American Express taps Sprint executive

SAN JOSE, USA: American Express Co has appointed Daniel H. Schulman, the president of Sprint Nextel Corp's prepaid group, as group president of enterprise growth.

In the newly created position, Schulman will be responsible for the company's global strategy to expand its mobile and online payment technology. He will also be responsible for American Express's mergers and acquisitions unit, the company said on Wednesday.

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Schulman was previously the founding chief executive of Virgin Mobile USA, which Sprint bought in 2009. He will be a member of American Express's business operating committee and will report to Chief Executive and Chairman Kenneth Chenault.

American Express, like rival credit card processing networks Visa Inc and MasterCard Inc, needs to develop new technology to fuel future revenue growth. Its opportunities for traditional growth are relatively limited, especially in the United States, where most consumers already use credit and debit cards.

American Express bought the alternative payments network Revolution Money in January as part of its efforts to develop new payment technologies. Schulman will also oversee Revolution Money in his new role.

American Express also said on Wednesday it had appointed former AOL Vice Chairman Ted Leonsis to its board of directors. Leonsis was the chairman of Revolution Money and has been an adviser to American Express since it bought his company.