American Express is looking to nurture the future of payments. The company announced today that it is looking to invest $100 million in digital commerce start-ups. The company said the initiative is a multi-year effort to be managed out of American Express' new office in Silicon Valley.

"As we enter the next chapter in our history, we recognize the need to work with emerging technology companies to inspire change, encourage innovation, and ultimately deliver the best products and services to our customers," said Dan Schulman, group president for Enterprise Growth at American Express.

According to the company's announcement, the target for investments from the initiative will include companies in the mobile and online payment space, as well as security and fraud detection and data analysis.

"The payments industry is undergoing a fundamental change as the very nature of commerce is redefined," said Harshul Shangi. As Managing Partner of Amex's Enterprise Growth Group, Shanghi runs Amex's Silicon Valley office and is tasked with managing the new investment initative. 

Shangi previously ran Motorola Mobility Ventures, the investment arm of Motorola that has made investments in mobile banking and payment companies like mFoundry, ScanBuy and ViVOtech.

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