It took developer Craig Ralph five years to bring SunTrust to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, making it the only full-service bank east of downtown and inside the Interstate 440 Beltline.

Both Centura Bank and Wachovia passed on the chance to open at Shoppes at Pine Hills, anchored by a huge Kroger. Centura Bank said it wasn't interested in opening branches in black neighborhoods, Ralph said, and Wachovia dismissed the idea with a one-sentence e-mail message. First Citizens Bank recently pulled out of the Longview shopping center on New Bern Avenue.

But SunTrust saw an opening, said region President John Stallings, and Monday night, he promised $100 for the favorite charity of anyone opening a checking account.

"We think Southeast Raleigh is under-banked," Stallings said, "and we're excited to be here."

It is unusual to see a bank's region president wearing a navy blue suit in the Roberts Park community center on East Martin Street.

When the South Central Citizens Advisory Council meets, talk tends to focus on vagrants sleeping in abandoned houses -- and Monday night's meeting was no exception.

"We find them sleeping in the cupboards," police Sgt. J.B. Noble told the CAC. "We find them in the crawl spaces. We find them in the air-conditioning ducts. We find them everywhere."

But a bank shows some economic vitality, said CAC secretary Margo White, and some much-needed life.

"No more check-cashing," Ralph said, referring to businesses that charge a fee to cash checks. "No more spending $3 to wire $100."

The drive-in window will even have video monitors for bank customers to see the tellers. Before the meeting ended, Stallings offered to have SunTrust sponsor a community festival, which drew some applause.

But a bank is a bank, and one neighborhood resident raised his hand and asked what the fee for insufficient funds would be.

It's $35, Stallings said.

"But we have all kinds of programs to help you avoid that," he said, adding with a sigh. "You're asking the tough questions already."