I remember hearing that 10k figure for US Cent. way back in 2001 or 2002, not too long after the launch, so I'd imagine it's getting to be pretty outdated by now. I think that figure was the initial number of Cent. invitations or the number of people who had agreed to have the product, one or the other, when they did the press release and interview.

While it's true that Amex won't tell you how many Cent cards are in circulation, that goes for their whole business line and not just that one card. They consider their product saturation to be proprietary information. The only figure they release publicly is the number of "cardmembers", but they don't break out figures on who has what card.

So as to the number, it's anyone's guess. They said 10k back when they did a press thing about it 5+ years ago, and I don't think they've said anything new since.

The number must be pretty high, though. I know a couple of people who have them, biz. and personal, and I'm in the thriving metropolis *sarcastic* of Jacksonville Florida...so just extrapolating from that, they must not be that uncommon.