A plan to "re-energise and re-envigorate" the American Express brand would follow the establishment of its system base in Ireland, Mr Billy Saunderson, head of Bank of Ireland's card services, said. The franchise agreement between American Express and Bank of Ireland - "a marriage of quite significant potential" - was announced yesterday. It sees the Amex charge card's customer service centre being taken over by the bank and moved to Dublin from Brighton, England.

Charge cards offer services similar to credit cards but do not allow for rolled-over credit, instead providing interest-free credit for up to 56 days. A Bank of Ireland subsidiary company, Centurion Card Services, will issue the cards, provide the administration - including increasing the number of merchant outlets - and market the scheme. It will also "introduce a tailored membership rewards scheme" to the Irish market. Mr Saunderson said the number of Amex cardholders had remained static but the "positioning of the product and the marketing" would be examined after the integration. He added that an American Express credit card scheme was also planned for the future.

Although American Express does not provide market breakdown figures, the number of cardholders in Ireland is believed to be about 35,000, compared to 900,000 credit card holders.

American Express completed a corporate restructuring in 1996, which had "capitalising on new distribution platforms" as one of its international objectives.