Today’s guest on the Consumerism Commentary Podcast is Gerry Cuddy, President and CEO of Beneficial Bank. Tom Dziubek talks to Gerry about the two new banks that Beneficial recently opened in NJ and how their financial literacy approach differs from other banks.
Beneficial Bank, Gerry Cuddy
Production/Segment: S03E05 / 75
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Table of contents
[00:00] Introduction from Flexo
[00:31] Interview with Gerry Cuddy
– [00:42] The history of Beneficial Bank
– [01:41] Beneficial Bank’s services and products
– [03:54] Beneficial’s education-themed banks in Cherry Hill, NJ
– [08:47] Beneficial’s donations to local high schools
– [09:52] Financial literacy & the roles of schools, families and businesses
– [13:57] The recession and its effect on the financial perspectives of youth
– [15:05] Ethics vs. prices
– [16:42] Popularity of financial aggregation websites with young adults
– [18:21] How Beneficial has weathered the recession
[21:07] End
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Updated February 6, 2012 and originally published May 23, 2010. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the RSS feed or receive daily emails. Follow @flexo on Twitter and visit our Facebook page for more updates.
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Luke Landes founded Consumerism Commentary in 2003 and has been building online communities since 1990. Luke, also known as Flexo, has contributed to PC World Magazine, US News, Forbes, and other publications. 
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
This Beneficial Bank iis unfair. Only the Student Saver (age 7-17) and Campus Savings (18-22) accounts with balances above $1000 or $2500 respectively earn 1.98/2.00%. Their Tiered Statement Savings for everyone else earn 1.00% for 5k and above; 0.5% for less. They have very high no-activity within 4 month fee.
I think you may be missing the reasoning behind this behavior. It seems that the goal being set forth is to educate and reward young people toward financial responsibility. As adults it is fundamental to teach our children to be responsible and learn good habits, financially as well as ethically. The state of the country is a perfect example of what happens when you allow credit card companies and subprime lenders do that educating. Why not be pleased that there is someone out there trying to help reinforce good behavior at a young age that will continue through adulthood. I think you will also find that in todays market 1% on a liquid account or even 0.5% is a decent rate of return for adults. Keep in mind it was the adults who got us in the position we are in, not the young people!