American Express (AmEx) is to cut its global work force by 5,400 jobs throughout 2013.

The US based company claims this is in response to the digitalisation of the industry.

The cuts will be partly offset by jobs the company expects to add during the year leaving staffing levels down by 4% to 6% at the end of 2013.

The largest reductions will come in the card giant’s travel businesses and will be spread across seniority levels, businesses and staff groups.

Kenneth Chenault, chairman and CEO, Amex, said: "Against the backdrop of an uneven economic recovery, these restructuring initiatives are designed to make American Express more nimble, more efficient and more effective in using our resources to drive growth."

"For the next two years, our aim is to hold annual operating expense increases to less than 3%. The overall restructuring program will put us in a better position as we seek to deliver strong results for shareholders and to maintain marketing and promotion investments at about 9% of revenues."

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The costs of the cuts will be around $287m after tax in a fourth quarter restructuring charge.

The company will is also expecting a further $307m after tax charge as a result of US cardholders redeeming rewards and various customer reimbursements.

After these charges, net income for the quarter was $637m, or $0.56 per share, compared to $1.2bn, or $1.01 per share the previous year. Fourth quarter consolidated total revenues net of interest expense were $8.1bn, up five per cent from $7.7bn a year ago.

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