Although merger talks between American Express and Citicorp are dead, the possibility of another American Express merger or sale looms greater this morning. AmEx's U.S. market share in the card business has been sliding and stood at 15.4% at mid-year on YTD volume of $62.4 billion. According to CardBuzz AmEx appears to have gained slightly in the third quarter as card volume turned sluggish for its competitors. Nonetheless if AmEx would have pulled off a merger with Citicorp it would have greatly altered the card industrys landscape, becoming the second largest brand. At mid-year Citibank's U.S. market share was 11.0%. At the end of the third quarter Citibank racked up $69.8 billion while AmEx $95.1 billion in 1996 YTD card volume.

				
(Major Credit Card Brands - - -  % of Total Charge Volume)
YEAR		VISA	MC	AMEX	 DISC		
1990:		44.7	27.5	22.9	  4.9		
1991:		45.3	27.5	21.2	  6.0		
1992:		44.9	27.9	20.4	  6.8		
1993:		45.2	29.1	18.8	  6.9		
1994:		46.8	29.2	17.3	  6.7		
1995:		48.4	28.4	16.5	  6.7		
1996:      	*50.4	27.3	15.4	  6.9
1996:      	**V/MC=77.3%	15.9	  6.8
* through mid-year 1996	
** estimated through third quarter  SOURCE: RAM Research Group's CardBuzz 
(Frederick, Md)