American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) Sees Charge-Off Rates Decline in July

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) said on Monday that the rate that it wrote off uncollectable credit card balances fell during the month of July to the lowest level since the beginning of the financial crisis.

The New York-based credit card issuer, which caters to a more affluent customer base than other credit card companies, said in a regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that its net write-off rate fell to 5.5% in July, down from 5.7% in June. Credit card companies typically write-off loans after they are 180 days late, the point when credit card companies assume that the balance is uncollectable.

During the last year, banks have written off record levels of loans as customers have struggled to make their payments. During the first three months of the year, the overall charge-off rate fell just short of 10%, well above the 3.8% rate seen during the second quarter of 2007 before the recession and the financial crisis set in.

Despite the elevated delinquency rates and charge-off levels, banks have seen declines in those rates during the last several months. Many believe that the declining write-off rates as the result of credit card companies removing non-performing customers from their roles, as well as their current customers being better able to manage their debt levels.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) also said that its late payment rate fell to 2.6% in July, down from 2.7% in June. The company saw its delinquencies to pout in March of 2009 at 5.1%.

American Express Company (American Express) is a bank holding company. Its principal products and services are charge and credit payment card products and travel-related services offered to consumers and businesses. American Express has four segments: U.S. Card Services, International Card Services, Global Commercial Services (GCS), and Global Network & Merchant Services (GNMS). Its products and services include charge and credit card products, expense management products and services, consumer and business travel services, stored value products, such as Travelers Cheques and other prepaid products, network services, merchant acquisition and processing, point-of-sale, servicing and settlement and marketing and information products and services for merchants, and fee services. They are sold to diverse customer groups, including consumers, small businesses, middle-market companies, and corporations. Its subsidiary is American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (TRS).

Shares of American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) traded down 0.46% on Monday ending at $41.54.