The “THRiVEtastic Four”—Calgary Stampeder Henry Burris (@HenryBurris), former Vancouver Canuck Trevor Linden (@trevor_linden), Toronto web expert and TV host Amber MacArthur (@ambermac) and Montreal actress Tammy Verge—will hit the streets in their respective cities to compete for a $15,000 prize for their charity of choice.

The challenge: armed with an ING DIRECT client card, an ING DIRECT branded Toyota Scion™ and an iPad™, each celebrity must spend their $7,000 over seven hours demonstrating “random acts of kindness” in the community—everything from buying lunch for everyone in a restaurant to purchasing tickets for those in the lineup outside a movie theatre. During the race, the celebrities will highlight the many ways a no-fee daily THRiVE Chequing Account can be used, including randomly paying for others’ items at point of sale, making email money transfers, paying someone’s bills, withdrawing cash from an ABM, and writing a cheque—all without fees.

“With the THRiVE Chequing Account, we’ve revolutionized how Canadians do their daily banking,” says Brenda Rideout, Chief Marketing Officer at ING DIRECT. “We’ve created a product that fits into their everyday lives, and we wanted an equally innovative campaign to highlight its convenience and no-fee features.”

Earlier this week, THRiVE Chequing won a consumers choice award as Product of the Year in the Financial Services category based on innovation.

The charity challenge is supported by a national advertising campaign. Media buys include national online advertising, GO Transit station domination at stops in Oakville, Finch, Clarkson and Yorkdale, transit bus wraps and digital platform wide screens in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary. Print advertising will run in Metro newspapers, Maclean’s and L'actualité. Digital-engagement agency Dashboard was behind the campaign’s creative. Media buying was handled by Initiative Media and PR by MAVERICK Public Relations.

Canadians can follow the THRiVEtastic Four on Twitter™ #THRiVEtastic and suggest various locations for them to visit. ING DIRECT is donating $15,000 to each celebrity’s charity for their efforts. The person to finish the task the fastest receives an additional $15,000 for their charity.

THRiVE Chequing offers many no-cost features such as free ABM access through the THE EXCHANGE® Network's 2,400 machines, free email alerts and monthly online account statements as well as the ability to write, deposit and view cheques online for no extra charge. THRiVE Chequing also offers Whoops! ™  Protection that covers clients up to $250 when they are a little short on funds for future dated transactions with no fee or interest, provided funds are paid back within 30 days.

As part of the campaign, Canadians who open a new THRiVE Chequing Account and switch their payroll before May 4, 2011 will have the chance to win $25,000. Visit ingdirect.ca for details.

The COTY award is presented to a Toronto-area leader who demonstrates excellence in communications. Since becoming President and CEO in 2008, Aceto has established himself as one of Canada’s most social CEO’s, by embracing social media to engage with clients and employees.

“The foundation of our business and our corporate culture is based on trust and authenticity, so finding ways to build a meaningful connection with ING DIRECT’s employees and clients is a priority for me,” said Aceto. “I believe that I need to be where our stakeholders are – whether that’s in the lunch room with employees casually talking about our business or directly responding to our clients’ questions on Twitter. I’m passionate about communication because I see the impact of it in building relationships, which is what connects us to one another and helps us appreciate different points of view.”

Aceto’s communication efforts and desire to make connections with people has led ING DIRECT to set a higher standard for client service, and to get involved in the community in ways that allow employees to work side by side with those receiving the company’s help. Most recently, ING DIRECT engaged in a community outreach they call “Orange in the Community”, where more than 500 employees gathered to revitalize the outdoor spaces of an east end Toronto Community Housing high-rise.

Aceto’s commitment to transparency and accessibility is evident to ING DIRECT’s more than 1,000 employees. Once a week, Aceto invites employees from across the organization to a “brown bag lunch” where they discuss the business and get to know each other in an informal setting. These weekly lunches have successfully facilitated employee interaction with senior executives, breaking down the barriers that employees typically feel in corporate environments. 

