AMEX LAUNCHING CANADIAN CARD
By Adnews Staff
American Express Canada is going after a bigger portion of the Canadian credit card market. One of the things it's doing is launching a card designed for Canadians, which it will unveil tomorrow. While the balance on current Amex cards must be paid in full each month, the new card will provide a revolving line of credit, with only a minimum monthly payment required. Teaser TV ads for the card began 11 days ago. Direct mail and TV advertising, created by Ogilvy & Mather in Toronto, will support the launch. Amex wants to boost its current 10% share of the Canadian credit card market to 15% by the year 2000. Other Amex plans include launching co-branded credit cards and selling combination cards to universities and other institutions, to be used as identity cards as well as stored-value cards for making purchases in places such as campus bookstores and cafeterias.