By going green, Zions customer gets 5,000 in green

Virtue sometimes has real pecuniary rewards.

Earlier this week, Draper resident Jennifer Clark pocketed $5,000 from Zions Bank because she agreed to receive her account statements electronically instead of on paper. Her reward — 50 crisp Benjamins attached to the limbs of a small tree — was presented to her during a surprise ceremony at the bank's Draper branch.

Clark was selected randomly from more than 101,000 customers who have enrolled in Zion's e-Statements program since it was launched in 2009.

One of every three customers in Utah and Idaho now see their bank statements online when they log in to their password-protected accounts at zionsbank.com, according to the Salt Lake City-based bank.

The bank won't say what its sign-up goal is or how much money it saves when a customers converts to paperless statements.

Spokesman Rob Brough did add, "I would say that this is one of those instances where it's really a benefit for both sides."

Zions says the environmental rewards of paperless statements are real.

"They not only offer clients convenience and efficiency in receiving their account information, but they also promote sustainability by reducing the use of paper," according to the bank.

The tree, minus Clark's cash, later went to Tree Utah, a nonprofit group that advocates tree-planting.