Ryan Nash:

All right, we're going to get started. Up next, we're excited to once again have American Express joining us. Amex has continued to deliver strong top-line growth despite a more challenging economic backdrop through increased customer acquisition, benefits of product refreshes, and of course, leveraging its best-in-class brand. Here to tell us more about the American Express story is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Steve Squeri. Today's presentation is going to be a fireside chat.

瑞安·纳什：好的，我们开始吧。接下来，我们很高兴再次邀请到美国运通。尽管经济环境更加具有挑战性，运通仍通过增加客户获取、产品更新的好处以及当然借助其顶级品牌，持续实现强劲的收入增长。今天与我们分享美国运通故事的是公司董事会主席兼首席执行官Steve Squeri。今天的报告将以炉边谈话的形式进行。

Steve, thank you for joining us.

Steve，感谢您参加我们的会议。

Stephen Squeri:

It's a pleasure to be here again.

Stephen Squeri：很高兴再次与大家见面。

Question-and-Answer Session

Ryan Nash:

So maybe just start big picture; '24 has been a very solid year for Amex. You're on track to generate greater than 15% EPS growth, on pace to acquire over 13 million cards. However, top-line growth, while strong, has been a little bit slower than your aspirational target. So maybe just reflect on this year, what's gone well? What hasn't been as strong as you would have liked? And more importantly, how is the company positioned to succeed as we look ahead?

瑞安·纳什：让我们从大局开始谈起；2024年对美国运通来说是非常稳健的一年。你们预计将实现超过15%的每股收益增长，并有望增加超过1300万张信用卡。然而，尽管收入增长强劲，但略低于你们的目标。所以，能否请您回顾一下这一年，哪些方面进展顺利？哪些方面不如预期？更重要的是，展望未来，公司如何定位自己以取得成功？

Stephen Squeri:

Yes. So again, thanks for having me here. As we think about this year, if you go through the third quarter on an FX-adjusted basis, we have 10% revenue growth. So we're pretty happy about that. And that's with losing Accertify. From an EPS perspective, we're running about 20%. What I think has gone well for us is, again, we've really focused on our product refreshes and I think that really makes a difference in the marketplace. It really gets momentum going.

Stephen Squeri：是的。再次感谢你们让我参加。回顾这一年，如果从外汇调整后的角度看，我们第三季度的收入增长达到了10%。对此我们感到非常满意。虽然我们失去了Accertify。就每股收益而言，我们大约增长了20%。我认为我们做得好的地方是，我们专注于产品更新，我认为这在市场中确实起到了很大的作用，推动了势头。

We've been really, really good from a credit perspective. International has done really, really well for us and we continue to get coverage gains in international. I think when you look at spending, spending has been relatively stable as we have -- as we moved along. But what has -- what probably could have went better for us this year is a better economic environment. And I think you see that a little bit with consumer where we're running about 6%. But small business is one that I think has upside into the future.

从信用卡方面来看，我们做得非常好。国际业务表现也非常出色，我们继续在国际市场上获得更多的市场份额。我认为当你观察支出时，支出保持相对稳定，随着时间的推移也没有太大波动。但可能对我们来说今年本可以做得更好的是经济环境。我认为从消费方面可以看出这一点，我们大约增长了6%。但小型企业是我认为未来有很大上行空间的领域。

When you think about sort of how we're positioned overall, we've built this company to a much different scale than it was pre-pandemic. And I think that scale gives us lots of opportunities from a leverage perspective. And we continue to focus on millennials and Gen Z and that's really been a big story for us and it continues to be the story because I think a lot of people thought is the American Express Card member sort of waning and dying out and that's not the case. And we have great card members, great colleagues and that is making a difference and makes me feel really comfortable.

当你思考我们整体的定位时，我们已经把公司建设成了一个与大流行前完全不同的规模。我认为这个规模为我们从杠杆角度提供了很多机会。我们继续专注于千禧一代和Z世代，这是我们非常重要的故事，且它将继续成为故事的主线。我认为很多人曾以为美国运通卡会员会逐渐减少、消失，但事实并非如此。我们有优秀的卡会员和同事，这使得我们能够带来改变，并让我感到非常放心。

And when we end this year, we'll probably end at about 9% revenue growth but EPS will be between 23% and 25%. And we've raised guidance. I didn't want to raise guidance but we had to raise guidance because otherwise, it would have looked like we're making no money in the fourth quarter and that would have sent off some sort of signals.

当我们结束这一年时，我们预计收入增长大约为9%，但每股收益将在23%到25%之间。我们已经上调了业绩指引。我本不想上调业绩指引，但我们不得不做出调整，因为否则看起来我们在第四季度几乎没有盈利，这会发出不利信号。

Ryan Nash

Great. So maybe to dig in a little bit further. So several years ago, you laid out 10% plus aspirational revenue growth in 2024 and beyond. And as you highlighted, it's clear, there's been economic uncertainty. We've had higher interest rates and obviously stubborn inflation. Maybe just talk about what you need to see to reach those levels of growth? And has the algorithm changed at all since you first put this target out?

瑞安·纳什：很好。我们可以进一步探讨一下。几年前，你们提出了2024年及以后的10%以上的收入增长目标。正如你所强调的，显然，经济上存在不确定性。我们经历了更高的利率，当然还有顽固的通货膨胀。能否谈谈你们认为需要看到哪些因素才能达到这些增长水平？自从你们第一次提出这个目标以来，算法有发生什么变化吗？

Stephen Squeri

No, I don't think so. I think we put this target out right after we had some spectacular revenue growth after the pandemic. And I think for me, what was really important to send the message not only to our investors but to send the message to our colleagues that we are a growth company. We are here to grow. And that's why I think the 10% is the correct aspiration. So what has to happen to have all that right? Well, you probably need high single-digit billings and we're not at that point at this point. You need to continue to have card fee growth which for 25 quarters, we've now been 10% or more for 25 straight quarters. We had 18% card fee revenue growth. And that is -- we think about that as sort of recurring revenues much like a SaaS model.

斯蒂芬·斯奎里：不，我认为没有变化。我认为我们提出这个目标是在大流行后，我们经历了显著的收入增长。对我来说，真正重要的是向我们的投资者和同事传达一个信息，那就是我们是一家成长型公司。我们的目标是增长。这就是为什么我认为10%是正确的目标。那么，为了实现这一目标，必须发生什么？你可能需要高个位数的账单增长，而目前我们还没有达到这一点。你需要继续保持卡费增长，而我们已经连续25个季度维持了10%以上的增长。我们有18%的卡费收入增长。我们把这个视为类似于SaaS模型的经常性收入。

And then from a lending perspective, I think lending needs to grow just slightly more than billings and we're growing in line with the industry. You put all that together and you will get to your 10% revenue. Having said that, if you're off on any of those things, the scale that we have right now, whether we grow 8%, 9% or 10% revenue, I'm very, very confident we will continue to grow mid-teens EPS and we're proving that this year by exceeding mid-teens EPS.

