Amex receivables declined over 2014

American Express may be dealing with an extended period of caution on the part of its cardholders - or reduced traction for its product - with a decline in credit card receivables for the second year in a row.

Charge card receivables, however, lifted over the year to December 2014.

Credit card receivables fell seven per cent to A$1.3 billion, the company's financial statements show. The interest rate on this portfolio is 20.74 per cent, the same as in 2013.

Amex said this decline "is due to card members paying down their credit cards sooner. This has been the trend now for the last couple of years."

Charge card receivables increased four per cent to $2.0 billion.

Consumer loans - a discontinued product - fell to $74 million from $84 million.

The interest rates range from 15.74 per cent to 20.74 per cent.

The Amex financial report may be consistent with trends in market share for the charge card sector of the payment card market. The combined share of American Express and Diners Club fell across 2014, to 18.4 per cent from 19 per cent a year earlier, RBA data shows. The market share of this par had hovered around 20 per cent in 2011 and 2012.

The net profit for Amex for the year to December 2014 was A$24.2 million, a turn around from a 2013 loss of $27 million (due to restructuring charges).

This works out to a return on equity of 14 per cent and a return on assets of 0.6 per cent, both middling in comparison with the best returns earned in the Australian financial sector.