Eureko Ireland, the owner of Friends Provident and Celtic International insurance companies, is to change its name, open a customer services centre and offer new services like savings and credit cards, as part of a new £25 million investment.

From next week the company will trade in the Republic as Friends First in an attempt to become a broad based financial services group, rather than just an insurance company.

In September Friends First will launch its first ever credit card and later in the year will offer customers a deposit facility.

The chief executive of the group, Mr Adrian Hegarty, said the £25 million investment would mean Eureko "competing in the back yard of the main banks". "Every year £60 million leaves the company when policies mature but, with a new focus on savings, we hope our customers will choose to keep their money with us," said Mr Hegarty.

While Mr Hegarty did not say if the group will specifically target small investors, he said the new deposit facility will represent a strong alternative to all the main banks. The credit card will be offered to customers by Eureko and MBNA International Bank. The card was supposed to be introduced in September last year, but was held back in anticipation of the re-branding.

Of the £25 million being invested, £4 million is being allocated to the new customer service centre, £2 million will be spent on developing services for brokers, £15 million on improving IT and "internal processes", £1 million on re-branding, £2 million is being assigned for direct operations and £1 million for staff training.

Mr Hegarty said the investment represented a vote of confidence in the Irish operation by the pan-European owners, Eureko Alliance group, which is the sixth-largest insurer in Europe. The company's new name and branding was developed based on market research conducted over the last year.

The research indicated confusion among the public about the company's nine separate divisions.

Friends Provident was identified as the strongest brand in the portfolio and this led to the creation of the new name.

Eureko, which employs 660 people, does not expect any extra people to be recruited as a result of the investment.