Receivables declined for American Express and Diners Club in the 2010 financial year, a sign of caution on the part of their mostly corporate client base and of the two charge card financiers themselves.Both specialist financiers, however, recorded profits in the 2010 calendar year, following recent losses. At American Express, receivables (including charge cards and credit cards, as well as the small personal loan portfolio) dropped three per cent to A$4.5 billion over calendar 2010.At Diners Club, receivables (which are charge cards only) fell 13 per cent to $219 million.Over two years, American Express receivables were down by close to $1.5 billion over two years. Receivables at Diners Club have declined by half over five years.American Express Australia Limited reported a net profit in 2010 of $2, following a loss of $22 million in 2009, with the result for 2009 extracted from the 2009 financials.The Amex financials do not present any financial comparatives for 2009 since management and auditors say they are not prepared on a like for like basis.AEAL acquired two subsidiaries from its parent in late 2010: American Express Wholesale Currency Services Pty Ltd and South Pacific Credit Card Limited.Luisa Megale, vice president for public affairs at American Express, wrote in an email that the decline in receivables reflected "mostly strategic decisions such as reducing our receivables on high risk accounts (by reducing line sizes and reviewing accounts) and stopping balance transfers."She said the slow-down in retail spending in 2010 also had an impact.Megale also wrote that the rationalisation of contact centres in Asia, announced in January, would have no effect on operations in Australia.Diners Club reported a profit of $10.7 million in 2010, compared with a loss of $7.9 million in 2009, and bringing to an end a string of losses connected with the restructuring of the business and the legacy of the legal wrangles left over from the collapse of Ansett 10 years ago.Marketing expenses, including the cost of rewards points, fell $20 million over the year, which largely reflects a one-off rise in reward costs in 2009 following new terms imposed by Qantas on frequent flyer points.Other expenses also fell, by $8 million to $12 million, as Citibank, the owner of Diners Club, shifted operations from Melbourne to Sydney and embedded the Diners brand within the rest of Citi's Australian cards' business.