ACC Bank's new chairwoman, Ms Gary Joyce, is looking forward to the challenges of guiding it in a period of dynamic change throughout the industry.

Reluctant to comment on her plans for the State owned bank before being fully briefed on the operation by Department of Finance officials and ACC management, Ms Joyce said she was conscious she was taking on the role at a very important time for the banking industry.

"Throughout the world the banking industry is undergoing dynamic change and state banks everywhere are considering their positions. I am looking forward to being involved in another industry undergoing change," she said.

The new ACC chairwoman, who became a Fine Gael member two weeks ago, has experience of change in the advertising and marketing industries. Through she has not been directly involved before in banking she would bring valuable experience as a bank customer to the ACC board.

"I intend to be a voice for the customer. As a business customer I know what it's like to approach a financial institution for funds. I know what it is to be asked to put the family home on the line," she said.

When her marketing company Dimension, suffered financial difficulties some years ago, Ms Joyce's bank sought her family home as security against new funds for the business.

Ms Joyce would bring skills in marketing and managing change to ACC and she has experience as an employer.

She was adamant that to be successful, a service company has to put the customer at the heart of its operation. "Marketing is not about saying things to the customer, putting a gloss on things. It is a fundamental business attitude to put the customer at the core. It is about making sure people within the organisation understand the dynamic of the organisation", she said.

Financial services accounts for 7 per cent of Irish gross national product and therefore was as important to the economy as tourism, she said.

She is a partner in Genesis Corporation, the consulting and investment company which she set up in 1995. "We help companies to adapt to changing market conditions, to become more customer focused," she said. Genesis has set up an investment arm to identify suitable investment opportunities in small privately owned food and drink companies for its shareholders.

Ms Joyce is on the boards of Radio Ireland and the Irish Museum of Modern Art She is chairwoman of the Task Force on Enterprise and the Environment.

In 1993 she was appointed by John Bruton to chair the Commission on the Renewal of Fine Gael. Ms Joyce said she accepted this appointment - the first ever root and branch analysis of an Irish political party - "as a challenge and an interesting and worthwhile project".

ACC has been "very successful" at repositioning itself from being an agriculture based bank towards being a mainstream personal bank, Ms Joyce said. But "this is a very difficult area to make money in because of the high cost of the payment system". New technology should increase efficiency and provide opportunities for banks to give customers better value, she said.

Declining to comment on Government discussions on a possible third banking force involving ACC, Ms Joyce said: "Competition is good for the customer and good for banks. At one level the business is very simple, but the issues are complex.

Ms Joyce said she needed to examine "the strategies and dynamics" of ACC before she would comment further on the bank.