VELSHI: Time now for "The X-Y-Z of It." Last hour, I told you about an innovative Philadelphia program that urges banks and other lenders to talk with struggling homeowners about how they can avoid foreclosure. Talk -- what a concept? It's one we've been straying far too long away from and my message today is to banks that are still avoiding dialogue with their customers. Too many people out there have tried to talk to their banks, but instead of straight talk or simple answers they get the runaround, like the person I profiled. Banks need to remember that they're in the business of people, not bottom lines or foreclosure filings. They need to get back to good old fashioned banking, a little customer service, if you will. I've gotten so many e-mails from people who feel abandoned by their lender. Let's face it. Foreclosures don't help anyone, not the borrower, not the lender, not the bottom line, and not the country. Avoiding foreclosures and boosting healthy home ownership, on the other hand, is a win, win, win. It's a win for borrowers, it's a win for banks, it's a win for the bottom line and it's a win America. We've had a record number of foreclosures over the past year. I wonder how many could have been avoided with a little face-to-face, human-to-human chat. We've lost plenty of money in this recession, let's not lose our humanity, too. That's my "X-Y-Z," here's "</s>RICK'S LIST." RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much, Ali.
The X-Y-Z of It: Face-to-Face Banking