Banking on the idea of philanthropy

What would entice a person to become a new customer at a bank? A free cell phone? A toaster?
SunTrust is banking on the idea of philanthropy.
SunTrust has a program called MyCause. They donate $100 to the charity of your choice or you can choose to receive $50 to keep for your own cause when a person or business opens a new checking account.
Go to http://promotion.suntrust.com/mycause and learn more about the promotion.
This program seems great, lets hope the mainstream catches on.

From UPI

SunTrust to end 2,400 jobs by 2008

ATLANTA, Aug. 20

U.S. bank holding company SunTrust Banks Inc. said Monday it would eliminate 2,400 jobs, or 7.2 percent of its workforce, by the end of next year. Costs associated with the cuts will lead to a third-quarter pretax charge of $45 million, the No. 8 U.S. bank said.SunTrust has 33,241 full-time employees, the bank's Web site said. "Today's announcement is the latest step in SunTrust's ongoing drive to enhance shareholder value," the Atlanta company said. " SunTrust has already this year reconfigured its geographic banking organization, announced a new corporate-owned real estate strategy involving the sale and leaseback of key facilities, intensified supplier management practices, repositioned the company's balance sheet and employed additional capital optimization strategies."The earlier restructuring plan, announced in May, included the sale of 9 percent of its Coca-Cola Co. stock, which yielded an after-tax return of about $150 million. The bank, which participated in the Atlanta soft-drink company's initial public offering in 1919, also said it would decide by year end whether to sell the balance of its Coke position.The bank claims to hold the "secret recipe" for Coke in its vaults, The Wall Street Journal reported.

August 20, 2007