Tag Archives: VCNB Financial Family

VCNB Says Farewell To Longtime Employee

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Sandy Bates Retires 2017 croppedA longtime familiar face at the Depot Drive Thru in McArthur will soon retire. Sandy Bates, a 33 year employee of Vinton County National Bank will retire this Friday.

Even on a slow day, scores of vehicles line up in Sandy’s lane to be waited on by the friendly woman who seems to always wear a smile. She asks customers about their kids, talks about the car they just bought and passes out dog bones to customers of the canine variety. Often times she knows what the customer wants before they even ask.

She’s recently begun telling regulars that she won’t be with the bank much longer. “I retire in eight days” she exclaimed to one regular customer.  “One man seemed a little upset when I told him I was leaving. I didn’t even know him that well so I was kind of surprised,” she explained.

Sandy began her career at the bank in the Bookkeeping Department. “Bookkeeping wasn’t quite what I thought it was,” she offered with a laugh. “I filed checks all day, every day! I worked at that quite a while before I went to Mr. (Bob) Will and asked to do something else.”

She has worked as a teller since, spending some time in the bank lobby but most of her career in the Depot. “I have enjoyed it here. It’s nice and quiet here and I feel close to the customer waiting on them here,” she said. “I get to see their kids and their animals and a lot of things I would miss in the lobby. Little kids will talk to me, dogs know they’re going to get a bone. I’ve seen people grow from car seats into parents.”

It can be a stressful job at times, especially on busy days. However, Sandy said she received some very good advice from another VCNB retiree who trained her. “Ruth Molihan always said that the customer in front of you is the most important person right now. I’ve always made that my policy and I think it’s a good one,” Sandy said.

She reminisced about many of the changes in bank personnel and in changes to banking and society that have taken place over the years. “I started out filing checks all day and now you just don’t see that many checks,” she said. She also expressed great respect for late VCNB President Bob Will who she said “was quite the visionary” for his early adaption of new technologies.

Sandy said that her retirement is bittersweet. “I have enjoyed working here and am sad to leave but a little happy too. I’ll miss the customers and the people I work with but it’s a good time to go while I still have my health and can get out and enjoy life.”

She looks forward to spending more time with family and is especially excited to spend more time with her grandchildren.

McArthur Branch Manager Jane Nickels said that Sandy’s absence will be felt by the bank and by her customers. “Once the customers find out she’s going to be gone, many will be very disappointed. That first lane is always lined up when the second lane has no one in it because Sandy tends to be everyone’s favorite,” Jane said. “The drive thru seems to be her niche. We’ve asked her to come into the lobby before but she enjoys the challenge and seems to genuinely enjoy how busy she is with her customers at the drive thru.”

Jane complimented Sandy’s professionalism, noting that at the age of 79 she still works every day in high heels. “She’s a lady. She’s a lady who cares about her customers, who has built relationships with her customers. We wish her the best but her absence will be a loss to the customers and to the bank.”

Friday will be Sandy’s last day on the job. The entire bank family wishes her a long and happy retirement!

Building a Credit Score From Scratch

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Young adults starting out on their own often bump into a cold fact of financial life: Having no credit history can limit your options just as much as having bad credit does. Lenders, rental offices and insurance companies use your financial track record to judge how likely you are to pay debts and bills — and if you’re a blank slate, you’re generally considered a risk.

Fortunately, there are some simple steps you can take to quickly establish your credit record.

Start with a credit card
One of the quickest ways to develop a positive credit history is with a credit card, which lets you show that you handle small amounts of debt responsibly month after month. Even if you can’t qualify for a card on your own, there are ways to take advantage of this credit-building tool:

  • Recruit a co-signer.You might be able to get a card if someone with good credit — such as a parent — is willing to co-sign the application with you. You and your co-signer will be equally responsible for the charges you make, along with any late-payment fees or other penalties if you don’t make payments on time. Also, late or missed payments can damage your credit score and your co-signer’s, too. But every time you make a payment on time, it will shore up your credit history.
  • Become an authorized user. Another option is to ask a family member or significant other to add you to their credit account. First, though, make sure their bank reports activity by authorized users to the major credit bureaus — otherwise, this won’t help your credit score. And remember that here, too, your activity with the card can affect someone other than yourself.