然后，从借贷角度来看，我认为借贷需要略微超过账单增长，而我们目前的增长与行业趋势一致。把所有这些因素加在一起，你将能够实现10%的收入增长。话虽如此，如果某些因素未能达到预期，我们目前的规模，无论我们是实现8%、9%还是10%的收入增长，我非常有信心我们将继续实现中十位数增长的每股收益（EPS），我们今年已经通过超过中位数的EPS来证明这一点。

Ryan Nash

Maybe just to dig in on that a little bit further. You noted that this year, 23% to 25%, including the Accertify gain. Maybe just expand on the comment around scale and how you're able to drive this type of earnings per share growth, even the fact that the top line is a little bit softer.

瑞安·纳什：也许可以进一步探讨一下。你提到今年的增长在23%到25%之间，包括Accertify的收益。能否展开谈谈关于规模的评论，以及即便收入增速稍显放缓，你们是如何推动这种每股收益增长的？

Stephen Squeri

Yes. I mean, look, technology is a big part of that. I mean our continued investment in technology which helps from a servicing perspective, we continue to get lots of expense operating leverage. Obviously, we're growing our expenses. Our operating expense is a little bit slower than we're growing our revenues. But I think one of the key things for us is the marketing leverage that we're getting. And we've upped our marketing expenditures to approximately $6 billion this year. And we target the team to be more efficient than it was last year. So, if I -- for example, if I set a 5% target on $3 billion worth of marketing spend, I'm going to get another $150 million. I set a 5% target on $6 billion. I'm getting an extra $300 million.

斯蒂芬·斯奎里：是的。我的意思是，技术是其中的一个重要部分。我们持续投资于技术，这有助于提升服务效率，我们也继续从中获得大量的费用经营杠杆。当然，我们的支出在增长，我们的运营支出增长略慢于收入的增长。但我认为对我们来说，关键的一点是我们所获得的营销杠杆。我们今年已经将营销支出提高到大约60亿美元，并且我们要求团队比去年更高效。所以，如果我——例如，我对30亿美元的营销支出设定了5%的目标，那么我就能多得到1.5亿美元。如果我对60亿美元的支出设定了5%的目标，我就能多得到3亿美元。

And I think what's happened for us is our retention rates continue to be strong. And we're just continuing to refresh those products and those value propositions are really resonating with our customers. And having the scale that we have allows us to pull many different levers to get to that level.

我认为对我们来说，发生的情况是我们的客户保持率持续强劲。我们持续更新这些产品，这些价值主张真的与我们的客户产生了共鸣。拥有我们当前的规模，使我们能够拉动多种杠杆来达到这个水平。

Ryan Nash

Maybe, Steve, a little bit more near term. You've been describing for the last couple of quarters, as you said, spend has been steady. We're now 2 months through the quarter. Any update on either billings performance? Or what are your expectations across the rest of the holidays?

瑞安·纳什：也许，Steve，我们再看一下短期情况。正如你所说，过去几个季度支出一直保持稳定。现在已经过了两个月的季度时间。能否更新一下账单表现？或者你对接下来的假期有什么预期？

Stephen Squeri

Yes. So look, for the -- I'd say for the last 4 or 5 quarters, we've been growing at about 6%. What I would say is through 2 months of this quarter, we are stronger than we were last quarter. And I know everybody is interested in holiday spending. And so if you look at the week before Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, our billings are very strong. Retail, we're double digits from a U.S. consumer retail perspective. Our online retail, consumer retail is mid-teens and our off-line foot traffic is high single digits. So when you look at that, it gives you a lot of confidence in our card members, obviously, because you have that premium base. But to have double-digit growth for that period of time was a very positive sign.

斯蒂芬·斯奎里：是的。回顾过去的四五个季度，我们的增长率大约是6%。从这个季度的两个月来看，我们的表现比上个季度更强劲。我知道大家都对假期支出很感兴趣。如果你看一下感恩节前一周到网络星期一的这段时间，我们的账单表现非常强劲。美国消费者零售方面，我们的零售增长是两位数。我们的线上零售增长是中位数十几，而线下人流量是高个位数。所以，从这些数据来看，这显然给了我们很大的信心，因为我们的卡会员群体本身就是优质客户群体。在这段时间内能实现两位数的增长，这是一个非常积极的信号。

Having said that, like in a basketball game, winning the first quarter doesn't really matter. You got to win all 4 quarters. So we'll see what the next 4 weeks brings but we're happy with what's happened so far.

话虽如此，就像篮球比赛一样，赢得第一节并不重要。你得赢得四个季度。所以我们将看看接下来的四周会带来什么，但截至目前，我们对发生的情况感到满意。

Ryan Nash

Excellent. I do think my wife helped some of those trends.

瑞安·纳什：太棒了。我确实认为我妻子帮了这些趋势的一些忙。

Stephen Squeri

I'm sure.

斯蒂芬·斯奎里：我相信。

Ryan Nash

So Steve, as I was reading through my questions over the weekend, I came upon this question, I laughed because there's 2 questions within one. I know you like to belittle me about doing that to you many times.

瑞安·纳什：Steve，当我周末阅读我的问题时，我碰到这个问题，笑了，因为它包含了两个问题。我知道你喜欢取笑我，批评我常常这样问你。

Stephen Squeri

You do that on all the earnings. I say one question and you say, I have a question with 2 parts.

斯蒂芬·斯奎里：你在所有的财报会议上都是这样。我提一个问题，你总是说，我有一个两部分的问题。

Ryan Nash

Well, the market is obviously showing excitement post the election and hopes of a more business-friendly environment. Maybe just talk about what changes you're expecting at all and if this could impact billings or the overall performance of the company? And then second, is this enough to see organic spend across things like U.S. consumer SMEs to improve?

瑞安·纳什：显然，市场在选举后表现出兴奋，大家希望看到一个更加有利于商业的环境。能否谈谈你们预期会有哪些变化？这些变化是否会影响账单或公司的整体表现？其次，这是否足以促使像美国消费者小型企业（SMEs）等领域的有机支出有所改善？

Stephen Squeri

Yes, there's like 4 questions there. But look, I think -- and I've been asked this question before, I think the regulatory environment will, I hope, rationalize more. Somebody say there's going to be deregulation. I don't think there's going to be deregulation but I think there'll be a little bit more rationalization. I think that we'll see what happens from a tax perspective. I think everybody with one administration might have been expecting higher taxes. We'll see. We'll see how that all plays out. We'll see what happens with global minimum tax and how that plays out. We'll see what happens with the CFPB. There's a lot of moving parts and we'll see what happens with Basel III.

