his operation gets off the ground.

And Andre Heyliger -- who wants to open the fourth force in Bermuda banking -- said his bank would consider longer mortgages, perhaps over 30 years, if the First International Citizen's Bank is allowed to open up on the Island.

Mr. Heyliger said: "Thirty-year mortgages are not out of bounds on what we will bring to the marketplace.

"In the area of mortgages, there are a number of creative ways you can approach the market and in fact tailor-make a scenario for a mortgage seeker.

"At the end of the day, we want to prove ourselves and we will go to the marketplace with things which will do that.'' But he said new products and new approaches to banking depended on the financial backing for the bank from the people of Bermuda.

Mr. Heyliger was speaking at a meeting at the Leopards Club to publicise his bank bid.

A private member's bill was submitted to the House of Assembly last year -- but a decision has yet to be made on the bank's future.

PLP MP Ottiwell Simmons, who attended, became the first member of the House of Assembly to publicly back the new bank.

And he said he had been asking questions about why the application had not been dealt with "more efficiently''.

Mr. Simmons added that a bank charter had been granted in the 1980s to former UBP Premier Sir John Swan.

He said: "There is a precedent -- you have my full, unswerving support. You have it not just because you are fine young men who can be trusted, but because we as a people in this Country need another bank.

And Mr. Simmons predicted: "I believe if you continue as you are doing, you will win the support of the people.'' When Mr. Heyliger unveiled his plan last year, he said the new bank, if granted a charter, would aim to be "the people's bank of choice''.

Bermuda already has two full-service banks, the Bank of Bermuda and the Bank of Butterfield.