American Express Wants to Eliminate Plastic from Customers’ Wallet

Credit card companies are racing against tech giants like Apple and Google to create what would thin our wallets forever.

The race, which started to replace paper with plastic, is now entering a new phase of combining our cell phones and credit cards.

Credit card giant American Express is working on developing a next generation app, which would let consumers shop using their virtual credit cards just like virtual boarding passes on an iPhone Passbook, according to wired.com.

“What we are hyper-focused on is how do we merge those two things,” said Leslie Berland from Digital Partnerships and Development at American Express. “Especially as one day the physical card will disappear.”

However, Amex doesn’t stand alone in the race. Google, Square and Apple are some of the many companies in Silicon Valley, which are working on taking the leap.

While Google Wallet and PayPal are some of the available products providing customers with a virtual wallet experience, the credit card companies still continue to benefit being the point of sale for these products. This puts Amex in a unique position, as it doesn’t have to struggle becoming the card customers choose to use.

Berland believes that Amex is just a jump away in moving from customers’ wallet to cellphone.

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