斯蒂芬·斯奎里：嗯，这里有四个问题。但请看，我认为——我之前也被问过这个问题，我认为监管环境会有所理顺。有人说会有放松管制，我不认为会放松管制，但我认为会有更多的理性化。我认为我们会看到税收方面的变化。我认为在某一届政府下，大家可能预期会有更高的税收。我们拭目以待，看看这些如何发展。我们也会看看全球最低税率会如何影响这个局面。我们也会看到消费者金融保护局（CFPB）会如何变化。有很多变化的因素，我们也将看到巴塞尔III协议会带来什么变化。

Having said that, look, regardless of Democratic administration, high taxes, low taxes, what have you, our strategy works irrespective. We've been through many, many types of different governments and what have you. I think as far as organic spending, I can tell you that in a high tax environment, you will not have organic spending. You raise corporate taxes. Corporations will still target their EPS. They will maybe not spend as much. They won't spend as much with middle market companies, they won't spend as much with small businesses. And consumers may not have as much because companies may go into layoffs at that point. So, I think holding where we are from a tax perspective is good for the economy. We'll have to see how tariffs play into all that. So from an organic spending perspective, I think a more stable environment with line of sight into maybe not a high inflation or high tax environment can help organic spending.

话虽如此，无论是民主党政府、高税收、低税收等，我们的战略都能奏效。我们经历了很多不同政府的时期。我认为，就有机支出而言，我可以告诉你，在高税收环境下，几乎不可能有有机支出。如果提高企业税，企业仍会以每股收益（EPS）为目标，可能不会花费那么多。他们不会对中型市场公司投入那么多，也不会对小企业投入那么多。消费者的支出可能也会减少，因为公司可能会在那个时候进行裁员。所以，我认为维持目前的税收环境对经济有利。我们还需要看看关税如何在这一切中发挥作用。从有机支出的角度看，我认为一个更稳定的环境，可能不以高通胀或高税收为背景的环境，有助于有机支出的增长。

And I know you're -- everybody is always focused on small businesses, right? And so from a small business perspective -- look, from a small business perspective, we used to grow about 3% organically every year. COVID came, we were down 14%, then we were up 19%, then we were at 13% and now we've been sort of negative about 3%. So what happened during COVID was you just wanted -- the best way to pay was to use the card, right? People didn't get in and had their cheque books [ph], they weren't doing wires and so forth. And the easiest form of payment was the credit card. And people leaned into it heavy. But the reality is there were a bunch of transactions that small businesses and middle market companies put on their credit cards that really weren't right for credit cards. I mean $5 million, $6 million purchases, we like them. Don't get me wrong, maybe your wife -- you buy your wife some jewellery but -- okay. I'll approve it. But when you look at that, that's not with the credit card. And so we saw a lot of that -- you're seeing some of that spending come off.

而且我知道你总是关注小型企业，对吧？从小型企业的角度看——看看，小型企业的角度看，我们过去每年有机增长大约为3%。疫情来临时，我们下降了14%，然后增长了19%，再然后是13%，现在我们大约是负增长3%。所以，疫情期间发生的情况是，最好的支付方式是使用信用卡，对吧？人们没有拿支票簿，也没有进行电汇等操作。最简单的支付方式就是信用卡。人们重度依赖信用卡。但现实是，一些小型企业和中型市场公司将一些并不适合信用卡支付的大额交易（比如500万美元、600万美元的购买）放在了信用卡上。我们喜欢这些交易。别误会我，也许是你妻子——你为妻子买些珠宝——好吧，我会批准。但从这个角度看，这并不适合用信用卡支付。所以我们看到了很多这样的情况——你会看到这部分支出开始减少。

And what happens is that depresses organic spending. And so what we say is, look, there's a right payment method for a rightsized transaction. There's a right payment method for the right relationship transaction. And so I think we're seeing a little bit of that clear out. But what's really encouraging for me from a small business perspective is that we continue to retain our customers and we continue to acquire new customers which says the value propositions are working right now.

发生的事情是，这会抑制有机支出。所以我们说，看，每个合适大小的交易都有合适的支付方式。每个合适的关系型交易都有合适的支付方式。所以我认为我们看到了一些清理。对我来说，最鼓舞人心的是，从小型企业的角度来看，我们继续保持客户的忠诚，同时继续吸引新客户，这说明我们的价值主张目前在发挥作用。

Ryan Nash

Maybe to spend a minute on T&E. It's been a big driver of growth post pandemic. It slowed a bit over the last few quarters from 13% down to about 6%. Maybe just talk a little bit about what is driving the deceleration, whether it's slower inflation, a more cautious consumer? And are you seeing any signs of stabilization or improving?

瑞安·纳什：让我们花点时间谈谈差旅和娱乐（T&E）。它在疫情后一直是增长的主要推动力。过去几个季度，增长从13%放缓到约6%。能否谈谈导致这一放缓的原因，是通货膨胀放缓，还是消费者变得更加谨慎？你们是否看到稳定或改善的迹象？

Stephen Squeri

Yes. So just for the fourth quarter, we're seeing improvement, right? So we're seeing it go up from 6% to 7%. It's -- our -- our fourth quarter consumer travel bookings were higher than they were pre-pandemic. So we feel really good about that.

斯蒂芬·斯奎里：是的。就第四季度而言，我们看到了改善。我们看到增长从6%上升到7%。我们的第四季度消费者旅行预订量比大流行前还要高。所以我们对此感到非常满意。

You still had a lot of the revenge travel coming back. The Gen Z and the millennials got out early. The Xer and the boomers got out a little bit later. They were a little bit late to the party. So that drove a lot of that growth. Our T&E spending has gotten to such a level that, to be honest with you, that 7%, 6% is not so bad. But when you think about our customer, our customer is a customer that when they're challenged or when they get concerned, they still -- they pay their bills which is why our credit numbers are so good. What they do is they ramp down on their discretionary spending.

在疫情后的复仇性旅行中，Z世代和千禧一代出行较早，X世代和婴儿潮一代稍晚一些，他们稍微迟到了一些。所以这推动了很多增长。我们的差旅和娱乐支出已经达到一个水平，说实话，7%和6%的增长并不算差。但当你考虑到我们的客户时，他们是在面对挑战或顾虑时，依然会按时还款，这也是我们信用数据如此优秀的原因。他们做的是减少可自由支配的支出。

And there was no greater example of that during COVID when went down but our write-off levels were lower than they were pre-pandemic. So I think that's how they modulate their spending. And I think at that level, we're okay. The other part that's really been booming for us is restaurant. Restaurant continues to take off for us.

在疫情期间，我们的支出有所下降，但我们的坏账水平低于疫情前。这也是他们调节支出的方式。我认为在这个水平上，我们没问题。对我们来说，餐饮业务是另一个真正蓬勃发展的领域。餐饮行业对我们来说持续增长。

Ryan Nash

Got you. So you referenced millennials in one of the questions earlier. I think spend was up 12% year-over-year, double-digit overall growth rate in U.S. consumer now makes up 1/3 of U.S. billings. You talked at the Investor Day, the lifetime value of these customers being 2x older cohorts. Can you just maybe talk about how penetrated you are across this cohort? And does the shift towards millennials change the economics of your business at all relative to the past strategy in terms of customer acquisition, retention and growth?

