The Bank of Bermuda has changed its brand name to HSBC<\p><\!m> the first time the bank has changed its name in its 120-year history.

The bank, which was founded on the Island in 1889, will undergo a number of wholesale changes, including to its signage, websites and promotional material.

And the bank's CEO Philip Butterfield believes his staff and customers will embrace the change, having used the two names interchangeably in the past.

"The reasoning is very straightforward," he said. "We have been deliberating for some time within our organisation as to the advantages to us if we were to embrace the HSBC brand positioning.

"Many of our customers used the names interchangeably and we thought this was an opportune time to make the decision."

The bank agreed to change its name after five years following its acquisition by HSBC<\p>in 2004, and proceeded to survey its customers about the use of the two names in two separate studies conducted in 2008 and in the spring of this year, receiving their approval for both.

This was backed up by HSBC being named the number one brand for international services in the 2009 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands in May 2009, a fact which Mr. Butterfield reckons will see customers engage well with the new brand.

"The Bank of Bermuda is an institution that has proudly served Bermuda for quite a long period,"<\p>he said.

"But I believe in evolution as opposed to revolution, and the world certainly has become flat and in a flat world we are all interconnected, with the HSBC brand in over 80 countries, so it is truly a universal bank."

He also thinks both Bermudians and visitors to Bermuda will be able to easily identify with the HSBC<\p>brand when they see the company logos and advertisements on display at LF<\p>Wade Airport or other airports across the world as well as having clear expectations of the standard of service they will get.

"It is not an inexpensive undertaking, but it is something that we will accomplish in time, with things such as the change of logos on credit cards when they come up for renewal and are sent out to customers," he said.

The bank will also change its legal name from The Bank of Bermuda Ltd. to HSBC<\p>Bank of Bermuda Ltd. in 2010.