The Savings Dance
Wachovia Corp. used some star power to promote its latest savings product during an event in Los Angeles this week.The Charlotte company recruited Mario Lopez, the television actor who placed second behind former football player Emmitt Smith on the popular TV show "Dancing With the Stars" last fall, to help promote its new Way2Save program.
Mr. Lopez grabbed dollars for charity from a 35-foot-tall "money machine" outside a Wachovia branch on the corner of Hollywood and Highland in the city. (Mr. Smith was tapped in December by Comerica Inc. to be the grand marshal of the Comerica Bank New Year's Parade in Dallas.)
Way2Save automatically transfers a dollar into the savings account with each debit card and electronic transaction.
Carey Hedberg, a vice president of deposits marketing at Wachovia, said in an interview Thursday that the company "wanted to try and do something new" to promote the product. "Mario is the latest, greatest buzz both for the general public and the Hispanic market," she said in explaining the celebrity selection. "We thought it was a great way to get engaged in Los Angeles."
Wachovia is still a relative newcomer to California after its 2006 purchases of Westcorp Inc. and Golden West Financial Corp. The company is planning to promote the savings product at 11 more sites nationwide, ending with a finale in New York in mid-May. Mr. Lopez will not be in tow, Ms. Hedberg said, but Wachovia is in talks with other "high-profile people" for the New York event, though she would not name them.
Wachovia, meanwhile, is seeking a Guinness World Record tag for what it believes to be the world's largest money machine, a company spokeswoman said.
Cooling It
Don McGrath, the chairman and chief executive officer of BancWest Corp. in San Francisco, had a big reason to be in a good mood this week.On Wednesday the company's French parent, BNP Paribas SA, publicly put to bed speculation that it may sell BancWest if it bids on the troubled Societe Generale AG. Mr. McGrath said this was consistent with the message he and other executives have been hearing from Paris.
However, he did have one complaint. Reached for comment Wednesday afternoon in St. Paul, a city being punished by 10-below-zero cold, he said, "Oh, yeah, it's beautiful here," followed by a bellowing laugh. "Good timing, huh?" In his Northern California home base, it was a pleasant 60 degrees.
Mr. McGrath was in Minnesota for a board meeting of Deluxe Corp., a check producer of which he is a director.
