Hurricane Sandy: a good time to create some good PR

It surprises me that banks rarely get lauded and applauded,
as it is far easier to critique and blast. 

A good example is the post Hurricane Sandy fallout, where
banks in the USA are doing everything they can to support hard hit Americans.

I didn’t see much about this in the news generally but,
whilst following a few tweets, discovered that most US banks are waiving fees
and doing the right thing.

A few examples .

Bank of America donated $1 million, including $500,000 to the American Red Cross Hurricanes 2012
fund and the rest to national, regional and local nonprofits to support
long-term recovery needs. 

Wells Fargo donated $1 million, with $250,000 going to the
American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund and the rest to non-profit
organisations conducting grassroots relief and recovery efforts in affected
areas.

Citigroup donated $1 million to the American
Red Cross, in addition to the foundation's annual $500,000 grant to the Red
Cross to support its Annual Disaster Giving Program. 

Deutsche Bank donated $1 million through corporate and employee
donations to enable charities including AmeriCares and the Robin Hood
Foundation to help meet the demand for emergency services and restoration
efforts.  Further, the bank is
offering $1 million in zero interest financing to help homeowners and small
business owners in disadvantaged neighbourhoods make critical repairs to their
properties.  It also created a Disaster
Relief Matching Gifts Program, offering unlimited matching gifts to employees
who pledge donations to charities responding to the disaster.

JP Morgan donated up to $5 million for relief and recovery efforts and up to $5 billion in lending to
small and mid-size businesses directly affected by the storm at discounted fees
and rates.  In addition, the bank paid for food trucks to give out free
lunches and dinners in hard-hit areas.

In fact, it’s become so notable to be involved in the relief
efforts that some banks are almost competing to outdo each other.

Take Goldman Sachs.

The bank has not only donated $5 million to Hurricane Sandy
clean up and recovery efforts, and another $5 million in loans to small
businesses, but has also
encouraged employees to volunteer in relief efforts.  This is a real commitment as, for exampe, Goldman’s CEO Lloyd Blankfein (on the left) has been getting down and dirty in the burbs, helping out the relief efforts.

Well done Lloyd.  Nice
to see that you’re not just focused upon that bonus.

And well done to the US banks for showing their human side
too.

 

Most example summaries sourced from eFinancial News.