London-based lender Standard Chartered has agreed to buy the banking unit of United States charge card firm American Express for about US$860 million.
Group chief executive Peter Sands said the acquisition would double the size of the bank's US dollar clearing business and provide a direct euro and yen clearing capability.
It would also help speed up its recently launched private banking business by two to three years, Mr Sands said.
American Express Bank operates in 47 countries, serving mainly financial institutions and high net worth customers. It has more than 10,000 private banking clients with total assets under management of about US$22.5 billion.
Standard Chartered will gain more branches in India and Taiwan from the purchase, as well as access to new growth markets such as Egypt and Kazakhstan.
Mr Sands said the bank could also cut costs through headcount reduction, system consolidation, and streamlining of support functions. It was likely that some staff would be redeployed.