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Buffett, Berkshire's chairman and CEO, highlighted this year's annual shareholder meeting in Omaha.
"Payments are a huge deal worldwide," Buffett said when asked about American Express, according to CNBC's Warren Buffett Archive. "And you've got all kinds of smart people working on various ways to change the payment arrangements."
Berkshire portfolio managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler made "significant" investments in Visa and Mastercard when the firm has had a bet on American Express. Buffett said the Amex stakeholder did not preclude him from his portfolios.
"I could have bought [Visa and Mastercard] as well, "Buffett said." If I had been as smart as Ted or Todd, I would have. "
Some of Berkshire's strongest performances last year came from Visa and Mastercard, which gained 24 percent and 30 percent year-over-year, respectively. American Express meanwhile rose 6 percent during the same time period.
Still, Buffett said American Express has done "a fabulous job," and said he "loves the fact" that they own 17 percent of the firm.
"It's a company that has really done a fantastic job in a very competitive field where lots of people would love to take their customers away," Buffett said. "The international growth has accelerated." It's really quite a business. "
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