Shane Flynn, the top executive in Maine for credit-card lender MBNA America up until now, has been promoted to senior vice chairman of MBNA America Bank, the company announced Wednesday.

Flynn also was named deputy director of MBNA’s credit card business operations in the United States. With the promotion, he will work out of the company’s Wilmington, Del., headquarters.

Charles “Chip” Messick, who has worked for the company in Maine since 1995, will become MBNA’s senior officer overseeing all operations in Maine.

The moves come shortly after the death of MBNA co-founder Al Lerner, but are not related to it, Flynn said.

Flynn, who lives in Camden with his wife and children, has been the visible face of the company since it first began operations in Maine in 1993.

The company opened offices with primarily part-time jobs in Orono and Portland. Subsequent rounds of expansion followed in Belfast, Presque Isle, Brunswick, Fort Kent, Farmington and Rockland, with Flynn often the person responsible for making the announcement to municipal officials.

Flynn and his wife, Susan, have been active in various civic roles in Knox and Waldo counties. Flynn is a board member of the Tanglewood 4-H Camp in Lincolnville, a board member emeritus of Maine Public Broadcasting Corp., a member of the University of Maine’s President’s Advisory Council, a member of the Rockland-based Farnsworth Art Museum’s Executive Committee, and chairman of the Rockland-based Wyeth Center Advisory Board.

Susan Flynn has been active in recent years, helping to head up the fund-raising effort for the newly opened Penobscot Bay YMCA in Rockport.

A graduate of the University of Dublin, Trinity College, in Ireland, Flynn joined MBNA in 1989, and has held a variety of management positions since.

With his new job, Flynn will focus on MBNA’s customer assistance department, which deals with credit card clients who are behind in their payments.

Flynn’s most recent title was chief executive officer of MBNA Marketing Systems Inc.

“I’m going to miss it in Maine,” Flynn said Wednesday. He and his wife have two children, Jack, 7, and Grace, 4.

The family hopes to keep a home in Maine.

“I hate to say it,” Flynn joked, “but I’m afraid I’m going to become a summer person.”

Messick also moved to Maine when MBNA opened its Camden offices in 1993. A graduate of the University of Delaware, he serves on the boards of United Mid-Coast Charities and Mid-Coast Mental Health Center.

MBNA employs about 4,500 in Maine.