American Express is launching a service allowing small and medium-sized US companies to transfer funds abroad over the Internet. The service allows the businesses to transfer money between US and overseas accounts over the Internet in any of 41 currencies, at any time. The service can also help integrate credit histories into client files.

An American Express spokesman said the service may be used to buy and sell abroad and for overseas payrolls. American Express decided to launch the service after eight of every 10 respondents in a survey of 675 such firms said they experience problems in overseas banking related to hours of operation and fulfilment of transactions.