瑞安·纳什：明白了。你在之前的一些问题中提到了千禧一代。我记得支出同比增长了12%，美国消费者的整体增长率为两位数，现在占美国账单的三分之一。你在投资者日上谈到，这些客户的生命周期价值是老一代的两倍。能否谈谈你们在这一人群中的渗透率？转向千禧一代是否改变了你们在客户获取、保持和增长方面的商业经济模式？

Stephen Squeri

No. So let's take a step back, right? So if you think about our business, we have about 5% of the cards in the United States. And if you think about the fee-paying cards, we have about 25% of those cards. That says to me, there's still a huge opportunity. When you think about Millennial and Gen Z, we're not taking every millennial and Gen Z. When you look at the credit profile of the millennial and Gen Zs that we have, it is at the top. We are taking the cream off the top. And so the nice part about the Gen Z population is that as we go on, more and more come into the workforce.

斯蒂芬·斯奎里：没有。让我们先从宏观的角度来看一下。如果你考虑我们的业务，我们在美国大约持有5%的信用卡。而如果考虑到收费卡，我们拥有大约25%的市场份额。这意味着对我们来说仍然有巨大的机会。谈到千禧一代和Z世代，我们并不是接纳每一个千禧一代和Z世代。看一下我们拥有的千禧一代和Z世代的信用状况，都是顶尖的。我们是在从中挑选最优质的部分。因此，Z世代的一个好处是，随着时间推移，越来越多的人进入职场。

And as we've talked about, we are targeting these card members with either a Gold card or a Platinum card. Years ago, we used to target them with a fee-free product. And it did not get the engagement level that we needed. And so they get engaged with the benefits. And what happens with millennials and Gen Z is that they spend more on the -- we get -- they get a higher share of their wallet, right? And one of the reasons we get a higher share of their wallet, they're not used to having the card not accepted.

正如我们所谈到的，我们将这些卡会员目标定位为金卡或白金卡。多年前，我们曾用免年费的产品来吸引他们，但那并没有带来我们所需要的参与度。因此，他们通过享受福利来进行参与。千禧一代和Z世代的特点是，他们在我们这里花费更多——我们获得了他们更高的“钱包份额”，对吧？我们能够获得更高份额的原因之一是，他们不习惯自己的卡不被接受。

When you were growing up and I was growing up, you asked, do you accept American Express? You don't ask that question anymore, especially in the United States, where the card is as accepted as Visa and Mastercard. So -- that's a big deal and that gets us a higher share of their wallet. They don't spend as much right now with -- as a Gen Xer or a boomer and they don't borrow as much. But we believe they'll have 20 more years of relationships with us. And so we think the lifetime value is really 2x.

当你成长时，和我成长时，你会问：“你们接受美国运通吗？”但现在你不会再问这个问题，尤其是在美国，那里这张卡和Visa、Mastercard一样被广泛接受。所以——这意味着很多，并且让我们获得了更高的“钱包份额”。他们目前的支出不如X世代或婴儿潮一代多，也不会借那么多钱。但我们相信，他们与我们将有更多20年的关系。因此，我们认为他们的生命周期价值真的比老一代高出2倍。

The other interesting thing about this cohort is as they go along, we're still an aspirational brand for them. And so while we may not take them as they come out of college or they come into the workforce in a trade or something like that, as they establish their credit, they're still available to us. And that's a really important point because we're trying to take the cream off the crop early and we try and stay engaged as we go along.

这个群体的另一个有趣的地方是，随着他们的发展，我们仍然是他们的理想品牌。因此，尽管我们可能不会在他们刚毕业或进入某个行业工作时接纳他们，但随着他们建立信用，他们仍然会成为我们的客户。这是一个非常重要的点，因为我们正在尽早地挑选优质客户，并且随着时间的推移我们会持续保持联系。

Ryan Nash

So Steve, you and the team like to describe the business as a membership model. Maybe talk about what does that mean? Does it encourage partners to fund value? And how does it impact the company in terms of its overall performance versus peers?

瑞安·纳什：Steve，你和团队喜欢把公司描述为会员制模式。能否谈谈这意味着什么？它是否鼓励合作伙伴为价值提供资金？这对公司与同行相比的整体表现有什么影响？

Stephen Squeri

Yes. We like to talk about it that way because it is. It's -- we have member sense on our card. And if you think about it, you're paying a fee. Most of our card members are paying fees. And if you think about what the membership model gives is it gives a very strong value proposition. We give access to great experiences through travel, through dining, through other events, whether it's music or what have you. And we provide terrific service. And when you're charging a fee like that and you tend to engage with more creditworthy, high-income premium consumers.

斯蒂芬·斯奎里：是的。我们喜欢这样谈论它，因为它确实是这样。我们的卡片上有会员感。如果你考虑一下，你是在支付费用。我们的大多数卡会员都在支付费用。会员制模式带来的好处是它提供了非常强大的价值主张。我们通过旅行、餐饮和其他活动（无论是音乐还是其他）为客户提供优质体验。我们还提供出色的服务。当你收取这样的费用时，你通常会吸引更多信用良好、高收入的高端消费者。

And our partners love high credit premium, high-spending consumers. And so it really creates this virtuous cycle as our value propositions get better and they get better because we improve them but it also get better -- it gets better because we partner with them.

我们的合作伙伴喜欢信用高、消费多的高端客户。因此，这实际上形成了一个良性循环，因为我们的价值主张不断改善，而这些改善既源于我们自身的努力，也源于与合作伙伴的合作。

Now one of the reasons -- a couple of reasons people like to partner with us. Number one, we will make their products and services available to people that will spend more money with them. So that's a great thing, right? The second thing is, especially for global companies, we're a global company. It is easier to integrate with us than it is because you're not -- if you want to roll something out -- a great example is Apple Pay.

现在，人们喜欢与我们合作的原因之一，有几个方面。第一，我们会让他们的产品和服务面向那些会花更多钱的人。所以这是件好事，对吧？第二，特别是对于全球性公司，我们是一个全球性公司。与我们整合比与其他公司整合更容易——举个例子就是Apple Pay。

When Apple wants to roll something out, they can roll something out with us in over 30 -- 29 proprietary markets. They have to go bank by bank around the world. So it makes it a little bit easier for them to partner with us. But I think ultimately, what brands like is they love working with us because we give them access to high net worth individuals and high-spending small businesses which is why we have relationships with Dell, Adobe and so forth.

当苹果想推出某项服务时，他们可以在30多个——29个专有市场中与我们一起推出。他们必须逐个银行地去世界各地。所以，与我们合作对他们来说更为容易。但我认为，最终，品牌们喜欢与我们合作，是因为我们为他们提供了接触高净值个人和高消费小企业的机会，这也是我们与戴尔、Adobe等公司建立合作关系的原因。

Ryan Nash

You referenced value prop refreshes. This year, you did 40 product refreshes, including Delta and U.S. Gold Card. And I think you've done over 150 refreshes in the last 5 years. Maybe talk about some of the things you've learned from these refreshes, like an example, Gold, I think, tends to skew more millennial. How does that inform what you do to future refreshes? And was this a big year for refreshes? And how does the pipeline look into '25?

