American Express profit beats Wall Street estimates on higher consumer spending

(Reuters) - Credit card issuer American Express Co reported a higher-than-expected rise in third-quarter profit on Friday, as more people used cards to shop, pay bills and make big ticket purchases. AmEx cards, for long the preferred choice of affluent Americans, is now battling competition from JPMorgan Chase & Co's Sapphire Reserve and Citigroup Inc's Prestige Card.To counter that, the company has ramped up its reward programs on its cards and struck partnership deals with a number of..