This unique functionality, powered by the American Express Smart Offer APIs, is the first time this technology has been used to allow cardmembers nationwide to take advantage of merchant Specials offered through foursquare in this easy and straightforward way.

The national launch kicks off with Specials from H&M, Sports Authority, and Union Square Hospitality Group, and is expected to expand rapidly to include additional national and local merchant offers in the coming weeks and months. American Express and foursquare successfully piloted the Smart Offer APIs three months ago at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas.

"Our national launch with foursquare reflects our continued focus on digital innovation aimed at bringing value to cardmembers and merchants where they're already engaged and focused," said Ed Gilligan, Vice Chairman, American Express. "The success of our pilot just a few months ago proved that American Express' digital capabilities and foursquare's expanding application created something extremely powerful. We're thrilled to take this partnership to the next level. For us, this is just the beginning."

"Partnering with American Express to offer Specials to their millions of cardmembers on a nationwide basis not only allows us to provide a completely seamless redemption experience to both users and merchants, it also enables merchants to really measure the success of their offline marketing efforts with foursquare," said Dennis Crowley, Chief Executive Officer, foursquare. "The load-to-card functionality of the Smart Offer APIs provides the millions of American Express merchants with an effortless way to serve up Specials to our more than 10 million users."

How It Works

1. Cardmembers visit the secure registration page on the American Express website: http://sync.americanexpress.com/foursquare.

2. Through this simple user interface, they link their card to their foursquare profile in order to discover exclusive American Express SpeExpress Speusive American Express Specials at foursquare venues.

3. When they see a Special on foursquare they want to take advantage of, they check in to the merchant and simply "load" the special to their card.

4. After they spend at the merchant with their enrolled card, they receive a push notification stating they redeemed the Special and will receive an American Express statement credit in three to five days.

Exclusive Specials for Cardmembers

Starting today, cardmembers can load the following exclusive specials:

* H&M: Spend $75, get $10 back
* Sports Authority: Spend $50, get $20 back
* Union Square Hospitality Group
o Blue Smoke: Spend $100, get $15 back
o The Modern: Spend $150, get $25 back
o Union Square Cafe: Spend $100, get $15 back
o Untitled at the Whitney: Spend $25, get 20% off

Delivering Value to Merchants

Through the American Express closed-loop network, which allows the company to directly connect merchants and cardmember spend, the American Express Smart Offer APIs enable merchants to easily and effectively measure the success of their location-based marketing efforts. They also allow merchants to offer tailored specials without investing time and money in training staff to decipher a coupon code or process a coupon-based offer - ensuring a positive redemption experience for cardmembers. In the coming weeks, American Express plans to launch an online tool for merchants to create couponless offers in social media networks in just a few clicks.

American Express takes cardmember privacy and security very seriously. When a cardmember links their card to their foursquare profile, all card information is stored in American Express's encrypted data servers. The company does not share this data with foursquare.