American Express is making a push into personal lending, marketing loans to its existing credit card customer base.Mark Rayner, vice president of consumer products at American Express Australia said in an interview earlier this month that, "the primary goal is one of revenue diversification and increasing our ability to appeal to the needs of customers."We'd like to get to a position in personal lending as we do in credit cards, and I don't see anything really standing in our way."American Express Australia reported loans (presumably almost all of which are credit card advances) of $3.4 billion at December 2004, the latest date for which the company has published financial statements. Reserve Bank of Australia data suggest the combined assets of Amex and Diners Club in Australia at February 2006 at $5.6 billion. Rayner said the push into personal lending was in response to customer demand. He said this demand was evident in customer research over a number of years, and that the company deferred marketing until now simply as a matter or priorities.He said the Amex priority until now had been to "build a suite of very high value credit cards", including the platinum credit cards and Qantas co-brands that have been subject to extensive marketing since their launch late last year.American Express appears to be testing a range of price points on its personal loans. This newsletter has seen Amex personal loan offers priced at 10.9 per cent, which is towards the lower end of interest rates on personal loans quoted at the Infochoice website.The cheapest interest rate on an unsecured personal loan listed by major banks is 11.4 per cent for one of National Australia Bank's "project loans" where the application is processed over the internet or over the phone, though a price point in a range from 11.95 per cent to 12.5 per cent appears to be more like the price point of major banks.Rayner said, "Like any good financial services [entity] we are testing [the price point]. The goal of this product is to increase loyalty. All the offers we are testing would be on the cheap side of the market place. The average interest rate is around 12 per cent, so we come in under that."Amex does not charge monthly fees on its personal loans, which also differs from the typical personal loans offered by major banks.Amex is marketing its personal loans (in direct mail to customers) as "pre-approved" when they are not. The personal loans are still subject to a conventional assessment of income and liabilities, and applications are still subjected to a screening for recent debt defaults through the Baycorp Advantage database.Rayner said Amex selected customers for direct mail offers on the basis of existing data, including credit card repayment history. "We know our customers, and know how much they can service in terms of a loan ... so we can make a conditional pre-approved offer."Asked to what extent the personal loans are pre-approved, Rayner said, "They are subject to a bureau check.