瑞安·纳什：你提到了价值主张的更新。今年，你们做了40个产品更新，包括达美航空和美国金卡。我认为过去五年你们做了超过150次更新。能否谈谈你们从这些更新中学到了什么？比如，金卡可能更倾向于千禧一代。这个信息是如何影响你们未来产品更新的？今年的更新是否是一次重要的调整？到2025年的更新管道如何？

Stephen Squeri

Yes. Look, I think that that's probably around the right number, whether it's 35 to 50. And you got to remember, when we're talking about refreshes, we operate all across the globe and we have a load of co-brand partners, right? So there's always a product refresh. One of the things that when I took over, we committed to doing was to refresh these products every 3 to 4 years. Why did we do that? Well, obviously, people's needs change. Value propositions need to morph and we continue to do that. When you invest in a refresh and you invest in the value proposition, the first thing you do is you only raise the fee when you add more value than the fee that you're raising.

斯蒂芬·斯奎里：是的。我认为这是大致正确的数字，不论是35次还是50次。你得记住，当我们谈到产品更新时，我们是在全球范围内运营，并且有很多联合品牌合作伙伴。因此，产品更新是常态。一个我接手后做出的承诺就是每3到4年更新一次这些产品。为什么我们要这么做？显然，人们的需求在变化，价值主张需要调整，我们也一直在这样做。当你投资于产品更新并且提升价值主张时，首先你只有在增加的价值超过你所提高的费用时，才会提高费用。

And that leads to better acquisition results. It makes your marketing dollars work harder and you get more engagement and you get higher retention, okay? And so we just did Gold. And with Gold, we did a couple of things. We raised the fee from $250 to $325, we added like $400 worth of value. So it's kind of a no-brainer. If you want to -- for $75, you get more value.

这会带来更好的客户获取效果，使你的营销资金更有效，增加参与度并提升客户保持率，好吗？我们刚更新了金卡。对于金卡，我们做了几项改变。我们将年费从250美元提高到325美元，增加了大约400美元的价值。所以这几乎是显而易见的。如果你支付75美元，你就能获得更多的价值。

Now not everybody uses every dollar of that value, so which is why you have to have a varied value proposition. Look, we just added Dunkin' Donuts and Dunkin' Donuts has been great for us because they've been advertising. When you look at the Gold Card, the Gold Card from a millennial Gen Z perspective, we get -- our acquisition on Gold Card is 30% higher than Platinum. It is a workhorse product for us. It really is a workhorse product.

现在，并非每个人都会利用这些价值的每一美元，这也是为什么你需要有多样化的价值主张。看看，我们刚刚增加了Dunkin' Donuts，它对我们来说非常有利，因为他们一直在做广告。从千禧一代和Z世代的角度看，金卡的获取率比白金卡高出30%。它是我们的主力产品，确实是我们的一款主力产品。

And I think from a Gold Card perspective which is also interesting, we launched a white Gold Card. So there was a rose gold, there was a gold and there's a white gold. And I'm just hoping there's another color of gold because people went nuts.

我认为从金卡的角度看，另一个有趣的点是，我们推出了白色金卡。所以，除了玫瑰金和金色，还有白色金卡。我只希望能再有一种新的金卡颜色，因为人们简直为此疯狂。

Ryan Nash

I can tell you -- there's only 3 [ph].

瑞安·纳什：我可以告诉你——只有三种颜色。

Stephen Squeri

Yes, I know. I know too. But we need a fourth color of gold. So if anybody has that idea, let us know and we'll cut in. But people love -- a lot of people thought that the card was going to go out of style, right? But people really do love the form factors that we've been coming out with. So you bundle all that together, you make some changes to your digital app and so forth and it really does drive -- it drives interest in the product.

斯蒂芬·斯奎里：是的，我知道，我也知道。但我们需要第四种金色。所以如果有人有这个想法，告诉我们，我们会加入进去。很多人曾以为这张卡会过时，对吧？但人们真的很喜欢我们推出的这些卡片形式。所以，把这一切结合起来，再对我们的数字应用做一些改变，这真的会推动——它会激发人们对产品的兴趣。

Ryan Nash

So I wanted to spend a minute just talking about the competitive environment. So I think you're spending $6 billion on marketing this year. That's up over 15%. You've had obviously great customer acquisition. You even had the opportunity to increase it further but you chose to let the Accertify game hit the bottom line which is something that was not a historical American Express practice. So maybe just talk a little bit about the competitive landscape for customer acquisition. Some people have been talking about Chase wanting to make their product more competitive with Platinum. Maybe just talk about how things are evolving in your market and where are you seeing the best incremental opportunity?

瑞安·纳什：我想花点时间谈谈竞争环境。我知道你们今年在营销上的支出为60亿美元，比去年增长了超过15%。显然，你们在客户获取方面表现出色。你们甚至有机会进一步增加投入，但你们选择让Accertify的收益直接进入底线，这是美国运通历史上并不常见的做法。能否谈谈在客户获取方面的竞争格局？有些人提到摩根大通想让他们的产品与白金卡更具竞争力。能否谈谈你们市场中的变化，在哪些方面你们看到最好的增量机会？

Stephen Squeri

All right. Let's unpack a couple of things there because I think there's a couple of things to get into. We decided at the beginning of the year, we were going to spend $6 billion. We thought that we would need to use the Accertify gain to do that. When it was apparent that the machine was generating enough operating income, we chose to drop that to the bottom line, buy back more shares and stick with that $6 billion. I mean one of the things that we used to do is when we had overage, we would then look to deploy that as soon as we had it in that quarter. The problem with doing that is you're not getting the most efficient use of your marketing dollars. You're not getting the ROIs that you want because you're just spending it not on a planful basis. So we decided at the beginning of the year, this is what we were going to do. We hope the Accertify sale was going to go through. We thought we were going to need it. If it didn't go, we were still going down that path and we'd explain it later. But we didn't need to, right? And so that was really important for us to do. The other important point to take away is that -- we are spending more to get more. We're not spending more to get the same. That's another important point. That gets that efficiency point that I talked about.

