China blocks Wells Fargo banker from leaving due to 'criminal case'
Wells Fargo said on Friday it was "working through the appropriate channels" to secure Ms Mao's return, but did not release any details as to why the US citizen had been prevented from leaving the country. Ms Mao - a managing director at the bank - has been with Wells Fargo for more than 13 years, according to her LinkedIn profile.The US embassy in Shanghai told BBC News that the safety and security of US citizens overseas was its "highest priority"."We track these cases closely, and have raised our concern with Chinese authorities about the impact these arbitrary exit bans have on our bilateral relations and urged them to immediately allow impacted US citizens to return home," the embassy said. "The Chinese government has, for many years, imposed exit bans on US citizens and other foreign nationals in China, often without a clear and transparent judicial process for resolution."However, Mr Guo told reporters that "everyone in China, whether they are Chinese or foreigners, must abide by Chinese laws", adding that Ms Mao "has the obligation to cooperate with the investigation".The exit ban comes at a time of diplomatic tension between China and the US, particularly within the business space, as US President Donald Trump's tariffs continue to put strain on the two countries' business ties.Beijing recently pledged to allow more participation in a range of its business sectors, in a stated bid to attract more foreign investment amid worsening geopolitical tensions."China will, as always, welcome people from all countries to visit China for tourism and business," Mr Guo said at Monday's press briefing.
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The Guardian
12 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Community leaders can help curb false claims online after attacks in UK, say researchers
'Debunking' efforts involving police forces, community leaders and local councillors should be deployed to counter misinformation in the wake of serious incidents such as the Southport murders, according to a new analysis. Trust in the UK government and law enforcement is so low that attempts to curb online falsehoods need to be backed up by other sources, said experts at the Centre for Emerging Technology and Security (Cetas). 'There are quite low levels of trust and confidence in government and law enforcement more generally,' said Sam Stockwell, a Cetas research associate who co-authored the analysis. 'So if you can get non-government affiliated sources sharing the same kind of information and facts, you are more likely to be able to resonate and engage with wider audiences.' The analysis studied the online reaction to the Southport attacks in July last year, which triggered social unrest in England and Northern Ireland, and a vehicle hitting spectators at Liverpool FC's league title parade in May. It found that a swift and coordinated response to the Liverpool incident helped reduce the risk of misinformation running rampant on the internet. The analysis added that confusion over whether details about the Southport suspect's identity could be revealed showed that 'law enforcement agencies require clearer guidance from public prosecutors'. Axel Rudakubana was jailed in January for 52 years for murdering three children in the attack. Soon after news broke of the Southport attack, an account called Europe Invasion, known to publish anti-immigrant and Islamophobic content, said the suspect was 'alleged to be a Muslim immigrant' – a claim that was false. A false name for Rudakubana also circulated online rapidly. Merseyside police responded to the Liverpool parade incident quickly with a statement describing the suspect as a '53-year-old white British man'. Paul Doyle was subsequently charged with seven offences including dangerous driving and causing grievous bodily harm with intent. Cetas, which is based at the AI and data science research body the Alan Turing Institute, said the police statement helped quell potential unrest by undercutting attempts to exploit the incident in support of violent or extremist agendas. It was also backed by consistent public messaging from local council officials, emergency responders and police officers, the centre said. 'Once official statements to the public have been made, it is vital that any debunking efforts take place at multiple levels and in a consistent manner,' said Cetas. 'In the Liverpool case, consistent messaging across police forces, emergency service responders, local councillors and community leaders helped reinforce the legitimacy of police statements about the suspect's true identity.' Inability for legal reasons to reveal the Southport suspect's identity – in order to protect the integrity of a criminal trial and not breach youth anonymity laws – led to an 'information vaccum' with 'unintended consequences' including the spread of conspiracy theories, said Cetas. Jonathan Hall KC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, told the BBC in February that authorities could and should have released more information about Rudakubana in the immediate aftermath of the attack. At the time, police said the suspect was a 17-year-old from the village of Banks in Lancashire, who was born in Cardiff. 'Given the rapidly spreading speculation about the ethnicity and religion of the suspects in the Southport and Liverpool cases, the swift release of information that does not compromise investigations or court cases could help quickly debunk discourse that risks becoming inflammatory and violent,' said Cetas. The government has also revealed plans to form a national police unit that will monitor social media for signs of anti-migrant disorder. The policing minister, Diana Johnson, said the team would 'provide a national capability to monitor social media intelligence and advise on its use to inform local operational decision-making'.
