Frank also denied that the company's telemarketers are instructed to give a standard response when asked where the company obtains its information.

The Coop once had a partnership with MBNA, but terminated its relationship over a year ago, said Coop President Jeremiah P. Murphy Jr. '73.

The Coop and MBNA jointly issued Mastercards and Visas.

Murphy said that the Coop terminated its relationship with MBNA because the "financial returns or satisfaction were not enough to warrant a contract renewal."

Murphy also said that MBNA asked the Coop to share its information about Harvard students.

"We were very restrictive and would not let them use our membership database," Murphy said. The Coop does not sell information from its database to anyone, he added.

Daniel K. Hamalainen '98, who worked for MBNA bank two summers ago, said that the bank is "really intensive on phone use."

"They're never completely honest on the phone," he said. "But they're not a sleazy company.