斯蒂芬·斯奎里：好的，让我们来拆解一下几个方面，因为有几个要点需要讲解。我们在年初就决定要花费60亿美元。我们本以为需要通过Accertify的收益来实现这一目标。但当我们发现业务已经产生足够的运营收入时，我们决定将其直接入账，回购更多股份，并坚持使用这60亿美元。我们过去的一种做法是，当我们有盈余时，会在季度内尽快将其投入使用。这样做的问题在于你没有最有效地利用营销资金。你不能获得你想要的投资回报率，因为你是在没有计划的情况下随意花费。所以我们年初就决定，这就是我们要做的事情。我们希望Accertify的交易能够顺利完成，我们认为我们需要它。如果它没有完成，我们仍然会走这条路，稍后再解释。但结果是我们并不需要它，这对我们来说非常重要。另一个重要的点是——我们花更多的钱来获取更多的回报，而不是花更多的钱来获得相同的回报。这是另一个重要的点，涉及我之前提到的效率问题。

And the other thing is it is a highly competitive market. This market has been highly competitive since the great financial crisis. It's dog eat dog out there. And what's great about it is it keeps everybody on their toes. I think consumers wind up benefiting because we're coming out with better and better products and services and we continue to push each other and we will continue to do that. And so -- but it is highly competitive. We respect Chase. We respect -- Cap One is in this space now. Citi will be back in this space. Bank of America, Wells, everybody is here. And we don't take anybody for granted. And we just need to continue to raise the level of service and value that we provide our cardholders.

另外，竞争非常激烈。自金融危机以来，这个市场一直竞争激烈，简直是“你死我活”。但这正是它的优点，因为这让每个人都保持警觉。我认为消费者最终会从中受益，因为我们不断推出越来越好的产品和服务，彼此不断推动，我们将继续这样做。所以——但竞争确实非常激烈。我们尊重摩根大通，我们尊重——Capital One现在也在这个领域。花旗也会重新进入这个市场。美国银行、富国银行，所有人都在这里。我们绝不轻视任何人。我们只需要继续提高为我们的卡会员提供的服务和价值水平。

Ryan Nash

Maybe let's shift gears and talk about international which continues to be the fastest-growing part of the franchise. It's been growing at a steady 13% for the last 5 quarters. You've had the top 5 markets have been growing mid- to high teens, millennials growing 23% internationally. Maybe just give us an update on how things are developing internationally, what's driving the success? And despite low teens growth, can we see more from your international?

瑞安·纳什：让我们换个话题，谈谈国际业务，它仍然是公司中增长最快的部分。过去五个季度增长稳定在13%左右。你提到前五大市场的增长在中到高十几个百分点之间，千禧一代在国际市场增长了23%。能否给我们更新一下国际业务的发展情况？是什么推动了这一成功？尽管增长在低十几个百分点，我们能否看到国际业务有更多的增长？

Stephen Squeri

Yes. So I'm really bullish on international. International was the fastest-growing part of our business pre-pandemic. Obviously, international was locked down a lot more than the U.S. was. And when you think about the international landscape that we play in, there are 15 markets that we play in that represent 57% of the overall revenue pools available in the card business. And the 5 main markets that we play in which is Japan, Australia, Mexico, Canada and the U.K. represent almost 1/3 of the revenue that's out there.

斯蒂芬·斯奎里：是的。我对国际市场非常看好。国际业务是我们大流行前增长最快的部分。显然，国际市场的封锁程度比美国更严重。考虑到我们在国际市场的布局，我们在15个市场中运营，占信用卡行业总收入池的57%。我们主要运营的五大市场——日本、澳大利亚、墨西哥、加拿大和英国——几乎占了全球收入的三分之一。

What's happened with international is -- and we've got a consumer business in international which is really aspirational, has a heavy T&E focus, not a lot of lending focus. It's just not what goes on from an international perspective. Our international products are much more -- our international revenues are much more focused on fees and card and billings. And we're underpenetrated. I mean we're 5% market share internationally.

国际业务的情况是——我们在国际市场有一个非常有潜力的消费者业务，重点是差旅和娱乐（T&E），而不是贷款。这不是国际业务的主流方向。我们的国际产品——国际收入更多集中在卡费和账单上。我们的市场渗透率很低。我是说，我们的国际市场份额只有5%。

When you look at Japan, look at international small business, Japan, for example, 9% -- we have 9% small business share. Any other market, it's like 3%. So really a nascent opportunity for us. So as we look at international and as coverage continues to improve, I believe that it is still a really strong growth opportunity for us.

当你看日本的情况，看看国际小型企业市场，日本的市场份额是9%，而在其他市场，这个比例大约是3%。所以这对我们来说是一个非常初步的机会。随着我们继续拓展国际市场并提高覆盖率，我相信国际业务仍然是我们一个非常强劲的增长机会。

Ryan Nash

You mentioned 9% market share in Japan, 3% and some others. Maybe just talk about how the SME strategy internationally differs from what you do in the U.S. Obviously, you're the elephant in the room in the U.S. And on the consumer side, you referenced there's not a lot of lending but just maybe how do you think about the international lending opportunity relative to [indiscernible].

瑞安·纳什：你提到了日本市场份额为9%，其他市场为3%。能否谈谈你们在国际市场上的小型企业战略与在美国的战略有什么不同？显然，在美国你们是行业中的巨头。在消费市场方面，你提到贷款机会不多，但你如何看待相对于[无法辨识的内容]的国际贷款机会？

Stephen Squeri

Yes. I think, look, the most important thing is we're not going to go after lending unless we can get good data, right? And you have a lot of thin credit files internationally. You also have a lot of cultural issues where people just don't borrow, right? And so there are opportunities, I think, for us to grow lending there but I wouldn't count that as the big driver. I think the big driver for us in international is to continue to increase coverage which is going to help from a small business perspective as we get more and more everyday spend as they can run their businesses that way. And I think that will increase our small businesses, small business spending and just to continue to drive more card acquisition. So we're investing more marketing in our international markets. And as you think about where that -- those marketing dollars go, they will go probably over time a little more disproportionately to international.

斯蒂芬·斯奎里：是的。我认为，最重要的一点是，除非我们能获得好的数据，否则我们不会涉足贷款业务。国际市场上有很多信用文件薄弱的情况。还有很多文化问题，人们根本不借款。所以，我认为在国际市场上，我们有机会增长贷款业务，但我不认为这是主要驱动力。我认为，国际市场的主要驱动力是继续增加市场覆盖率，这将有助于小型企业，因为它们可以通过这种方式进行日常支出，运营业务。我认为这将增加我们小型企业的支出，并推动更多的卡片获取。因此，我们在国际市场上投入了更多的营销资金。随着你考虑这些营销资金的去向，可能随着时间的推移，更多的资金会被分配到国际市场。

Ryan Nash

Makes sense. We talked about lending internationally. Obviously, lending in the U.S., it's a smaller part of your overall revenues but it's been a solid contributor to revenue growth as you've been on a journey to get more of your customers to do more with you, so you have half their spend, maybe only 1/4 of their borrowing. Talk about what is driving the success to bring over more balances? And how comfortable are you that we won't see any credit issues over the medium term?

