On the Call: American Express CFO Dan Henry

American Express Co. launched a digital payments platform last year aimed at competing with bank debit cards and other prepaid cards.

The program, dubbed Serve, allows customers to open an online prepaid account that can be funded using a bank account, an American Express card or another credit card. A physical prepaid card is issued, and customers can also use the account for online transactions, including sending money electronically to other people.

During a conference call to discuss third-quarter results, Chief Financial Officer Dan Henry addressed the company's decision to make the branding connection between American Express and Serve more prominent.

QUESTION: Discuss in any way the decision to essentially rebrand Serve with a much bigger American Express prominence.

ANSWER: I think all new products evolve over time. And I think, as a company, we came to the realization that our brand has a lot of attributes, which are important to people who would use the Serve product or reloadable prepaid (cards).

We do stand for trust, security and servicing. All those things are important when you think about a product like those. And so the decision was made to make it more prominent, so people who are purchasing those products recognize the linkage of Serve to the American Express family.