Public sector lender, Indian Overseas Bank has tied up with credit card major American Express to offer co branded credit cards to customers.

Speaking about the tie up and the business model, Mr M. Narendra, Chairman and Managing Director of the bank said that customers who have an average account balance of Rs 5 lakh in metropolitan cities and Rs 1 lakh in urban centres will be set as target audience.

The step has been taken by the bank to give its credit card business a boost up. The bank had launched its credit card in the year 2006 but out of its total customer base of 1.5 lakh, only 37000 had credit cards.

According to Mr Shailesh Baidwan, Country Manager and Head - Consumer Cards Business, American Express Banking Corp, the deal would help the company access a larger customer segment.