It is one of the Island's most recognised logos, but as a sign of the times Bank of Bermuda is changing its image after being sold to HSBC for $1.3 billion.

Now, customers that have been loyal for generations, will have walk under new signage with the HSBC logo placed after their bank's name.

And the all-pervasive HSBC logo, which now appears on bank cards around the world after a decade of global buy-outs, will soon have pride of place on cheque books and Easylink cards. But the bank also wants to make sure that Bank of Bermuda will in fact be maintaining its separate identity.

Bank spokesperson Karen Madeiros said the retention of the Bank of Bermuda wording "retains the Bermuda identity" and the Bank is going through a re-branding exercise, meaning the old logo will be replaced with the distinct red and white HSBC logo.

After just a few months at the helm and shedding 71 jobs both at home and abroad, the multinational banking giant HSBC will have its logo added to five Bank of Bermuda locations in early May.

Not only will the Waterfront head office eventually bear the logo, but also will be erected at the Somerset, Par-la-Ville, Church Street, Compass Point, and the Airport branches first according to an application submitted to the Department of Planning by the Bank on April 2.

Ms Madeiros said the Bank is currently waiting for planning approval for St. George's, Dockyard and its head office at Albouy's Point.

The bank's sale, after 115 years of independence to a foreign bank was the first time in Bermuda's history that such a transaction had taken place.

The world's second largest bank took over after the sale was approved by shareholders on February 16 - and approval was overwhelming with 91 percent voting for the deal which saw them pocket $45 per share - giving the local economy a $900 million boost.

But some of the repercussions of being part of a global bank have started to be felt beyond the installation of the new signs.

Earlier this month Bank of Bermuda confirmed it had handed out 71 redundancies the day before Good Friday.

A total of 51 employees in Bermuda and 20 in overseas offices were given their marching orders just in time for the Easter break.