American Express had long believed that credit cards were beneath it and the well-heeled devotees of its charge cards. But having realized that even the well-off occasionally use credit cards to borrow money, the New York-based company now intends to enter the business with gusto.

Amex users accounted for just 19.5 per cent of last year's $439 billion in charges on Visa, MasterCard and Amex cards. That's down from a 32.5 per cent share of the $77 billion charged in 1983.