This isn't about the economy.
This is about the incredibly rapid changes in the electronics payments business, particularly around mobile payments, which is disrupting the whole payments system.
Amex is scrambling to avoid disintermediation. I can't say I like their odds. Their value proposition is deteriorating rapidly. It's hard to see what they'll have to offer in the new environment.
Agreed. We are witnessing disruptive change to an industry that deserves it. If they aren't agile enough to innovate they should be extinct.
Let's just pray they're not "too big to fail."