The Bank of Butterfield looks set to be disappointed if it is expecting a flood of new customers responding to its latest marketing scheme.

Dal Tucker and Alvin Williams, the president and vice president of the Bermuda Financial Network, predicted that the Bank of Butterfield would not find the response rate they were looking for when they set up unsolicited chequing and savings accounts for a few people and sent them Gold MasterCards.

Judging by what people in Hamilton said yesterday, it seems the business partners might be right.

Although none of the people The Royal Gazette spoke to had received a package from Butterfield - which were aimed at high-end as part of what Mr. Tucker thought might be a market test - almost all of them said it would probably not prompt them to change banks.

The bank sent existing and non-Bank of Butterfield customers packages containing a Gold MasterCard and a debit card.

To activate the accounts the customers simply had to call a customer service representative at the bank and sign and mail an account opening form - with many of the fields already completed by a bank employee - within 60 days.

The bank deposited $50 into the savings account so the customers could try out Butterfield Direct, its Internet banking platform.

"I would look into it, but that's no guarantee that I would switch," said Alayna Tucker, a 37-year-old accountant who holds accounts at Bank of Bermuda and Bank of Butterfield.

"But $50 for free is not really that much."

She said that if she received a package, she would be concerned about where the bank had found her information.

"Who knows where they got your name from?" she asked.

Valvet Hollinsid said the bank's marketing ploy had invaded people's privacy.

"They could send them a letter," she said, instead of setting up the accounts without permission.

"I think they should have asked the people first."

A 37-year-old legal secretary said the offer would not compel her to switch banks.

She said that setting up bank accounts without the customer's permission was also "a little strange."

Men also said they would not necessarily change banks, although they were more receptive to the bank's aggressive marketing strategy, which is unprecedented in Bermuda.

"I wouldn't switch banks," said sports commentator Nick Jones.

"But I wouldn't shrug it off either."

But Mr. Jones said that banks should do "whatever it takes" to increase their business.

"The banks are businesses," he said, "and they need customers."

"I don't think they've done anything wrong.

"It is not an invasion of privacy."

A retired man who did not wish to be named added: "I think it's a matter of them trying to drum up business.

"It's up to the individual to accept it or reject it."

The man, from Hamilton Parish, said he would probably reject the offer.

He recalled receiving a local credit card in the mail a few years ago, but decided he did not need it and cut it up.

But even though the recipients of the packages have a right to reject the bank's offer, he said it would probably have been better for them to consult the people first.

"It's more of a thing you would find in the States," he added.

Huw Williams, a Bank of Bermuda employee, was probably the most progressive.

"It's not unduly aggressive," he said.

He said he would consider switching banks if he was unhappy with the service at his own.