“It is refreshing to have a CEO who spends so much time connecting with people,” said Jonathan Meisenheimer, an employee at ING DIRECT. “After my first brown bag lunch with Peter, I had a better understanding of who he is, and why he is passionate about our business as well as the priorities and goals of our organization. This made me reflect on why I love working at ING DIRECT and made me feel empowered to work harder to help the company achieve its goals.”

Aceto is the 14th recipient of the IABC COTY award. Past award winners include: Rob Devitt, President and CEO of Toronto East General Hospital; Philip Blake, President and CEO of Bayer Inc.; Annette Verschuren, President of Home Depot Canada; and Mayor Hazel McCallion, City of Mississauga.

The IABC/Toronto Communicator of the Year award will be formally presented to Peter Aceto at a special breakfast and networking event on March 30, 2011. For more information or to register for the event, visit http://toronto.iabc.com

According to a recent national poll conducted by Angus Reid Public Opinion on behalf of ING DIRECT, a quarter of Canadians are simply unaware of how much they pay in monthly bank fees, which on average is about $185 annually. 

When asked the likelihood of switching to an online, no-fee chequing account if one was available, 75 percent of Canadians said they would, with 38 per cent saying they are “disgusted” by their chequing account fees and 66 per cent citing their current banking fees as unfair.

“The THRiVE Chequing account is a true game changer. It redefines what Canadians should expect – even demand – from a chequing account,” said Peter Aceto, President and CEO, ING DIRECT Canada. “ING DIRECT Clients will be able to perform day-to-day transactions like bill payments, purchases and money transfers without the hassle of a monthly bank service fee or account minimums. Like all of our products, THRiVE Chequing will save our Clients time, save them money and make their lives simpler.”

THRiVE Chequing offers many no-cost features such as free ABM access through the 2400-machine Exchange Network, free email alerts and monthly online account statements as well as the ability to write, deposit and view cheques online for no extra charge. THRiVE Chequing also offers Whoops! Protection, an industry-first feature that covers Clients up to $250 on overdrawn funds with no fee or interest, provided funds are paid back within 30 days.

“With THRiVE Chequing, we’ve developed a product that we know Savers will love, but we aren’t stopping there,” added Aceto. “We are launching the THRiVE Chequing Account through a unique Client preview so that our Clients can begin to use and benefit from the account’s features while providing feedback to help make it better.”

Starting today, ING DIRECT Clients can register for the THRiVE Chequing Account preview and on September 14, ING DIRECT will invite its first 10,000 Savers into the Client preview. To learn more about the THRiVE Chequing account preview or to register for it, visit www.your185.ca.

ING DIRECT will continue to invite more Savers into the preview in the coming weeks and months ahead with a focus on offering THRiVE Chequing to all Canadians by early 2011. For those who are not currently ING DIRECT Clients, it’s easy to sign up and become one of the first Canadians to start using THRiVE Chequing.

About the Survey

“From July 29 to July 30, 2010, Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted an online survey among 1,000 randomly selected Canadian adults who are Angus Reid Forum panelists. The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- 3.1%, 19 times out of 20. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender, and region Census data to ensure samples representative of the entire adult population of Canada.”

Now Canadians can save anywhere with ING DIRECT.  The new BlackBerry and iPhone apps will enable Clients to check their account balances, review transactions, transfer funds, locate ABMs, and get directions and hours of operation for the ING DIRECT Save Your Money Cafés. The apps will even provide a simple means to follow ING DIRECT on Twitter to talk about savings. Mobile banking with ING DIRECT is fast, secure, and will make it even easier for Canadians to save money wherever they are.

“We’re always looking for new ways to help Canadians save their money. Canadians love their mobile devices so applications on both the BlackBerry and iPhone are a natural progression for us,” said Peter Aceto, President & CEO at ING DIRECT Canada. “Offering our Clients the option of saving anywhere is an exciting frontier.”

The mobile banking apps are available for free to all Canadians. The BlackBerry app is available at m.ingdirect.ca on their BlackBerry devices or by visiting BlackBerry App World™ at BlackBerry.com/appworld. iPhone and iPod touch apps are available at the App Store or at itunes.com/appstore.