passengers the option of paying with a credit card, a local company claimed this week.

Bermuda is the first holiday island/resort to have the service available to visitors, according to Ms Carmen Phillips, marketing manager for the company that imports the just-approved Credit Card Meter.

But since MetroMeter was given Government approval last Friday to sell the new device, only 13 of the 500 cabbies on the road have bought them.

The 80-member Bermuda Taxi Owners Union has said it wants no part of the concept and members would not be taking credit cards.

Allowing them would be a waste of cab drivers' time and end up costing them money, BTOU head Mr. Custerfield Crockwell told The Royal Gazette .

But Ms Phillips said marketing research had showed a consistent demand for the service by credit card holders.

"The tourism industry and the promotion of Bermuda is the responsibility of all Bermudians,'' Ms Phillips said. "We will either reap the benefits or continue to suffer the consequences if we do not adhere to the demands and changes it dictates to us.'' Ms Phillips said all of Mr. Crockwell's concerns were legitimate. However, they were due to a large number of drivers being "misinformed, uninformed, or simply resisting being informed''.

She conceded that when the concept first hit the US taxi industry there was even greater resistance -- "boycotts, petitions, sit-ins''.

Now, however, "every Credit Car Meter (CCM) driver in New York, Los Angeles, Canada, Chicago and San Francisco will swear by the financial success that has befallen them because of the demand for credit card taxis,'' she said.

"Due to the heavy marketing strategy behind the CCM system, the rewards for Bermuda will be even greater.'' An advertising campaign was already underway to promote Bermuda's CCM taxis to potential tourist, executive and convention business, she said.

She claimed the CCM would make taxi cabs "the most advertised and competitive form of transportation to Bermuda's visitors''.

Addressing the BTOU's concerns, she said, "The process of taking a credit card fare takes about the same time it takes to retrieve change for a cash fare -- about 30 seconds. The slip is electronically produced and records all information from the card directly. The cardholder simply signs the slip and returns it to the driver for his records.'' As for "bad credit cards'', Ms Phillips said, any charge up to $150 on a credit card which has been properly processed will be paid in full to the driver without delay.

She added MetroMeter had come up with a payment plan for drivers wishing to buy the CCM, requiring no down payment.

Transport Minister the Hon. Ralph Marshall has thrown his support behind the new meter, saying the option of paying for taxi fares with a credit card would be "well received by passengers who prefer not to use cash -- and particularly visitors who have to submit claims for travel expenses''.