Bank of New York declined to say whether or not it has such a system in place.
Bank of New York could then take its offer directly to shareholders.
Bank of New York, for example, is offering free checking until 2003.
Bank of New York said its credit card business grew by 23 percent, to 4.9 million accounts.
Bank of New York closed at $49.50, down 87.5 cents.
The Bank of New York, which gave $10 million last week.
And the Bank of New York has done that in the past.
At that price, the Bank of New York offer is worth about $1.1 billion.
Calls to the Bank of New York were not returned.
Bank of New York also reported a strong gain.