The Department for Enterprise will be meeting with American Express after the bank started shutting Manx accounts.

Enterprise Minister Lawrie Hooper says that the DfE is ‘currently in discussions’ with various providers and colleagues in the other Crown Dependencies.

It follows Lloyds, Tesco and M&S also withdrawing their credit cards from Manx residents.

Mr Hooper said: ‘Having discussed this issue with a number of American Express card holders in recent weeks it doesn’t appear to be a broader issue.

‘The department is scheduled to talk to Amex directly in the next week or two to find out what their official position is on the situation but as far as I’m aware this appears to be an isolated incident.’

The issue was raised this week in the House of Keys and Mr Hooper explained it to be a ‘very complicated situation’.

‘Some banking groups have made commercial decisions, perhaps prompted by Brexit, to concentrate on their core UK market and are therefore only providing new credit card services to UK residents,’ he said.

‘However, the department is aware that a number of banking groups with a presence in the Isle of Man continue to either service existing or offer new cards to Isle of Man residents.

‘The provision of credit card services to local residents is ultimately a commercial decision for providers based on a range of factors. The choice of providers has been of concern to varying degrees over recent years.

‘The Isle of Man Financial Services Authority also continues to monitor the availability of credit to residents from banks licensed in the Isle of Man. This includes the availability of credit cards from those banks’ wider groups.’

The minister said the department would ‘continue to liaise’ with those on and off island credit card providers to ensure they understand ‘there appears to be no legal prohibition under UK law to prevent UK regulated credit card providers from issuing cards’ to Manx residents.

He added the department is trying to ‘influence’ credit card providers to ‘consider servicing the island once again’.

Mr Hooper said: ‘Ultimately this is a commercial decision for providers and we have to recognise the majority of service providers are based in the UK.

‘The fact that the island has separate recovery processes for bad debts may deter some providers.

‘Whilst the number of high street banking groups with a presence in the island have indicated they have no current plans for making new credit cards available to island residents, the department will lead on the further analysis, working together with the Treasury and FSA in this space to better understand any options for expanded provision that may be available.’

Tesco Bank agreed a six-month extension to its previously announced decision to close credit card accounts in the Isle of Man earlier this year.

Accounts were officially closed last week, which Arbory, Castletown and Malew MHK Jason Moorhouse said was ‘starting to impact the lives of residents’.