And finally…bank places pennies worth $1,000 in 10 U.S. cities

An American bank which has no branches and whose customers handle their banking affairs entirely online has placed ‘Lucky Pennies’ worth $1,000 each in 10 cities around the country.

The Detroit-based Ally Bank’s initiative seeks to demonstrate the importance of valuing every cent, while encouraging Americans to look for opportunities to save.

The multi-city search invites people to be on the lookout for the 100 Ally Lucky Pennies, each of which is redeemable for $1,000.

The bank has told people in Austin, Texas, Charlotte, N.C., Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, San Diego and Washington, D.C. can try to find the Ally Lucky Pennies in their cities.

When found, Ally Lucky Pennies can be redeemed online from Oct.18 until Dec. 31, 2016 at AllyLuckyPenny.com.

Finders can enter the redemption code located on the back of the Ally Lucky Penny on the site to begin verification as a potential prize winner.

Clues to Ally Lucky Penny locations and updates on those already found will be provided on social media throughout the campaign.

https://twitter.com/Ally/status/788410438438518785

“Ally’s Lucky Penny initiative is a great example of how we Do It Right for consumers by inviting them to be a part of the search, thus raising awareness and creating opportunities for new conversations about money,” said Andrea Riley, chief marketing officer.

“We hope that people will have fun searching for Ally Lucky Pennies in their cities and that the campaign will inspire people to look at money in a different way.”

Ally interviewed passersby in some of the 10 participating markets and asked for their thoughts about picking up pennies off the street.

The response was overwhelmingly one-sided:

https://youtu.be/pfhSTVkkLMQ

Ally Lucky Penny aims to influence perception around the value of a penny and cause consumers to think twice about leaving any money uncollected.

The Ally Lucky Pennies placed in participating cities are slightly larger than a regular penny, with the Ally logo on the front and the number 100,000 on the back, signifying how many cents the Ally Lucky Penny could be worth.

Diane Morais, chief executive officer and president of the Ally Bank subsidiary, said: “We believe every penny counts when it comes to saving, and it’s important for everyone to understand that routinely saving, even the smallest amounts, is important to generating wealth over time.

“As a relentless financial ally for our customers, we focus on offering customers competitive rates and minimal fees as a way to help their money work harder and incentivize good savings habits.”