American Express expects Asian affluent customers to spend more than Americans

American Express, one of the world's biggest credit card issuers, expects to see Asian affluent customers to spend more than their American peers in the next few years, thanks largely to the region's fast increasing super-rich individuals, who include many millionaires in Hong Kong and on the mainland.

Susanna Lee, Amex's general manager for proprietary card services in Hong Kong, said favourable demographics and robust growth in the numbers of wealthy individuals in Asia offered a strong commercial incentive for the firm to put a greater focus on card business expansion in the region.

"The number of millionaires in Asia, which already has 3.6 million high-net-worth individuals - defined as those with at least US$1 million in liquid assets excluding properties - is growing at an annual rate of 9 per cent," Lee said.

"That's faster than the growth in the region's economic output at 5.7 per cent."

North America's super-rich have a combined wealth of US$11.4 trillion, ahead of the US$10.7 trillion commanded by the super-rich of Asia, and US$10.1 trillion in Europe, according to a recent research report by global consultancy firm Capgemini and Royal Bank of Canada.

Despite falling stock markets on the mainland, the rapid growth of high-net-worth individuals there would help Asia-Pacific top the United States in millionaire numbers over the next three years, according to the report released last month.