American Express Teaming Up With Twitter

American Express

and Twitter have announced that the two companies have teamed up to offer American Express cardholders discounts when they use their Twitter accounts to send tweets that include special merchant hashtags. American Express cardholders can sync their cards with their Twitter accounts at

. Once the two accounts are linked, American Express cardholders will be eligible for special deals at participating merchants such as McDonald's

, Best Buy

and Amazon.com's

Zappos.com. After sending a tweet that includes a merchant's special hashtag, couponless savings will be loaded directly on to the customer's synced American Express card. When the card holder makes a purchase from the participating merchant, there is no need to inform the merchant about the discount because the customer's American Express Card account will automatically receive a credit within a few days. The new program is a win for American Express because it adds to the many benefits of holding an American Express Card and creates a deeper relationship between the company and its customers. It also places Twitter in a position to profit not only from e-commerce but from sales made at traditional brick and mortar businesses. Commenting on the deal between the two companies, American Express Vice Chairman Ed Gilligan said that "American Express is turning Twitter content into commerce by connecting card members to merchants and delivering real world value to both." Gilligan went on to say that “with the continued convergence of online and offline commerce, our closed loop continues to enable us to bring seamless, relevant ways to connect our Cardmembers and merchants on the most powerful social and digital platforms.” Twitter's president of global revenue Adam Bain added that "it's exciting to see American Express build on Twitter in a way that benefits both consumers and retailers." American Express is said to have planned to launch the program with just five companies offering special deals through the service. However, the program attracted so much attention that nearly twenty companies have already signed on to take advantage of the viral marketing that the Twitter platform provides. The partnership between American Express and Twitter is just one example of how Twitter could turn its massive online user base into a profitable business. The match up could be seen as a positive sign for investors who are anticipating a Twitter IPO but are concerned about how the company will generate significant profits.