Job loss,
divorce, illness: TD helps customers manage finances in difficult
times -TD Helps program has assisted tens of
thousands of Canadians- -Expanded TD Helps site
tdcanadatrust.com/tdhelps has advice and tools- TO VIEW AN HTML SOCIAL MEDIA VERSION OF THIS
RELEASE, PLEASE VISIT www.smrmediaroom.ca/TDHelps March 2, 2010, TORONTO
– The death of a spouse. A major illness. The loss of a
job. Divorce. These life-changing events can create unexpected
challenges that result in major financial difficulties. Recognizing
this, TD Canada Trust has expanded TD Helps, a program created to
assist customers experiencing financial hardship to manage their
debt and take control of their finances. “We started TD Helps during the
recession and were able to help tens of thousands of customers, but
we also recognized that the need extended beyond the economic
downturn. We heard from many who were struggling for other reasons
– reasons just as life-altering - and we realized we
could expand our TD Helps program to include real solutions for
those customers too. TD Helps began as an answer to an immediate
need but it has evolved into a program that has become part of our
culture, extending the kind of help and advice our branches have
always given on an individual basis, to all customers who need it
through a bank-wide program,” says Tim Hockey, President
and CEO, TD Canada Trust. The TD Helps program is designed to assist
Canadians in managing their finances in difficult times. TD takes a
unique and individualized approach to each customer, analyzing
their current financial position and offering solutions for both
short-term cash flow management and long-term improved financial
health through advice, options, and tools. Some of the solutions TD
Canada Trust has provided to date include financial solutions to
take the pressure off, including mortgage restructuring, allowing
customers to defer mortgage payments, moving customers to lower
cost products and consolidating debt. Longer term solutions include
a personal financial assessment at the branch and advice on debt
management, and conversations about saving and
investing. An important part of the program, the TD
Helps website was originally designed to help reach customers
facing hardship due to the financial crisis. Recently relaunched,
www.tdcanadatrust.com/tdhelps/
has expanded its focus to include tools, advice and ways to get
immediate help for customers facing challenges beyond the effects
of the economic downturn and features: - Videos featuring TD employees describing how
they were able to help customers – examples that TD hopes
will encourage more customers to call
- Interactive cash flow management tools
– to help customers figure out how to make the most of
the money they have
- Financial management tip-oriented videos
with topics including paying down the right debt, managing credit
effectively, and finding money in unexpected places
“When someone has experienced a
life altering event like illness or the loss of a partner, things
may never return to the way they were. We understand this and
that’s why TD Helps is about helping people adjust to
their new financial situation in both the short term and the long
term,” says Hockey. “We encourage customers who
need help to come in and talk us; we know we can’t fix
everything, but there is almost always something we can do to
help.” TD Helps is just one way that TD is reaching
out to those facing financial challenges. As part of its ongoing
support for financial literacy initiatives in Canada, TD has
partnered with Social Enterprise Development Innovations (SEDI), a
charitable organization that helps low income and otherwise
economically disadvantaged Canadians gain financial independence.
In January 2010, TD announced $14.5 million in funding to SEDI
which will be used fund the Canadian Centre for Financial Literacy
and administer the new TD Financial Literacy Grant Fund. The TD
Financial Literacy Grant Fund is the first of its kind in Canada
and will distribute $11 million in grants to community groups for
financial literacy training. TD BANK FINANCIAL
GROUP
The Toronto-Dominion Bank and its subsidiaries are collectively
known as TD Bank Financial Group. TD Bank Financial Group is the
sixth largest bank in North America by branches and serves more
than 18 million customers in four key businesses operating in a
number of locations in key financial centres around the globe:
Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking, including TD Canada Trust
and TD Insurance; Wealth Management, including TD Waterhouse and an
investment in TD Ameritrade; U.S. Personal and Commercial Banking,
including TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank; and Wholesale
Banking, including TD Securities. TD Bank Financial Group also
ranks among the world's leading online financial services firms,
with more than 6 million online customers. TD Bank Financial Group
had CDN$557 billion in assets on October 31, 2009. The
Toronto-Dominion Bank trades under the symbol "TD"
on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges. For further
information:
Carolyn Abbass / Steve Presant
Paradigm Public Relations
416-203-2223
cabbass@paradigmpr.ca /
spresant@paradigmpr.ca
Erin Baldwin
TD Bank Financial Group
416-308-4061
td.capa@td.com
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