Scratch This

I know that banking is a business (or industry, depending upon your source) and that competition is fierce, but do we really need this?

For those of you with either poor eyesight or who live outside the Philadelphia metropolitan area, Citizens Bank is running a promotion, the ad for which appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer this week, and is shown above.

For the record, it says: Come to any Citizens bank branch today to enter the Citizens Bank Lucky Zero Home Equity Sweepstakes. It goes on to say that "you can't lose" and that all you have to do is mail in your "lucky" card and you'll have a chance at one of the 15 grand prizes of 0% APR Home Equity Loans. But, you'll have to hurry!

Perhaps you can click on it and read it in its larger form. I scanned it from the newspaper ad and posted it here, more for the sake of posterity than accuracy.

They are running a scratch-off game, in which contestants (i.e. customers) can go into a local Citizens Bank branch and get a game card, scratch it off and get a great deal on a loan from the bank.

This lottery deal has gotten way out of hand, folks. First, the states got into the business of numbers running, under the guise of helping fund the state's budget. Now, banks are running games of chance for their customers (prospective or otherwise) to get them to come into the bank, with the hope that they will be the lucky "winner". The whole thing sounds kind of cheap and beneath something that a financial institution should be involved with. How about just doing business with us? How does that sound?

It sceeves me to think that a bank would stoop so low as to go about attracting business by participating in a scratch-off game. Lucky Zero ... you got that right. It sounds to me like the lucky one is the bank ... but I have a sick mind, so form your own opinion.

Although, I suppose they are living up to their marketing theme of being "Not your typical bank".

Maybe I want something a little more typical and a lot more honorable.