Next steps
Once you have a card, your behavior with it will determine how high, and quickly, your credit score rises. To keep moving in the right direction:

  • Make on-time payments.The most common credit-scoring model is the FICO score, and it is based on a combination of factors. The biggest, making up 35% of your score, is your payment history. Pay all of your bills (not just your credit card) on time to keep your score rising.
  • Keep balances low. Try not to use your card up to or near your credit limit; it looks bad to creditors if your cards are maxed out. A good rule of thumb is to keep your balances at or below 30% of your total credit limit.
  • Don’t over-apply for cards.According to a recent NerdWallet study that included an analysis of millennials’ credit scores, many young adults are applying for the wrong credit cards and getting rejected — and that’s hurting their credit, since excessive inquiries can make someone look like a bad credit risk. Apply only for cards you really want, and space out those applications.
  • Check your credit reports. You have the right to get a copy of your credit report from each of the three major reporting agencies — Experian, Equifaxand TransUnion — once a year for free. Review yours and report any errors that might hurt your score.

It can be easier to build up good credit if you have a professional helping you. Consider consulting with a financial institution to help figure out the best way to establish credit and make other important financial decisions.

© Copyright 2016 NerdWallet, Inc. All Rights Reserved

VCNB Can Make Your Holidays Brighter

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Holiday art for blog

The holidays are supposed to be joyous but worries over money, fraud and time constraints can turn the happiest time of the year into an ordeal. Today we want to talk about some tools we offer to make your season brighter.

First of all, we think it’s important for you to know what’s happening with your money at all times. That’s why we give you a multitude of account alerts to help you know where your money is going, how much you have and even when payments are due. With Account Alerts, you can receive a text every time your debit card is used, when your balance falls below an amount of your choosing or when your loan payment is due. This is an easy way to stop fraud in its tracks because you’ll know when purchases are happening and be able to quickly spot any that aren’t yours.

Account alerts can be set up through your online banking account and are a free service. Click here to see the full list of account alerts. 

Along the lines of awareness and security, VCNB Mobile is another easy way to manage your money and your cards. With VCNB Mobile, you can monitor your transactions, transfer funds and pay bills on the go. You can also manage your VCNB debit cards with geographic and monetary spending limitations. Best of all, you can even turn your cards off and on, ensuring that they can only be used when you say it’s ok. Read more about this exciting feature of VCNB Mobile here.

With VCNB Mobile, you can also use the camera on your mobile device to deposit a check with Mobile Deposit. It might save you a trip to the bank which gives you more time for what’s important to you. And who couldn’t use more free time this holiday season?  Learn more about this free service here.

Speaking of being busy, there’s no busier time of year than the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. With all the shopping, baking, gift wrapping and cleaning, there is hardly time left for the family functions, work parties and tons of special events. Many of these activities call for a good bit of spending. Be it for groceries and gifts, travel expenses or dinners out, there is seemingly unlimited opportunity to spend money.

As long as you’re spending, we think you should be rewarded. That’s why we offer VCNB Rewards Checking customers and Visa Platinum credit card customers the opportunity to earn UChoose Rewards® Points for their daily purchases and bank behaviors. For example, Visa Platinum customers receive one point for every dollar spent using this card. These points can be redeemed for gift cards, event tickets, travel expenses and thousands of products.

Rewards Checking customers receive one point for every $3 spent using their debit card and bonus points for using bank products like direct deposit, Mobile Deposit and Popmoney® personal payment service. These points can be redeemed for cash back or for any of the great rewards offered to our credit card customers. If you already have Rewards Checking or a Visa Platinum card, remember that you must register your card at UChooseRewards.com to begin earning rewards points.

One last thing – if you need to send someone cash, Popmoney is the way to go. Learn more here.

We wish all our customers a joyous holiday season and hope these products will simplify and brighten your holidays.

Small Business Spotlight: Big Woods Woodworking

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Small businesses are important to communities and running a small business is tough work. That’s why we feature a small business in one of our communities every month!  

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Big Woods Woodworking is located on State Route 56, just outside Laurelville.

Spend some time talking to Marcus Mast about his business Big Woods Woodworking and one word consistently comes to mind.

That word is “quality.”

It clearly is important to Marcus that he provide a quality product and quality service to his customer as well as a good quality of life for his family. He is very quiet in the way he describes his products but the wood furniture and other items created at Big Woods Woodworking speak volumes.

This is the place to go when you are in search of just the right piece of wood furniture for the home or outdoors. That’s because each piece is handmade with care and to suit the needs of the buyer. It is so well made that it is easy to imagine that much of his work will be passed down through generations and will someday be considered heirlooms.

The showroom is packed with samples of the furniture he makes along with some smaller pieces that are available for sale. But the real draw is the fact he makes each order by hand, specifically to suit the needs of his customer.

