Protect yourself against identity theft

Identity theft is serious business nowadays, and phishing attacks have increased significantly over the last few years. Phishing is a common scam used to steal valuable and personally identifiable information, using official looking emails, websites or phone calls.

A typical phishing email may state that there has been a fraud reported on your account and may ask you to click on a link in the email to verify your personal information or your online access will be terminated. PLEASE DO NOT CLICK THE LINK OR RESPOND IN ANY WAY.

We also ask you not to trust emails from ANY BUSINESS OR INDIVIDUAL urgently requesting confidential personal information like your PINs, passwords, or account numbers. Systematic Savings Bank would NEVER request information through unsecured email or over the phone.

If you come in contact with a phishing scam, please report the incident to us so that we may take steps to prevent the fraud from scamming other people.  We care about our customers and want to make sure your personal information is safe and secure.

If you set up an online banking account with us, know that there are securities applied that verify our website to you personally. Look for these securities before using your account. If you have any questions regarding your online banking account or its securities, give us a call or come by and grab yourself a cookie. We’ll be more than happy to answer your questions! J

Merchant Services

At Systematic Savings Bank, we understand how important it is to promote community business and that’s why we’ve partnered with TransFirst® for your merchant service needs. I learned in a meeting with their representative that TransFirst® deals with merchant processing and they have a unique program called TransFreedom® that you might be interested in. With this bundled program, you can virtually forget about complicated payment processing and hidden charges, because they offer one flat rate. Cool huh?

What exactly is merchant processing? Merchant processing is credit and debit card transactions and the terminals you need for your business. It’s the stuff that helps your business carry out its daily activities.

·         Merchant Processing: credit and debit card transactions and terminals for your business

·         TransFreedom®: a bundled pricing package offered through TransFirst®

As I understand it, TransFirst® will meet or beat your current merchant services plan, or they’ll give you 500 dollars! So what’s the risk? It’s just a phone call. Come into Systematic Savings and ask us more about merchant services. If you’re interested, we’ll refer you to our local representative!

Shooting for the stars

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) in Southwest MO held their annual Torch Award ceremony last Thursday March 8^th, at the Howard Johnson Hotel & Convention Center (the former Clarion Hotel) here in Springfield, and Systematic Savings Bank attended the banquet as a Gold Star Recipient!

To receive the Gold Star Award, the business must be a BBB Accredited Business who has not received any customer complaints in the past three years. It’s quite an accomplishment!



President Michael Brady, recieving the Gold Star Award for Systematic Savings!



At Systematic, we are proud of our customer service status and continue to better meet your needs. This is why we are so excited to be among the 63 businesses in the Southwest Missouri area that were recognized for this achievement! Six small to medium businesses were also recognized as Torch Award Finalists. Doesn’t it feel good to know you live in a community of extraordinary BBB Accredited businesses? I think so.

The BBB is an organization that strives to create an ethical marketplace within your community. To have BBB accreditation is an honor in itself for businesses. Not every business is part of the organization.  To be accredited, businesses must uphold the BBB Standards for Trust. For more information on BBB standards visit their website: http://swmo.bbb.org/About-BBB/.

We are having our Gold Star Award framed and it will be up on our wall soon. Come by for coffee and experience our award-winning service! You don’t need a reason. We just enjoy your company.





FDIC

Happy Thursday Readers!

We’ve all seen it, that gold rectangular sticker in the windows of most banking establishments: the member FDIC notice. But what does it mean really? Today I’ll tell you what you need to know about FDIC insurance. This is important stuff!

It all comes down to ownership categories. First, the insurance applies to deposit accounts only (like your savings or trust accounts) in the same ownership category. Separating money into two deposit accounts in the same bank or financial institution, even if they are opened at different branches, will not give you more FDIC coverage. All accounts under your ownership (joint accounts or otherwise) are added together and insured for up to $250,000.

But! Accounts at separately chartered institutions are separately insured, even if the institutions are affiliated.

Also, you might want to know that from now until December 31, 2012, all non-interest accounts (like non-interest bearing checking accounts) are fully insured.

Systematic Savings bank is FDIC certified. Stop by and talk to one of our associates about how we can serve you and your personal or business accounts. We’ve got fresh-baked cookies, don’t be shy!

A little privacy please

Today I learned a little about the way privacy laws work. Privacy laws, as defined by the American Banking Association (ABA), are information sharing laws banks have to adhere to. They regulate with whom and how a financial institution may share a customer’s information. It’s good to note that you have the option to opt out of sharing any nonpublic personal information with certain nonaffiliated third parties.

·         Opt Out – You can deny the bank the ability

·         Nonaffiliated third parties – any entity that is not affiliated with the financial institution

·         Nonpublic personal information – personally identifiable financial information

·         Affiliates – any company that controls, is controlled by, or under common control with your financial institution

Privacy in financial institutions is controlled by a series of laws that regulate the ways of handling a customer’s information. For more information on your privacy rights and how allowing banks to share information with affiliates might benefit you, stop by Systematic Savings bank, pour yourself a cup of our hot coffee, and let one of our associates assist you!