“American Express is a company that has always been grounded in creating great customer experiences,” said Barbara Agoglia, Global Head of E2E Marketing for Corporate Payments. A century ago, that meant honoring letters of credit so Americans stranded in Europe at the beginning of World War I could fund their passage home. Today, it means ensuring customer security as technology redefines how we pay for everything from groceries to mortgages. “Whether you're using a card or Apple Pay or other new technologies that are on the horizon, we want to lead the world in how payments are executed in the business space,” Agoglia said. Consumers worldwide know the value of the American Express brand, and the Global Corporate Payments division brings that same level of service to corporate accounts. Processing the business world’s payments gives American Express a broad view into client spending patterns. Salesforce helps turn that data into insights those businesses need to make smarter decisions. “Our business is not just about payments; it’s about providing information for our clients so they can run their businesses,” said Keeley. “How do we make their lives easier?” One way is by providing rich experiences based on critical, real-time information. “I think consumer-driven technologies have really changed the game and set expectations,” Keeley said. For instance, business travelers use American Express products for managing expenses and travel details from the road. Keeley sees an opportunity to add more value for these customers. “For them, we’re thinking about: What is the travel experience that they're used to and expect? And how can we take that and leapfrog it and make it even better?” he said. American Express transformed the travel experience by pairing secure payments with easy-to-use business tools. And now it offers them on the one thing no road warrior leaves home without: the smartphone. “We're powering payments on the phone for two reasons,” Keeley said. “One, so the customer can choose to pay with plastic or on the device. Two, that same device is going to be where they can capture their itineraries, where they can capture their receipts, and send in their expense report.” When expenses can be filed from the road and wrangling paper receipts becomes a thing of the past, life is that much easier for the business traveler.