It’s sad how much this bailout is going to banks and now credit card companies who over the last couple of years have been sticking it to consumers.

American Express has now gotten themselves a hunk of the bailout by convincing the feds that they are a bank.

“The Federal Reserve on Monday evening granted a request by American Express to become a bank holding company, giving it access to low-cost financing from the Fed.

The Fed said it had approved the application for American Express and a related company, American Express Travel Related Services, to become bank holding companies. The approval represented the latest reshaping of the financial services industry, which is undergoing its worst credit crisis in decades.

In announcing the action, the Fed said “emergency conditions exist that justify expeditious action on this proposal.”

“Given the continued volatility in the financial markets,” said Kenneth I. Chenault, chief executive of American Express, “we want to be best-positioned to take advantage of the various programs the federal government has introduced or may introduce to support U.S. financial institutions.”

Too bad that American Express’s recent treatment of it’s customer base doesn’t justify such fair treatment. For instance, American Express has been moving to reduce the credit limits of customers, and in some cases canceling cards. These aren’t bad customers or those who haven’t kept up with their payments, but good customers, often times long term.

While American Express has claimed that they are only protecting their bottom line in tough times, the fact is their actions have had severe impacts on consumers in a already rough time for consumers in the credit market.