A group of 20 students at Miami University are not depositing money to Chase Bank-rather they are competing to take some home.
Chase Bank, in conjunction with brand-growing networking specialist RepNation, has 20 students at Miami-called student ambassadors-competing in teams of five from Aug. 15-24 to see who can gather the most Chase College Checking accounts. Teams are using online networking Web sites, posters and flyers in an attempt to win the prize of $4,000 for the most checking accounts signed.
Chase College Checking accounts are particular checking accounts without monthly fees for up to five years.
Senior Chris Hines, who is serving as captain of one of the sales teams, first discovered the promotion via online networking.
"I initially found out about the program through the Facebook marketplace, and some of us found out because there is a Miami alum working at RepNation," he said. "After responding to the ad, you scheduled an over the phone interview, where you were asked a few straightforward questions to see if you were familiar with what (Chase) entails."
RepNation's Eric Schoenberg said the ideal student ambassador is someone who is passionate and with some marketing experience. He added that those well-networked on campus are ideal as well.
"I was marketable because of the marketing classes I'd taken and the work I did at an uptown restaurant, since that is looked at as very customer service oriented," Hines said.
According to both Schoenberg and Hines, the sector most targeted on campus has been the incoming class.
"Since freshmen come in here and are interested in opening checking accounts, they are our largest target market right off the bat," Hines said. "Also, there are houses opening accounts, and with the real estate, energy and utility bills being split in houses among people from many different families, everything can be centralized and kept track of."
All 20 ambassadors are given $100 base pay, with the captains of each team making $200, in addition to the $4,000 made by the winning team.
"This gave us a really good opportunity to see, while still in college (if) this really is what we want to do," Hines said. "It allows us all to answer the age-old question of 'What do I need to learn this for?' while giving us the opportunity to work for a good brand and meet new people. Some ambassadors might even go to work for the brand after graduation, so having the previous experience is just one more step ahead from others in interviews."
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Schoenberg lists 15 schools including Miami with this same promotion from Chase.
Sales statistics have not been made available at this juncture, nor has any concrete decision been made as to whether or not the promotion will be done again in 2008.
"To date there is no report on Miami, however, banks have been doing extremely well and we are very excited about this progress," Schoenberg said.
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