Telegraph
22 minutes ago
- Telegraph
How Amex took over the world
There is one phrase an American Express cardholder hears probably more often than any other: 'Sorry, we don't take Amex.' Despite this famous inconvenience, no other card has come close to knocking American Express off its perch. What began as a 19th century freight company didn't launch its ubiquitous credit cards until more than a century later in 1958. Almost seven decades on they still retain an unmatched lustre. Restaurant trips still end with a sea of shiny gold and silver Amex-branded plastic procured from wallets, as diners fall over themselves to bear the burden of the bill and collect precious points in the process. Everybody likes free stuff, so making a compelling rewards credit card shouldn't be that hard, yet one player continues to dominate the market, with little sign of serious competition. How it all began American Express was founded in 1850 by consolidating three companies that specialised in transportation between New York and the Midwest. Among its three founders were William Fargo and Henry Wells, who more famously founded Wells Fargo in 1852, today one of America's largest banks. American Express grew quickly, with 900 offices across 10 states by the time of the American Civil War, and began offering travellers' cheques in 1891. After the railways were nationalised by the US government in 1917, the company's financial and travel operations became its core offering. The origins of credit cards lie in dining. In 1950, Frank McNamara invented the Diners Club Card – the idea was that rather than setting up a personal tab with each of the restaurants you frequented, you would be able to present them with a small card (made of cardboard) and make a single payment each month. This became the first 'charge card', a type of credit card which requires the balance to be repaid in full each month (Amex's cards today still operate essentially like this; customers face eye-wateringly high interest rates if they do not clear their balances in full each month). As a large number of businesses began accepting the charge card, the viability of such a product became apparent. It wasn't until 1958 that American Express launched its iconic green charge card. To do so, Amex bought the American Hotel Association's credit card to gain access to popular, established hotels and restaurants, which gave them an immediate edge. At launch, Amex had 250,000 customers, though this number doubled in a matter of months, and the company's income rose tenfold during the 1960s. But Amex's charge card was not without teething problems. A lack of thorough credit checks meant that too many customers were not repaying their balances on time, if at all. These issues were ironed out, though, as Amex quickly cancelled delinquent accounts and cut the grace period for repayments from 90 days to one month. By 1967, the company had a staggering two million cardholders spending over $1bn a year – $32.5bn in today's money. By discerning who it gave cards to, Amex became wildly successful; exclusivity and status were now baked in. Over the following decades, Amex aggressively grew its partnerships, both in the US and internationally. The simplicity of the charge card – and visibility of its acceptance with such a large number of established brands – brought millions more customers into the fold. A threat emerges Its first major threat came in the 1980s, with the appearance of fee-free cards from Visa and Mastercard threatening to eat Amex's lunch. Contemporary reporting does not understate the significance of this, as evidenced by John Greenwald in a 1998 edition of Time Magazine: 'Instead of paying membership fees for cards that many merchants refused to honour – since American Express took a heavy bite out of purchases – more than two million Amex holders cut up their cards in the early 1990s.' But necessity is often the mother of invention, and the brand had a brainwave. The launch of Amex's rewards programme in 1991, then called Membership Miles, could hardly have been timed better; the following 17 years would be full of opulence, economic growth and a leap in global consumer spending as real incomes soared. Technology advanced at a rapid pace and consumers had the fiscal capability to regularly shell out for new televisions, computers and iPods. Meanwhile, an increasingly globalised world meant people were spending more on travel, meals out and experiences. For consumers that were eager to spend more and more, Amex was offering a way to get something back. Initially, Amex cardholders were only able to earn air miles in return for their spending, which they could redeem against flights with various airline partners. In 1994, the company began offering airport lounge access to some of its customers. Amex spotted an opportunity to take advantage of its wealthy customer base and began offering more premium options, with different reward tiers and perks. Over time, members could exchange points for a growing number of rewards, such as hotel stays, restaurant bookings, flight upgrades, shopping vouchers and