AmEx to Continue to Handle Bank's Mortgage Payments

The liquidity-strapped American Express Co. is continuing to handle credit-card-based mortgage payments for customers of IndyMac Bank and the program will not be affected by AmEx's licensing as a bank holding company, according to a spokeswoman. The company currently operates two U.S. bank entities: American Express Centurion Bank, an industrial loan bank chartered in Utah, and American Express Bank FSB, a federal savings bank, according to Standard & Poor's, which has said it is leaving the company's rating unchanged in the wake of the move. The spokeswoman said neither bank entity has mortgage involvement. American Express last year also had started a program that allowed consumers to make their mortgage payments through their credit cards but IndyMac, a bank that this year was taken into receivership by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., has been its only participant, the spokeswoman said.