AIG: insurance regulators must find delicate balance

AIG, the insurer at the centre of an accounting scandal, has admitted that a transaction between itself and General Re was incorrectly recorded as an insurance deal. AIG's misdemeanor comes at a time when the global insurance industry is under severe scrutiny. While insurers must act to put their house in order, over zealous regulation is unlikely to help their efforts.

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Allianz: trying to build an alliance

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Allstate: capitalizing on convergence

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Amazon mobile payments: secure but not convenient

Amazon appears to be contemplating a bold move into mobile payments, with prospective plans to develop an anonymous mobile payments service. By putting information privacy at the heart of the service, Amazon stands to tap into a lucrative opportunity, with strong evidence to suggest that mobile wallet security is still a major concern for many consumers.

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American Express enhances the TV viewing experience with mobile commerce

American Express's recent move to use TV viewing to boost its mobile commerce activity highlights a major growth opportunity for payment providers to boost engagement through a more tailored and direct avenue, as over half of US consumers currently use their mobile to shop online.

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American Express takes gamification literally with Halo 4

American Express recently announced it is offering rewards and benefits to gamers who sync an Amex card to their Xbox Live account based on their achievements in the game Halo 4. Although potentially expensive the move is likely to gain a very high level of engagement with frequent purchasers of digital goods.

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American Express: radical measures may give the company a competitive edge

As the profitability of its card portfolio continues to deteriorate, American Express has announced a company-wide reengineering initiative to free up additional resources that will be reinvested in the business. This, along with additional strategic measures, should ensure that the company will be in a better position to boost its profitability and remain competitive going forward.

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American Express: transformation from issuer to scheme

American Express [AXP], the upmarket card issuer, has started to look for banking partners in the US. This move follows years of going it alone in building up a merchant network and client base. Now it looks like American Express is changing the way it does business to an approach similar to that of Visa and MasterCard.

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American Superior: insurer has its house blown down

The American Superior Insurance company is the first corporate casualty of this year's hurricane season, after it was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of claims. The question is whether it will be the first of many? Certainly, early estimations of total industry losses would suggest it may be.

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Ameritrade/Datek: buying its way out

Ameritrade has finally won the long bidding war for its rival. Amid a background of depressed share trading and poor earnings forecasts, Ameritrade seems to have paid a hefty price. The company will have to draw heavily on Datek's strengths - specifically, its strong technology and its high revenue per customer - to make the move worthwhile.

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