US credit card company MBNA is to create 500 new jobs in Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim, over the next five years, writes Laura Slattery.

The company, which is the world's largest independent credit card lender and leading issuer of endorsed credit cards, is to expand its operation in Carrick-on-Shannon in a €32 million investment project with the support of IDA Ireland.

MBNA already employs 450 people in the Republic, with 100 people based in its Irish head office in Dublin and 350 at Carrick-on-Shannon. Employees are engaged in inbound and outbound telemarketing, customer services, credit approvals, payment collections, marketing and administration.

The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ms Harney, described the investment as an "important statement of confidence in the continued competitiveness of the Irish economy" and said it demonstrated MBNA's strong commitment to Co Leitrim. Making the announcement, she said the project had all of the characteristics of the Government's strategy for attracting new investment into the Republic.

"It is an expansion of an existing operation, thus deepening the company's roots in Ireland; it is in the area of financial services, which has been identified as one of the key growth sectors; and, perhaps most important of all, it is going into a key location within the BMW region," she said.

Mr Padraig O'Grady, IBEC's regional director, said the investment "bodes well" for Leitrim and the north-west region. "The fact that MBNA has made this investment within a year of opening is proof that we can deliver all the essentials that foreign direct investment companies value," he added.

Mr Ian O'Doherty, regional director of MBNA Ireland, said the company was pleased with its decision to locate part of its operations in Carrick-on-Shannon.

"The company believes that a good working environment plays a major role in the quality of service that the people of MBNA provide to customers," he said. The company already has a 64,000 sq ft centre in Carrick-on-Shannon, which opened in July 2001.

Construction work has begun on the site to build an additional telecommunications and information technology infrastructure. It is due for completion by December.

MBNA has 55 million customers and employs 28,000 people worldwide, with operations in the US, Canada and Britain. The Fortune 500 company first entered the Irish market in 1997, when its competitive interest rates on credit cards resulted in major Irish banks reducing their rates.

The company is projecting strong growth prospects in its US and British markets and is expanding in the State to facilitate entry into new European markets.

MBNA plans to expand into Spain later this year and the Carrick-on-Shannon centre will support the Spanish operation "either directly or indirectly", according to Mr O'Doherty. MBNA's strategy is "getting the right customers and keeping them", he said.

MBNA uses direct-mail marketing and telemarketing techniques to sell its products. A number of people complained to the Data Protection Commissioner last year about receiving unsolicited phone calls from the company.