Bankers may be finally waking up to the fact that customers do not want to hear a pitch for a new investment product or pension each time they call their bank to make a transfer or check a payment.

Known in the business as "cross selling", pestering customers with new products can actually be counterproductive, says the managing director of Butterfield Private Bank, Paul Turtle.

A perceived desire for a return to old style banking, has led the Bank of Butterfield to open a new account for high net worth individuals in the UK. According to Mr. Turtle there's been a backlash against call centres, particularly in view of the move by some banks, such as HSBC, to base their call centres in India and China to cut costs.

"People become bank refugees" says Mr. Turtle. "They want to get back to an old fashioned bank account, that's what's missing in the UK."

Private banking generally targets a different customer base to Community banking services and the minimum balance will be 10,000.

Aside from offering a high degree of personalised service, the key strategy of the Butterfield Private Bank Account is to give an alternative to professional advisors such as lawyers, investment managers and their clients.

Lawyers and independent financial advisors frequently become financial intermediaries for their clients and have to set up what are known as "client accounts" where they can temporarily put client funds prior to making an investment. It's a regulatory requirement that those funds are kept separate from the law firm's own bank account.

A real estate transaction is one common example: a lawyer will sometimes receive purchase monies for his client pending the completion of the purchase.

Mr. Turtle explains that investment advisors in particular would prefer not to put funds into a bank account run by the "big bad banks" such as NatWest, Lloyds, Barclays or HSBC. Such banks actually try to poach business from the investment advisor by cross selling investment advice to their client.

This will not be the case with the Butterfield initiative: "We want Butterfield Private Bank's entrance into the banking services for professional adviser market to be a breath of fresh air." says Mr. Turtle. A full range of services including CHAPS and SWIFT transfer facilities will be provided.

According to Mr. Turtle, at the moment there are few retail banks that specifically cater to the financial intermediaries market.

As for the links between the London Private Bank Account and Bermuda, Mr. Turtle says that account holders in the UK will be able to avoid duplication of the due diligence process if they wish to open another account in Bermuda and will be provided with an introduction letter.

The Private Bank Account is initially expected to generate mainly interest income from deposits and lending but in due course it may also fulfil a referral function. "It's early days, but we will link to Bermuda and Guernsey for services such as trusts."

The Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) has been advised by the Bank of Butterfield that in April 2003 the Bank or its subsidiaries bought back and cancelled a total of 52,173 of its own shares at an average price of BD$33.25. The repurchases were made under the share repurchase programme announced January 5, 2000.