瑞安·纳什：理解了。我们谈到国际贷款。显然，美国的贷款在你们的整体收入中占比较小，但它一直是收入增长的稳健贡献者，因为你们一直在努力让更多的客户与您进行更多的业务往来，现在你们掌握了他们一半的支出，但可能只有四分之一的借款。谈谈是什么推动了更多余额的增长？你们对中期内不会出现任何信用问题感到有多大的信心？

Stephen Squeri

Yes. Look, I mean, when we think about sort of lending, our customers want to borrow. I mean a lot of people are surprised when a Platinum cardholder wants to borrow. But if I'm not offering that lending opportunity, they go to Chase, they'll go to Citi, they go to somebody else. Why would I want my customer interacting with somebody else? And we're lending to our existing customers. And when you look at how much spending has gone up from pre-COVID to how much lending has gone up, our spending has still outpaced our lending. So -- and when you look at our lending revenue growth, there's 2 drivers there. One is volume but the other is rate, okay? And as we've continued to increase our deposit funding, that has lowered our cost of funding. And we're getting even more sophisticated from a pricing perspective.

斯蒂芬·斯奎里：是的。看，当我们谈论贷款时，我们的客户是想借钱的。很多人可能会惊讶于一位白金卡持有者想要贷款。但如果我不提供这个贷款机会，他们就会去摩根大通，去花旗，去其他公司。我为什么要让我的客户与别人打交道呢？我们是在向现有客户贷款。当你看到从疫情前到现在支出的增长和贷款的增长，我们的支出仍然超出了贷款的增长。并且，当你看我们的贷款收入增长时，有两个驱动因素。一个是交易量，另一个是利率，好的？随着我们不断增加存款融资，这降低了我们的融资成本。从定价角度来看，我们变得更加精细化。

And when you're driving lending revenue from a cheaper cost of funds and from better pricing, that just goes right to the ROE. I mean that is -- you're not using more capital there. That is just profit that we're driving for our shareholders. So that's a good thing for us to do. We're never going to -- we're not going to go outside our credit box. We will not go outside our credit box. And as long as our premium long-standing customers want to borrow, we'll underwrite them. And look at our credit numbers, they're better than they were in 2019. And over time, I think they'll kick up as there's some seasoning but the gap between us and our competitors continues to grow.

当你从更低的资金成本和更好的定价中推动贷款收入时，那直接增加了股东权益回报率（ROE）。我的意思是，这并不需要更多的资本。这只是我们为股东创造的利润。所以这对我们来说是件好事。我们永远不会——我们不会超出我们的信用框架。我们不会超出我们的信用框架。只要我们的高端老客户想借款，我们就会为他们承保。看看我们的信用数据，它们比2019年还要好。随着时间的推移，我认为它们会有所上升，虽然这种变化可能需要一段时间，但我们与竞争对手之间的差距在不断扩大。

Ryan Nash

Maybe we've got 5 or 6 minutes left here to hit on another couple of topics. You recently did 2 acquisitions with the purchase of Tock and Rooam. You've done a handful of really successful strategic acquisitions over the years. Maybe just talk about how these fit into the overall Amex strategy. And when you look across your business, where do you see further opportunities to add capabilities inorganically?

瑞安·纳什：可能我们这里还有五六分钟，谈谈其他几个话题。你们最近收购了Tock和Rooam两家公司。你们这些年做了一些非常成功的战略收购。能否谈谈这些收购是如何融入美国运通的整体战略中的？当你回顾整个业务时，在哪些领域你认为还有机会通过非有机方式增加能力？

Stephen Squeri

I'm waiting for the Goldman guys to tell me. I'm sure they're out here circling with great ideas. But I think...

斯蒂芬·斯奎里：我在等高盛的朋友们来告诉我。我敢肯定，他们在这里围绕着一些很棒的创意。但我认为……

Ryan Nash

Trying to build this pipeline.

瑞安·纳什：正在努力构建这个管道。

Stephen Squeri

I know you do. So you think about the -- just go back to the Resy acquisition. You think about the Resy acquisition. Why did we do the Resy acquisition? Well, remember, we're a closed-loop network. That means we have relationships with our merchants and we have relationships with our cardholders. So Resy was a great way to bring value to our restaurants, bring value to our cardholders. And I think Resy when we acquired it, had like 7 million registered users, we're over 50 million at this point. And it's an open platform. So it's also a great tool for us to acquire new cards, right? Because we do certain things for card members on Resy which we promote global dining and what have you. And if you're not a card member, maybe you want to become one. So that's number one.

斯蒂芬·斯奎里：我知道你们这么做。所以回到Resy的收购。为什么我们要收购Resy？记住，我们是一个封闭式网络。这意味着我们与商户和卡会员都有关系。所以，Resy是为我们的餐厅带来价值、为卡会员带来价值的一个很好的方式。我认为当我们收购Resy时，它有大约700万注册用户，现在已经超过5000万了。而且它是一个开放平台。所以，它也是一个很好的工具，帮助我们获取新卡会员，对吧？因为我们在Resy上为卡会员做了一些事情，比如我们推广全球餐饮等等。如果你不是卡会员，也许你会想成为卡会员。所以，这就是我们做这个收购的原因之一。

So why did we do then Rooam and Tock? Well, Tock played at a little higher end, more Michelin star restaurants, wineries and things like that. So that was a natural fit for us to fill it in.

那么，为什么我们做了Rooam和Tock的收购呢？Tock主要面向更高端的市场，如米其林星级餐厅、酒庄等。所以，这对于我们来说是一个自然的补充。

And then Rooam, what Rooam allows us to do is to interact with the point-of-sale system, Toast, Shift4 and so forth. And that allows us to bring data back to the reservation system so that when you call to make a reservation, you know what the person spent last time, you know they bought the expensive bottle on line. It really does get into that whole membership model but now it brings the merchant into it.

然后，Rooam允许我们与POS系统（如Toast、Shift4等）互动。这使我们能够将数据传回到预定系统，当你打电话预订时，你可以看到这个人上次消费了多少，知道他们买了贵重的酒瓶。这真正融入了我们的会员模式，但现在还将商户引入其中。

Kabbage was an interesting one because what Kabbage gave us was a platform that our small businesses could live in and do -- we could do small business loans, cash flow analysis and things like that. And we also brought banking on top of that platform which I thought was really important as well.

Kabbage的收购也很有趣，因为Kabbage为我们提供了一个平台，我们的小型企业可以在这个平台上运行，进行小额贷款、现金流分析等操作。我们还在这个平台上增加了银行服务，我认为这也非常重要。

We'll continue to look at those things that add value and help us grow our organic core over time. So I'm not saying what we're looking at but we're always looking at things that increase the value proposition, increase our relevancy to merchants and increase our relevancy to card members.

我们将继续关注那些能增加价值、帮助我们随着时间推移增长核心业务的机会。所以我不会说我们现在在看什么，但我们始终关注能够提升价值主张、增强我们与商户的相关性、增强我们与卡会员的相关性的机会。

Ryan Nash

So a couple of times we talked about scale and all the investments you've made in the business. You had a handful of years of really significant investment. And more recently, you've been very good at controlling OpEx and driving leverage across the firm. Maybe just talk about where are you finding efficiencies? Are you using AI? And how do you balance making investments with the need to grow the overall franchise?

