(MONEY Magazine) – Televangelist, hurricane buster and erstwhile presidential candidate Pat Robertson is teaming up with the Bank of Scotland to create a new telephone- and Internet-based bank, which has yet to be named.

According to C.A. Volder III, a director of the new bank, Robertson got the idea when he went to the Bank of Scotland for a loan and saw how successful it had been with its virtual banking operation in Britain.

Robertson will not shill for the bank on his 700 Club broadcasts, but he will act as its spokesman. Says Volder: "You may not share his political and religious beliefs, but people view him as a very credible voice."

Speaking of those beliefs, Robertson--who is well known for his extreme views on gays, feminists and the United Nations--has been a fierce critic of international banks. In his 1991 book The New World Order, he accused bankers of having "financed Bolshevism in the Soviet Union since 1917" and of "trying to undermine American education, moral values, sense of patriotism and national pride." Now Robertson is himself an international banker. Next thing you know, he'll be signing up with the ACLU.

--PAT REGNIER