much more. By 1997, Amex had reversed its decade-long slide in its share of the American card market. Time Magazine's Greenwald, again writing in 1998, added: 'While poor profits have chased AT&T and others from their plastic perches, American Express is soaring. Shoppers today are gladly flashing Amex cards for everything from gasoline to groceries to trips to China.' As Amex began to offer premium products, membership became associated with high status – and increasingly coveted. Amex launched its Centurion card – colloquially known as its 'black card' – in 1999, for its wealthiest and highest-spending customers. The cards are invite-only and today come with a $10,000 (£7,400) 'initiation fee' along with a $5,000 (£3,700) annual membership fee. A black card unlocks access to reservations at some of the most exclusive restaurants in the world, along with elite status with airlines and luxury hotels. A personal concierge – who is on hand at any hour of the day to help with requests of various kinds – is just one in a long list of perks. Competitors will lose 'shedloads of money' Amex is not a conventional payments business, or lending business – indeed, it is not really a lending business at all. Some banks and credit card companies make money by charging high rates of interest, relying on customers not paying back their balances on time in full. Amex, on the other hand, wants its customers to consistently repay their debt, or face high interest rates. The global payment processing market is dominated by two players: Visa and Mastercard. In the UK, they are responsible for more than 95pc of all card transactions. They charge low fees to merchants – around 0.2pc for debit card transactions and 0.3pc for credit cards – because of caps imposed by the EU in 2015, which still apply in a post-Brexit UK. Nonetheless, the sheer volume of transactions makes the game lucrative. The cap on interchange fees does not fully apply to Amex, because it is vertically integrated – it is both the card issuer and payment processor. This means it operates within a three-party system during a transaction: there is the customer, the vendor and Amex. Visa and Mastercard operate in a four-party system, in which interchange fee caps apply: when you use a debit or credit card, Visa or Mastercard is the fourth party, along with your bank, the vendor and yourself. As Amex can charge higher rates to merchants its transactions are more profitable, giving the company the ability to offer the kind of rewards it has become famous for. Businesses tend to negotiate their own interchange fees with American Express, and may be able to lower them through deals and partnerships, which is another reason that smaller merchants often refuse to accept Amex, as they may lose a significant chunk of the purchase price. However, Amex wants to build relationships with more small businesses and encourage them to accept its cards. Amex has made its pricing more competitive for merchants in recent years, and launched its Shop Small campaign in 2012, encouraging its customers to support independent businesses. In the past it has given cashback for doing so, along with providing grants to local vendors nominated by customers. The work is paying off; the number of small shops accepting Amex has risen by two thirds in the past three years. Ultimately, though, Amex wants people who spend big – affluent customers who use their cards a lot because this makes businesses compete for their customers. As Amex boasts on its website, its cardholders enjoy an average annual household income of £43,320, a 35pc increase over non-Amex customers, who average £31,840. This leads to what Rob Burgess, founder of Head for Points, calls a 'virtuous loop', which ultimately fuels the brand's dominance. He explains: 'Amex cardholders spend more than Visa and Mastercard cardholders, which encourages retailers to run special deals for Amex customers, which brings in more customers.' If a rewards card competitor wants to draw customers away from Amex, and convince them to spend on their cards instead – which use Visa and Mastercard – they must be prepared to make a loss. Burgess adds: 'The only issuers who are offering a strong rewards proposition on a Visa or Mastercard are those doing so for a strategic reason, and willing to lose shedloads of money.' One example of this is Chase, a major American bank which launched its debit card in the UK in 2021. In order to break into the domestic market and lure customers from established banks, it offered them 1pc cashback on most purchases. While the offer still exists today, customers are limited to £15 cashback a month. Burgess also cites Barclaycard's 'uber-generous' Avios Mastercards, which earns cardholders one Avios point for each pound they spend, along with bonus points available for spending a certain amount in the first year, which he says exists to bring new customers to the bank: 'Do you know anyone younger than 55 who has a Barclays current account?' In the US, providers are not subject to the same interchange fees as in the EU and UK, which means that some competitors have