Bank Attracts Clients with Lottery Tickets

An Australian bank has introduced a slightly different way of attracting new customers, launching a new savings account that puts deposit holders into a monthly draw for A$20,000 (roughly equivalent to US$20,000).

The Bank of Queensland announced the new "Save To Win" accounts at a recent profit announcement.

Under the account scheme, which will be available from November, customers must have a minimum of A$250 in their account to be entered into the lottery and the chance to win the monthly cash prize.

Other smaller cash prizes will also be rewarded to customers, who must only maintain a balance of $250 to gain automatic entry each month.

Every dollar over the $250 mark will be equivalent to one ticket in the draw, meaning customers holding more money in the account will increase their chances of winning. However, the maximum number of opportunities to enter the draw will be capped at 30,000 for a single account.

A spokesman for the bank rejected suggestion the bank was encouraging gambling, saying that the Bank of Queensland still offered many other savings options, including accounts with higher interest rates.

He said the lottery accounts were targeted at customers who held less money in their accounts, and would therefore be attracted by the possibility of winning such a large amount of cash.