American Express launches 'pay-by-tweet' venture

New York — American Express has launched a new venture with Twitter, that could lead to a whole new category of shopping.



The partnership enables American Express cardmembers to sync eligible cards with Twitter, giving them the ability to use special #hashtags to buy American Express Gift Cards and products from Amazon, Sony, Urban Zen and Xbox 360. American Express’ proprietary Card Sync technology powers the experience. Card Sync first launched on Twitter last March to deliver couponless savings to Cardmembers who tweet special offer #hashtags from merchants.



The $25 American Express Gift Card can be purchased using a synced American Express Card starting today for only $15 by tweeting #BuyAmexGiftCard25 (quantities limited, offer expires 3/3/13, limit one per Cardmember). The remaining catalog of products goes on sale Wednesday, Feb. 13 at noon, EST, when the full list of special product #hashtags will be released and highlighted as "favorites" on the @AmericanExpress Twitter page. Cardmembers can sync their Cards in advance by visiting sync.americanexpress.com/twitter.



"Based on the initial success of Amex Sync for offers, we know there is significant power in combining our assets with Twitter's platform to bring value to Cardmembers and merchants," said Leslie Berland, SVP digital partnerships and development at American Express. "Now, we're leveraging our unique technology and closed-loop network to introduce a seamless solution that redefines what's possible in the world of social commerce."