Recently, ICBC and American Express Company announced the launch of ICBC Corporate American Express Card. This is the first corporate card in China that bears A/E logo.

ICBC Corporate American Express Card is a credit card of international standards. This international accepted card has two accounts of different currencies and provides gold card membership and regular card membership. ICBC Corporate American Express Card takes the full leverage of the advanced financial brand advantage in ICBC and American Express and features powerful functions and convenient payment. It will assist the companies in China (both local companies and transnational companies) to strengthen their financial management and to reduce costs while providing favored membership services for customers. It is the corporate card of first choice in China.

Mr. Yang Kaisheng, the president and the vice chairman of ICBC, indicated that ICBC Corporate American Express Card is a new type of credit card product jointly launched by ICBC and American Express Company targeting the large local companies and the transnationals in China. It touts multiple value-adding functions including tiered financial management, specialized financial statement, Internet-banking service, and sizable business travel accidental insurance packages, which supremely suits the high-end customers' need for tiered financial management and business consumptions, thereby providing customers the modern financial service of higher quality and greater efficiency.

Gary Crittenden, the executive director and CFO of Global Network Group of American Express Company, noted: "The launch of ICBC Corporate American Express Card reflects the long-term commitment between ICBC and American Express for cooperation. In 2004, both of us successfully launched ICBC American Express Card, which was followed by ICBC CNPC A/E Card. Today, we launch this high-end product to our corporate customers and elevate our cooperation onto a new horizon."

The travel and entertainment expenditure of companies has been the key factor for corporate operation. According to the research by American Express, the travel and entertainment expenditure is the second biggest expenditure for most of the companies. Today, many companies pay closer attention to their expenditure in travel and entertainment. They discovered that the effective management over such expenses might create tremendous financial returns. The recent research by American Express indicated that the travel and entertainment expenditure in China in 2005 reached USD 7.4 billion. The right choice of corporate card may lend greater effectiveness in operation expense management.

ICBC Corporate American Express Card provides great benefit in assisting the companies to manage and trim business expenditures, to seize the opportunities in saving the costs, and to provide better support for employees during business travel. The benefits mainly include:

Expense saving -- The discount plans of hotels, restaurants, and golf clubs designed for ICBC Corporate American Express Card to save corporate business expenditures. The unique ICBC two-way transfer POS terminals help the firms in realizing cashless transfer and reimbursement, which eliminates the cumbersome borrowing and reimbursement procedures, and saves the time for the company and employees. It also gives the maximum of 56-day grace period to effectively increase the companies' fund utilization rate. According to the summarized expenditure analysis by the classification of trade and businesses, the card service may provide firms the price negotiation support against their suppliers so as to fetch more benefits for the firms.

Effective management -- According to the management needs, the firms may flexibly set the employee credit line and to change the lines according to the particular situations. The reconciliation statement at corporate and individual level and the different special reports help the companies in accurately controlling the corporate financial and operation expenditures, increasing the employee business travel consumption transparency, and easily budgeting the financial expenditures for the next term, thereby making the corporate financial management easier.

Card benefits -- Jumbo package for transportation accidental insurance and travel insurance plus the functions of free-of-charge card PIN selection, and SMS reminders enable the comprehensive card safety assurance for cardholding employees. The widespread ICBC business offices and American Express global travel service offices provide the professional and quality customer services. Its global emergency support service ensures the cardholding employees' "worry-free" travel. The generous consumption points plan provide more rewards for card consumptions. The corporate name burnt on the card may increase the employees' corporate identity recognition and solidarity while establishing the corporate image at large.

"In the next few years, China's economy will continue witnessing the strong growth with frequent business activities. It is increasingly important for the companies to improve their financial conditions through effective management over the business expenditures. ICBC Corporate American Express Card is a very useful but effective expense management tool and will receive definite welcome from the Chinese corporate customers". Mr. Yang Kaisheng added.

"American Express has the experience in operating the world's biggest travel agency network and provides services for 70% of Fortune 500 corporations. We are pleased to share with ICBC our specialized knowledge and practical experience in expense management solutions and assist the firms to effectively trim expenditures on key expense items", Mr. Gary Crittenden commented, "The companies operating in China will become the biggest beneficiary of ICBC Corporate American Express Card."

The partnership fully exploits the advantages of ICBC and American Express. ICBC will be responsible for card issuance, risk control, account management, sales, and customer service and support. American Express will bring in specialized knowledge in terms of expense management, technologies in managing global card services, operation and marketing experience, and the reach of over ten millions of American Express businesses globally during the cooperation. American Express will open global services for ICBC Corporate American Express Card corporate customers through its over 2,200 travel service offices and 550,000 ATMs worldwide.