Earlier this year, we wrote about how easy it is to run an online instant prize contest using ePrize (see post here). Today, we see that Citibank is using the company to power an instant-win game and billpay usage sweepstakes. They share the same creative and both run March 1 through April 30, but otherwise have little to do with each other.

The instant-win game can be played by anyone and finishes with an ad for Citi's e-Savings account. The sweepstakes rewards Citi billpay customers with automatic sweepstakes entries tied to billpay usage. Here are the specifics:  

1. Instant win: Anyone who registers with an email address and date of birth may spin the wheel up to three times each day to win won of 300 prizes awarded randomly between March 1 and April 30, 2007. The total prize pool is $15,000 with one-hundred $100 winners and two-hundred $25 prizes. At the end of each play, Citi pitches its e-Savings account with 4.75% APY and $25 signing bonus, which is slightly different than its website promotion of 4.65% and $50 bonus (see screenshots below). 

2. Usage sweepstakes: Citibank billpay customers are also entered into a sweepstakes with a single grand prize of $25,000. Each bill payment of more than $5, after the first four during the 60-day run, receives one automatic entry into the sweeps. 

The promotion is advertised on its main Banking page with a small banner (see screenshot below). A larger promotion (see inset above) appears on the Online Banking page (see note 1).

Screenshots: Citibank signup page, "spin" the wheel to play, loser's page with cross-sell of 4.75% savings account (click to enlarge)

Citibank main "banking" page with sweepstakes promo

Note:

1. Tested from a Seattle, WA IP address at 10 AM PDT. Cookies are enabled and will show multiple visits to Citibank, but no evidence of any Citibank accounts.