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The showroom at Big Woods Woodworking is packed with samples of handmade items that can be adapted for the customers’ needs.

Log beds and log furniture to complete a bedroom suit are among his most sought after pieces. Dining room tables and chairs, desks, coffee tables, side tables, armoires, bar tops, chess tables and lamps are also popular. Slab tables and bar tops have live edges, lending a sense of rustic charm and natural beauty that would be appropriate in many settings.

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Log beds and the dressers and nightstands that match are among their most popular items.

For the outdoors, Big Woods makes custom porch swings, arbors, tables and chairs.

His wife Rochelle does wood burning on some pieces and their children sometimes pitch in to make small items that are sold in the shop.

The lumber he uses most comes from all over the region and the country. Aspen, with its worm holes and beautiful color, is often used in slab tables. He also uses red cedar from Missouri, pine from Ohio and Michigan, hickory, and walnut from around Ohio.

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This chess/checkers table has two drawers to contain the pieces when not in use.

“I like to say that God makes the trees and He makes the beauty. We just go find it, we find the beauty,” Marcus explained.

In addition to the pieces he regularly makes, Marcus said that customers often come with ideas of their own. He can design furniture to suit their needs. An example is a cupboard he designed that features a cutting board top and adjustable book stand for cookbooks. He is currently working on an enormous bar top designed to suit a specific space in a customer’s home. Another project is an armoire he is building with walnut that the customer brought to him. “Some people just can’t visualize what they want but they can describe their needs. Their eyes light up when they see the finished product and they say it’s just what they wanted. That’s good to see,” he said.

Marcus said he learned his trade through years of experience. “All my life I’ve done little projects, things for the home, things for us,” he said. He went on to explain that he worked in someone else’s shop prior to opening his own. “There’s been some trial and error and some trial and success. It’s the kind of thing you learn as you go.”

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This child sized table and chairs would be perfect for any youngster’s playroom!

It is clear that while he is intent on creating a quality product for his customers, he also focuses much on providing a good life for his family. “It has always been my dream to work at home where the children can come down and be with me. My wife enjoys dropping in too. This business is a way to do that and to provide for my family,” he said.

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This table was made using logs from the property.

It’s also a way to teach his children valuable skills. “Just the ability to use your hands, that’s what I enjoy and that’s what I want for my children. I want them to have a broader experience than I can provide for  them through my shop here and so by teaching them to use their hands, to think things through, to plan and to connect everything together, to have a finished product . . . those are skills they can use their entire lives,” he said.

Wait times for custom orders vary depending on current workload. At this time the wait is approximately four weeks but can be longer. He said they work hard to accommodate the scheduling needs of the customer. A discount is available for the purchase of a four piece log bedroom suit.

Call Big Woods Woodworking at 740.607.8184. The showroom/shop is open Monday through Saturday and is located at 1577 St. Rt. 56 East, just outside of Laurelville. They accept cash, check or credit card.

See below for additional pictures from Big Woods Woodworking.

Wall art featuring bears.
A welcome home sign.
The workshop where merchandise is created.
Coffee tables in production.
This slab will be a bar in someone’s home!
Napkin Holder
Bedroom furniture in production
A finished dresser.
A finished coffee table.

 

 

Thinking Like a Woman Could Pay Off With Credit Cards

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Women shop a lot: We make 85% of all consumer purchases, according to data from the research firms Yankelovich Monitor and Greenfield Online. All that shopping means we’re pulling out our credit cards often — and it turns out, perhaps thanks to all that practice, we really know what we’re doing.

On average, women carry about $100 less credit card debt than men do ($5,536 versus $5,635), are less likely to be 60 or more days overdue on their credit card card payments, and have slightly higher credit scores (675 versus 670), according to the credit bureau Experian. “Women seem to be doing a better job at managing their credit,” says Kelley Motley, director of analytics at Experian.

Men might want to take a page from women’s credit card playbook by adopting these four credit card habits.

  1. Don’t be scared to use credit cards responsibly

Women have 23.5% more open credit cards than men do, according to Experian. Despite that, women have lower average overall balances, which suggests they are opening more cards without maxing them out. In other words, they might be opening new ones to strategically score discounts or other benefits, but for the most part, they aren’t getting into trouble by running up massive balances with them. That means many women are reaping the rewards of credit cards — fraud protection, points, discounts — without winding up with crushing credit card debt.

“Rather than just using one card, they may be using different cards, with different rewards structures, to make certain purchases,” says Catey Hill, author of the forthcoming book “The 30-Minute Money Plan for Moms: How to Maximize Your Family Budget in Minimal Time.” “If you pay them off on time and in full each month, rewards cards, even multiple rewards cards, can be very lucrative.”

