American Express (AXP -0.62%) is known for its exclusivity and relationships with wealthy consumers, but the company's stock could also be an outstanding long-term holding. 

Despite being up over 20% so far in 2013, the investment thesis around American Express should be a multi-year time horizon that takes advantage in the inevitable shift from a cash-heavy global economy to one based on electronic payments.

In this video, Motley Fool financial analysts David Hanson and Matt Koppenheffer discuss three reasons American Express is well-positioned and a possibly better than Visa (V -0.23%) or MasterCard (MA 0.07%) as way to play the growth in plastic.