been very successful in stealing market share. As well as ongoing points, Chase's Sapphire Reserve card gives customers dining credits, streaming subscriptions, taxi credits, airport lounge access and elite status in certain hotels. Gen Z embrace plastic If wealthy Amex cardholders have concerns about global economic uncertainty amid tariff threats made by the American administration, they are not letting it affect their spending. Amex saw its total revenue rise by 9pc to $17.9bn in the second quarter of this year, and the brand is making gains among younger demographics. Spending among millennial and Gen Z consumers rose by 21pc outside the US in the second quarter of this year; in America, Gen Z spent a staggering 40pc more on Amex plastic. Amex attributes its continued appeal to an endless stream of partnerships with quality brands such as Wimbledon, Formula One, Hilton and Emirates, which grants it cultural relevance across generations. But the card's stellar growth may be masking some cracks in the brand's premium veneer. Its reach among younger generations is a sign that it is willing to water down the quality of its customer, Burgess warns. 'Amex has cut minimum income requirements – some Amex cards now require as little as £15,000 of annual income, which is not exactly premium. Anyone on a full time minimum wage job qualifies for the majority of UK Amex cards. 'Amex has been building market share by targeting younger demographics through products such as Preferred Rewards Gold, [which comes with] £120 of Deliveroo credit as a benefit and its cashback cards. This has lowered the overall quality of American Express cardholders, and arguably retailers do not make as much effort as they did to encourage Amex cardholders to visit them.' Similarly, Head for Points's Burgess adds that while the brand keeps raising its fees in return for new cashback benefits, these are increasingly complicated to take advantage of – and some of the perks are simply outdated. 'For example, the Amex Platinum comes with a £400 dining credit, but this is split into four £100 credits [some redeemable in the UK, and some abroad], and the list of restaurants is restricted. 'The card benefits have arguably not adapted well to changing tastes. For example, Amex Business Platinum gives £150 per year of Dell cashback credit – yawn.' A spokesman for Amex emphasises that the brand is not compromising on the quality of its customers: 'The high credit quality of the new customers we're bringing in has helped us widen the gap between our credit metrics and the rest of the industry.' Amex's success with younger generations – along with the fact that its stock price has surged five-fold since 2016 – suggests that its dominance is unlikely to wane. But with social media awash with complaints of overcrowding in Amex lounges, perhaps the brand would be wise to remember the role exclusivity has played in its success.
Reuters
40 minutes ago
- Reuters
Several US executives to visit China this week: sources
BEIJING, July 28 (Reuters) - A high-level delegation of American executives will travel to China this week to meet senior Chinese officials in a trip organised by the U.S.-China Business Council (USCBC), two sources with knowledge of the visit told Reuters on Monday. The visit coincides with the latest round of U.S.‑China trade negotiations in Sweden, where China's Vice Premier He Lifeng is meeting U.S. officials from July 27 to July 30 for a new round of economic and trade talks. The delegation will be led by FedEx (FDX.N), opens new tab Chief Executive Rajesh Subramaniam, the council's board chair, one of the sources briefed on the trip said. The South China Morning Post first reported the visit on Sunday, saying that executives from firms including Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab would be part of the delegation. Reuters could not confirm other CEO members of the delegation or which Chinese officials they would meet. Boeing declined to comment on the trip and deferred to USCBC. The U.S. government was not involved in the organisation of the visit, one of the sources said. The trip comes as Beijing and Washington work towards a summit between the two countries' leaders later this year, probably around the time of the APEC forum in South Korea October 26 - November 1, sources previously told Reuters. USCBC did not respond immediately to a request for comment. The business lobby previously organised similar visits to China by American CEO delegations in 2023 and 2024. The 2024 trip, also led by Subramaniam, included meetings with He and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, where executives discussed issues including market access. China faces an August 12 deadline to reach a durable deal with the White House or risk higher U.S. tariffs. U.S. officials are likely to extend the deadline by another 90 days as both sides work towards a more comprehensive deal, sources previously told Reuters. An extension of that length would prevent further escalation and help create conditions for the potential meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
