dollar American Express contract being relinquished by LPG Ltd. as of July 1.

The decision was taken on Friday after American Express (AMEX) officials sought an expanded presence in Bermuda.

Three people involved in the handling of the business through LPG will be transferred to Meyer's Hamilton office on July 1 with similar duties. They are Mr. Nat Chambers, Ms Toni-Lee Curtis and Mrs. Vicky Outerbridge-Govia.

More than 500 companies accept American Express services in Bermuda. An effort will be made to contact them individually about the change as the firm also launches a promotional campaign to ensure Meyer is known as the new agency.

Meyer president, Mr. Henry Hayward, said: "It fits in ideally with our operations, with all of the relative business that American Express is involved in worldwide. Certainly, we are excited about it and we believe that we are in a good position to promote the American Express brand in Bermuda.'' Miami-based Mr. Max Belin, the area sales manager for Amex's Bermuda and Western Caribbean region, said that the fact that Meyer would be able to offer service to clients in Hamilton, and both ends of the Island, was crucial in the final decision.

Mr. Belin and manager of network development, Ms Olga Fernandez, were in Bermuda to interview three prospective agents before making their recommendation to the Latin American/Caribbean Division.

The Amex business includes charge volume or the volume of retail business done through private charges, providing services to card members, together with emergency services to card holders, travellers' cheques and corporate card services.

The LPG group of companies had represented Amex for more than 35 years when they began dismantling their business empire.

Amex and Meyer officials will this month sign a representative agreement. Mr.

Belin said yesterday from Puerto Rico: "We went to Bermuda and interviewed with the three prospective agencies that bid on the position. We visited their facilities and visited with their management and then had to take back with us all of the information including the financials for each of the agencies.

"The bottom line was that each of the agencies was extremely strong, each with something to offer that was unique. The decision boiled down to the fact that Meyer had offices in Somerset and St. George's.

"We had been hearing from our customers, especially our service establishments and our card members who are on the Island, that it was sometimes inconvenient to go all the way into Hamilton. Hearing those concerns, we felt it was an opportunity to improve the service.

"All of the agencies were in fact very strong and we would have been comfortable dealing with any of them. But Meyer had satellite offices at the ends of the Island. They also are the largest travel agency and that too was no small detail.

"We feel that they will be an excellent representative within the travel network of American Express.''