American Express on Monday began letting users of its payment cards make
purchases with messages fired off at Twitter as the popular social
network dabbles with making money from e-commerce.
American Express
announced that members who synchronize their cards with Twitter can take
advantage of offers "tweeted" by the financial services company.
American
Express will promote products in messages fired off at Twitter. Card
holders buy items by tweeting indicated hashtags, with their accounts
being charged accordingly.
Depending on the offers, products will be shipped to buyers or picked up in shops.
"We're
leveraging our unique technology and closed-loop network to introduce a
seamless solution that redefines what's possible in the world of social
commerce," said American Express senior vice president Leslie Berland.
"We know there is significant power in combining our assets with Twitter's platform."
American
Express said cardholders will be able to buy Sony, Amazon.com, Xbox 360
or Urban Zen products in tweets by using special hashtags, or words
preceded by the "#" symbol.
Twitter and American Express have
worked together in the past with alliances that let cardholders take
advantage of discounts offered in coupons tweeted by merchants.