VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Feeling the heat of competition in the global payments industry, American Express (AmEx) is in the process of reducing costs by $1billion by end of 2017. AmEx posted losses for the fourth quarter consecutively. The net income dropped from $1.44 billion to $873 million or 80 cents per share for the quarter. The forecast for this year disappointed investors and analysts.

Bitcoin startup company, Abra, recently announced that it is set to launch in the United States and the Philippines after getting $12 million in Series A Round funding from investors, including the American Express and Ratan Tata, the chairman emeritus of Tata Sons.

American Express Co, the world's largest credit card issuer, reported a better-than-expected rise in quarterly profit, helped by higher spending by U.S. card holders and an increase in net interest income.

Warehouse club Costco Wholesale Corp (COST.O) has chosen Citigroup Inc (C.N) and Visa Inc (V.N) to run its co-branded credit card starting next year, replacing American Express Co (AXP.N), which lost the coveted tie-up last month.

American Express Co will cut more than 4,000 jobs this year, an executive said, after the credit card company also reported higher quarterly expenses and provisions for bad loans.

San Francisco, California-based credit card wallet Coin is currently raising around $15 million in a Series A financing round, according to several sources knowledgeable on the situation.