program of its kind, with more than 9 million cardmembers enrolled worldwide. About 1,200 redemption partners now participate in  Membership Rewards , which offers the broadest range of redemption options of any card- based rewards program. We continued to expand the array of choices in  Membership Rewards in 2002, signing new partners in retail and entertainment categories including Banana Republic, Blockbuster, Broadway.com, Cingular Wireless, Staples, Ticket- master, The Home Depot and Toys “R” Us. New Brand, Products and Services for  Small Business Customers In the small business arena, where American Express  is the leading card provider and one of the top lenders, we moved to strengthen our business model by re- launching our small business services organization.  We introduced OPEN: The Small Business Network from American Express. This network provides a robust new set of products, services, online account management tools and partnerships that offer everyday savings to small businesses. A nationwide advertising campaign supported this effort, reinforcing American Express’ commitment to serving small business owners. I 16 AXP I