Banking on Your Trying Times

Roosevelt Bank wants you, even if your spouse doesn’t.

The third-largest bank in the St. Louis area is launching a marketing push for people going through a separation or divorce.

Its New Start program offers free checks, a line of credit, a half-price copy of a credit report and a free three-month trial of its telephone bill-paying service. It also includes a financial checklist, a list of books on divorce and long lists of divorce lawyers, mediators and marriage counselors.

Anat Bird, chief operating officer, said the idea is that if Roosevelt seems friendly during bad times, customers will stick with the bank once they’re on their feet.

Friendly? Maybe. However, the line of credit comes with a 20% annual interest rate, higher than most credit cards, and one of the items on the financial checklist recommends renting a Roosevelt safe-deposit box.