eventually eliminate the need for a cheque book.

The Bank's deputy manager, card services, Mr. David Lema, said final preparations were underway for the new product's introduction.

"We will be implementing the debit card product over the next couple of months,'' Mr. Lema said. "That is a big deal for Bermuda, because it will reduce the need for people to carry around cash and cheques.

"The debit card will be a plastic cheque, if you will. It will be accepted by any merchant in Bermuda who accepts Visa, and any merchant in the world who accepts Visa. That card could also be used at any ATM worldwide.'' Now the bank is intent on making ATM machines a one-stop, personal finance centre, allowing customers to pay a wide variety of bills and to conduct bank transactions.

The bank is to announce tomorrow that customers, who have already been able to pay their telephone bills at the ATM machines since 1989, will also be able to pay their electricity and cable TV bills at the same time.

Debit cards allow the consumer to transfer money directly from their bank account to the merchant's account through the use of a plastic card that merchants run through a card reader at their cash register. The bank said the cards would eliminate payment delays associated with cheque and credit card clearance and billing processes.

Smart cards are used as an "electronic purse'' in Europe and North America, allowing the consumer to purchase a wide variety of items, and the latest generation of them will keep track by a microprocessor, how much is available on the account.