American Express Commits to Five-Year Technology Services Agreement with EDS

American Express (New York) has entered into a five-year technology services agreement with EDS (Plano, Texas), an HP company. Initial implementation of the infrastructure services agreement, which was signed in December 2008, has been completed without business interruption to American Express employees and customers. Under the agreement, EDS is managing the American Express end-user desktop computing environment and its global voice and data networks. In addition, EDS will provide on-site services for about 60,000 employees in more than 130 countries around the world.

"Our goal is to drive American Express' growth, innovation and customer service using secure technology that enables a more productive, efficient and collaborative workplace," said Matthew Robinson, CTO, American Express, in a statement. "Our partnership with EDS will enable us to do this while continuing to decrease operating costs." Added Mark DeBenedictus, VP of financial services at EDS, "American Express was looking for a partner to manage and transform its technology environment for better business outcomes. To do this, we're combining EDS' financial services industry knowledge with workplace and network services expertise."

Katherine Burger is Editorial Director of Bank Systems & Technology and Insurance & Technology, members of UBM TechWeb's InformationWeek Financial Services. She assumed leadership of Bank Systems & Technology in 2003 and of Insurance & Technology in 1991. In addition to ... View Full Bio