AND you thought you knew everything about the Bank of Ireland. A new business book just published by Fred Wiersema names the bank as one of the companies worldwide committed to "customer intimacy" - no less.

The bank is named as one of the companies which, in the best business-speak, are "pioneers in the growth market for individualised results - transforming themselves, their customers and their markets as they move forward to raise the competitive bar.

The Bank of Ireland is named in a list of businesses - (and the language changes to Star Trek here) - "all of which have seen the future and they have designed a strategy to capture it."

Customer-intimate companies, according to the dust jacket, earn their customers' confidence and make use of it to find new ways to further productivity and create greater levels of success.

As suppliers and customers learn to work together, the dusk jacket reveals, the line of distinction between them becomes blurred (does this mean bank customers will do the odd stint behind the teller's counter?) "and they begin to operate as if they were two different aspects of the same organisation, jointly pursuing mutual success." So next time you're tempted to moan about bank charges, think of this deeply.

The book ends with the instruction: "Imagine the unimaginable for your company, your employees, yourself. Then open your eyes and get to work."

Should be worth at least 5p on the share price.