Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Sons is hoping to attract a new generation of potential customers to their doors - by helping them and their parents get them through college.

The bank has organised a seminar for tonight - "Money Matters for Mom and Dad" - in St. George's in a bid to reach out and help parents and guardians in the East End find ways to get their children through the financial challenges of going away to school.

"It is one way of targeting clients in the East End," said Alvin Daniels, vice president, retail business development manger who is based in St. George's. "And we have always been supportive of young people wanting to further their education."

Studies have shown that once a young person starts banking with an organisation, they are unlikely to change to another bank during their lifetime.

The Bank of Butterfield seminar will be held from 7to 9 p.m. at the Millionaire's Room at the St. George's Club and is aimed at helping parents find ways of borrowing and saving that will help them take their charges through further education.

"It will help take the pressure off the students so they can deal with the bigger picture of studying and let the bank deal with the rest," added Mr. Daniels.

C.T. (Eddie) Belfon, vice president of consumer credit at Bank of Butterfield said that there was a whole host of ways to help parents, guardians and students themselves fund their way through school.

Mr. Belfon said: "There are mortgages, equity on homes, unsecured loans supported by parents, an educational loan, ways of just paying interest on a loan while you are at school, or parents paying the loan repayment while the student is away. You can get a loan on any asset - a home, a car, life assurance, money in the bank, a boat or even money that is tied in such as mutual funds."

Donnamay Evans, assistant vice president of consumer credit said that now was a popular time for guardians and students to look at their financing - which was the reason behind organising the St. George's evening.

"People come to us looking for pre-approval at this time of year and want to know what they need to get a loan," she said.

Mr. Daniels said that many students were still not sure if they had a place in college yet, but were making sure if they did, funding would all be in place for a fall entry date.

"We can also offer an ATM card and a debit card so parents can easily put money into an account for their children," added Mr. Daniels. "So the parents and students don't have to worry about where the next meal is coming from and the kid can concentrate on getting his or her work done."

And he added that now telephone and Internet banking was helping the process to become quicker and easier to use with the ability to transfer cash any time of night or day.

Ms Evans said that the bank loans range from $5,000 for a top up amount to $100,000 for a full four years of study - and said that sometimes it was better to apply for the whole amount at one time if possible to allow peace of mind about the future.

And Mr. Belfon said that students who found that they had received good service from the bank came back for bike loans, then car loans and eventually to borrow money to buy a house.

"We are trying to establish a long-term relationship with these young people," he said.