American Express (Amex) was founded in the United States in 1850. Today it does business in 189 or more countries and regions. Besides its main credit card services, it runs several businesses that support people’s lifestyles, such as travel.

As a leading global company, Amex puts effort into CSR. In October 2022, it held a beach cleanup in Fujisawa using the event feature of the Pirika App.

We asked why Amex chose the Pirika App as a tool for cleanups, and how people responded after the event.

1. ESG / CSR at Amex, and highly motivated employees

Under its vision to “provide the world’s best customer experience every day,” Amex sets global corporate sustainability strategies and targets, and puts effort into ESG/CSR. It also makes a promise to customers called “Backing.” It aims to strongly support customers’ challenges, and to have a positive impact on people’s lives and communities through its products and services. Through its business, Amex works on a wide range of CSR activities, such as a project that helps small shop owners welcome more diverse customers and employees.

Many Amex employees care about environmental and social issues. We think they stay motivated for two reasons: “the company works to make it easy for employees to take part” and “the company culture welcomes employees’ own activities.”

Amex has strong two-way communication between employees and the company, such as employee satisfaction surveys and 1-on-1 meetings with managers. This makes it easy for both sides to share the future they aim for. Employees are evaluated not only on numbers, such as business results, but also on leadership. We think this motivates each employee to take on many challenges on their own.

2. An experience built on motivation and understanding

In October 2022, as an activity of “TEAMEX” (*), we held a beach cleanup event with the Pirika App at Katase-Higashihama Beach in Fujisawa. About 50 people, including employees and their families, took part. We named the week after the event “Amex Cleanup Week” and gave awards to those who picked up the most, based on a ranking. Employees across Japan who could not join the event at the beach could also take part with the Pirika App, at any place and time they liked.

Before the event, we asked Pirika’s CEO, Kojima, to give a talk. He spoke about why he created the Pirika litter-picking app and why it matters to make environmental contributions visible. A survey showed that the talk made people feel much closer to litter picking and to Pirika, and more eager to join the event. Some signed up for Pirika and started picking up litter before the event. Others started early in the morning at the beach. We think it was a good experience of taking action on their own.

(*) A volunteer group. Each year, members from each division gather, decide on activities themselves, and carry out CSR activities.

3. Why we chose litter picking with Pirika from many social activities

Because of COVID-19, we could not hold in-person events at all for several years. So there was a strong feeling of “This year, let’s hold an in-person event!”

At the same time, we had a wish that seemed to conflict with it: “We want a CSR event that employees in regional offices can join too, not just those living around central Tokyo.” In fact, when we held a cleanup along the Arakawa River in the past, most participants were employees living in Tokyo. We asked ourselves, “If we held this in Osaka, Sapporo or Fukuoka, would there be anyone to organize it locally?” We were looking for a way for employees all over Japan to “take part together at the same time.” That is when the Pirika App came up as a way to achieve both.

With the Pirika App, activities can be tracked online, so each person can pick up litter whenever they like. There are no limits on place, so activities can spread wider. When we actually used it, we enjoyed its game-like features. Seeing the amount and number of items picked up made us try harder than usual, and want to pick up more than everyone else!

Not just social contribution

Employees and executives told us, “This was a very good activity as part of solving environmental problems.” Besides the social value of litter picking, participants also liked that it built teamwork. Employees worked across departments, and families joined and talked together.

Participants said, “It was a good chance to talk about social issues,” and “After the event, picking up litter around my home became a habit.”

Photos from the day were also shared around the world by our U.S. headquarters. We are glad the activity had a big impact both inside and outside the company.

4. What Amex values

Our corporate sustainability vision is to “back the growth of people and businesses, and help build equal, resilient and sustainable communities.” We focus on three areas: promoting DE&I, taking action on climate change, and building financial health. Together with communities, we work on these areas through our business and through employee volunteering. We also value clear company goals, commitment from top management, and communication with employees. Beyond setting up systems, we build our culture through employee training and the activities of employee resource groups, such as TEAMEX, which ran this event.

We also always think about “how Amex can help meet society’s needs.” It is also important that employees understand and agree with the purpose and spirit of an activity. For this beach cleanup, Kojima’s talk before the event helped create a good flow: people “understand the background and meaning of the activity, agree with it, and then act.” Simply telling people “Let’s take action” does not move them. We believe people act effectively only when they understand “why it matters and what will change.”

5. Amex’s future work on environmental issues

As mentioned, we will keep focusing on the three areas and on corporate sustainability. In the environmental area, one contribution through our business is moving our plastic cards to recycled plastic. Employees also continue their own efforts, such as holding three cleanups in 2023. We will keep focusing on environmental issues and plan to continue our cleanups.

More about Pirika for Businesses and Organizations: here