瑞安·纳什：我们多次讨论过规模和你们在业务上的投资。你们有几年的时间进行了大量的投资。最近，你们在控制运营费用和推动公司杠杆方面做得非常好。能否谈谈你们在哪些地方找到了效率？是否在使用人工智能？你们如何平衡投资与整体扩张需求之间的关系？

Stephen Squeri

Yes. So I think in this environment, when you make -- you're making lots of investment in control management, first of all, I mean, there isn't a bank out there that's not making more investments in operational risk and so forth. We're continuing to upgrade our platforms which adds more efficiency. And yes, look, we've been using AI since 2010. There isn't a credit or fraud decision that is made that isn't made with machine learning.

斯蒂芬·斯奎里：是的。在这种环境下，当你进行大量控制管理投资时，首先，我的意思是，市场上没有一家银行不在加大对操作风险等方面的投资。我们继续升级我们的平台，这提高了效率。是的，看看，我们从2010年起就开始使用人工智能。没有一项信用或欺诈决策不是通过机器学习做出的。

I think where the experimentation comes in now for us is really generative AI. And you're seeing that in servicing. We're seeing that with travel reps. I mean, think about it, being able to look at a cardholder who wants to go to Italy, we can look at that cardholder, see how they compare to other cardholders that spend like them and create an itinerary for people that have been to Italy. It makes our travel reps a lot more efficient. So we're continuing to squeeze efficiencies again out of our operating expense base from a servicing perspective. And as I talked about marketing and that marketing is allowing us to drive more revenues.

我认为，现在我们在实验中真正应用的是生成式人工智能。你可以在我们的服务中看到这一点，尤其是旅行代表方面。想一想，能够查看一个想去意大利的卡会员，我们可以看看这个卡会员与其他消费模式相似的卡会员的对比，并为他们制定一个意大利之行的行程。这样一来，它让我们的旅行代表工作更加高效。所以我们继续从运营费用基础中挤压出效率，尤其是在服务方面。正如我提到的，营销也让我们能够推动更多收入。

Ryan Nash

So we talked before -- you mentioned you don't think there will be deregulation but maybe a more common regulatory environment. What are the things you're most focused on at a DC that you think could have an impact on how you run the business or how you run the company?

瑞安·纳什：我们之前谈到过——你提到你认为不会放松管制，但可能会有一个更为普遍的监管环境。你最关注哪些在华盛顿的事务，认为这些事务可能会对你们的业务运营或公司管理产生影响？

Stephen Squeri

Well, I think global minimum tax is a big one and that's one that we're really focused on. Look through is another big one in terms of how we finance our international operations. I think those are 2 big things that we'd like to see global minimum tax go away, actually and we'd like to see global look-through continue to exist. And then you look at overall corporate tax, right? And I don't think we're going to see that happen. But from a regulatory perspective, how Basel III winds up playing out from a CFPB perspective, I think you had Brian up here before. I think penalty fees and things like that, that's a big one as well.

斯蒂芬·斯奎里：我认为全球最低税率是一个重要的问题，我们非常关注这个问题。透视机制是另一个重要问题，尤其是在我们如何融资国际业务方面。我认为这两个问题是我们希望全球最低税率能够消失，并且希望全球透视机制继续存在。然后看看整体企业税率，对吧？我不认为这一点会发生变化。但从监管角度来看，巴塞尔III协议如何实施，消费者金融保护局（CFPB）如何运作，我认为你之前请到了布莱恩。我认为罚款费用等问题也是一个重要议题。

And then I think what happens with tariffs and how that impacts inflation and overall interest rates and so forth. So it's too early to tell. I mean, what's going to happen. But look, there was euphoria. You saw what happened to the entire market when it was a Republican sweep. So we're optimistic. And I think the other thing is probably easier M&A, probably easier M&A with a change, I think, in the FTC. And from an SEC perspective, probably a little more -- less focus on sort of climate within reporting which is a big deal.

然后，我认为关税的问题，以及它如何影响通胀、整体利率等，也会产生影响。所以，现在还为时过早。我们无法预测会发生什么。但看，曾经有过一种狂热的情绪，当共和党获胜时，你看到整个市场的表现。所以我们保持乐观。我认为另一个可能的变化是并购的难度可能会降低，尤其是在FTC（联邦贸易委员会）方面发生变化后。从美国证券交易委员会（SEC）的角度来看，可能会减少对气候相关报告的关注，这也是一个大问题。

Ryan Nash

Maybe one question to end with Steve. So the business model under your leadership has had tremendous success. Stock is hovering at an all-time high for those who haven't noticed. And as you look out, '25 sounds like it could be a pretty solid year. What are you most worried about as you're looking at the year ahead? What are you paying the most -- the closest attention to? And how do you think they could impact your business?

瑞安·纳什：也许最后一个问题，Steve。在你的领导下，业务模式取得了巨大的成功。股价正处于历史最高点（对于那些没注意到的人）。展望2025年，听起来那将是一个相当稳固的一年。你最担心的是什么？你最关注的是什么？你认为这些问题如何影响你的业务？

Stephen Squeri

Yes. Look, I mean, for me, I think the pandemic really showed us that sticking with your strategy, backing your customers and having the best colleagues in the world is a really good winning hand. And so what I'm worried -- what I worry about is making sure we don't lose focus, making sure that we keep our antenna up on competitors, not just the ones that we know but the disruptors that are out there. And so -- and look, the regulatory environment will be the regulatory environment. What happens with taxes will be and what happens in the global world. But the reality is and I think this played out in the pandemic, if we stick to our strategy and make the appropriate amount of investments and do not panic, everything passes at a point in time. And so for us, it's continuing to stick to our knitting which is getting the best cardholders in the world and having them served by the best colleagues.

斯蒂芬·斯奎里：是的。我觉得，对我来说，大流行真正告诉我们的是，坚持我们的战略、支持我们的客户，并拥有世界上最优秀的同事，这是一个非常成功的组合。所以，我担心的——我担心的是确保我们不失去专注，确保我们时刻关注竞争对手，不仅仅是我们已经知道的竞争者，还有那些正在出现的颠覆者。所以——监管环境将继续存在，税务问题会继续存在，全球局势也会继续变化。但现实是，我认为这在疫情期间已经显现出来了，如果我们坚持我们的战略，进行适当的投资，不慌乱，一切都会过去。因此，对我们来说，就是继续专注于我们的优势领域，找到世界上最优秀的卡会员，并且让他们由最优秀的同事提供服务。

Ryan Nash

Great. Well, we are out of time but please join me in thanking Steve.

瑞安·纳什：太棒了。我们时间已经到了，请大家与我一起感谢Steve。

Stephen Squeri

Thanks.

斯蒂芬·斯奎里：谢谢。