This weekend I met up with friends and colleagues downtown for a get together at Slows Bar B Q. Going through my typical habit of “checking in” on Foursquare (I’m 9 days away from becoming the mayor), I noticed a special running – if I sync my American Express card with Foursquare, I could save $5.00. It would be completely frictionless moving forward, I don’t have to show my phone at point of sale, and it would automatically deduct $5.00 from my bill in the form of a statement credit.
On March 6th, American Express announced they were offering the ability to further marry commerce and social media through the ability to sync your tweets with your American Express card. By both following and tweeting hashtags such as 
#amexfashion #amexsushi or #amexcoffee for example, you could find yourself saving in the form of a bill credit based on offers that are contextual to those specific hashtags.
I can’t imagine the complexities involved in managing their billing system infrastructure, but what I do know is what drives them to incorporate (and innovate) social media into the very heart of their service offerings is a desire to stay connected to their customer’s needs and evolve.
UPDATE: Conversations in the halls at work with Scott Monty and the epiphany hit us. American Express was your father’s credit card! Has any brand changed their perception like American Express has over the last half decade? Absolutely mind blowing to think about.
I had a similar situation with a mexican restaurant in Royal Oak. Checked in on Foursquare and received $10 off the bill when I use my Amex. Good deal.
I took it one step further and asked the waitress to see what she knew about the promotion. Nada. She went to get the manager. He wasn’t aware of the promotion either.
Not sure who’s covering the cost of the promotion … hope not the restaurant. Their margins are slim enough without paying for something like this. I was already there so they had my business.
Question – Did American Express change so much, or did you? I’d argue you are more becoming your father than anything else. Amex was, and still is, an aspirational card sitting at a level above the regular Visa & MC. It didn’t come down, you just went up.