  1. Understand behaviors that can improve credit scores

Men were more likely than women to say they considered their credit score knowledge good or excellent — 61% vs. 54% — according to a recent survey by the Consumer Federation of America and VantageScore Solutions. But women were actually the ones who reported more accurate knowledge on many factors about how credit scores work. Women had a better understanding of how to raise a credit score and of the factors used in determining credit scores.

“Women might be slightly more conscientious than men about knowing and understanding their credit scores,” said Stephen Brobeck, executive director of CFA. And as for understanding the actions that can raise credit scores, including making on-time payments every month and maintaining a low credit utilization rate, “that’s the most critical information to have,” Brobeck said.

  1. Get your free credit reports regularly

The CFA survey also found that women are more likely than men to understand the importance of checking their credit reports regularly, something all consumers can do for free at annualcreditreport.com. The reports do not include credit scores, but rather the details of one’s credit history. This makes it possible to spot any errors and work to correct them.

According to the survey, women may also be more likely than men to follow through and obtain their credit report — 67% of women said they’d done so, versus 63% of men.

  1. Avoid delinquencies and maintain low, manageable balances

A late payment or delinquency can lower a credit score. Making regular monthly payments to keep all credit cards (and other accounts) in good standing is an important part of building a strong credit history.

“Women are typically the CEOs of their household and know how to stick to a monthly budget, manage day-to-day spending and pay bills on time,” says Kerry Hannon, personal finance expert and author of the forthcoming book “Money Confidence: Really Smart Financial Moves for Newly Single Women.” “When they sense they’re in debt or bumping up against a shortfall, they trim back their budget, slashing discretionary items like meals out or clothing purchases.”

That kind of fiscal conservatism helps prevent a buildup of credit card debt. Plus, keeping balances manageable can help improve your credit utilization ratio, which is a factor in your credit score.

After all, when it comes to your credit score, how you manage your money matters more than the size of your paycheck. While women typically bring home only about 80% of what men do, according to the American Association of University Women, they still come out on top when it comes to credit scores.

“It shows you don’t have to earn a ton to manage your money well, and that you can take control of your finances even on a smaller budget,” says Hill, the author.

In other words, shop like a woman and you might just end up with a better credit score.

This article was written by NerdWallet and was originally published by Forbes.

More about credit cards

Kimberly Palmer is a writer at NerdWallet. Email: kpalmer@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @KimberlyPalmer.

The article Thinking Like a Woman Could Pay Off With Credit Cards originally appeared on NerdWallet.

 

Card Valet Is Now Part Of VCNB Mobile!

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Many of our customers have been using a mobile app called Card Valet to exercise control over their VCNB cards. The app is genuinely useful because it allows you, the customer, to turn your card off when you’re not using it, to set spending limits and to even determine where your card can be used.

In this age of fraudulent activity, this app has been a sensation among customers who use it.

So, many of you will be pleased to know that Card Valet services are now part of the bank’s mobile app, VCNB Mobile. No more will you need two separate apps – our app does all the work!

Here’s what that means to you:

Get started by logging in to VCNB Mobile. If you don’t currently use the app, read more about the app and how to get it by clicking here.

On the Accounts Page, find and select the Manage My Cards option at the bottom.

On the next page you can set rules for each card attached to your account. Each card is treated individually, making it easily customizable.

One of the most popular features is the Block Card option. This allows you to temporarily block transactions except pending or recurring transactions. By blocking the card, you are essentially turning the card off. It takes just a few seconds to turn it back on so some customers turn their card on while they stand in line and turn it back off again when they’re done using it.

The Set Card Limits option is also useful. Here you can set it so that a single transaction cannot exceed an amount you choose. You can also block card transactions outside a defined geographic area or limit the merchants where your card can be used. There are several categories to choose from including restaurants, department stores, groceries, gas stations and entertainment. You may want to block all categories except gas stations and groceries. It’s up to you! Easily turn off and on categories at your convenience!

As always, you can use Online Banking to set Account Alerts for a number of reasons, including alerts to notify you when your card has been swiped or when a purchase as cleared.

This is just one of many ways VCNB is working to make banking easier and safer for you! Check out these new options in VCNB Mobile and tell us what you think!

Small Business Spotlight: Totem Supply Company

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Small businesses are important to communities and running a small business is tough work. That’s why we feature a small business in one of our communities every month! 

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Chillicothe is for Dreamers.  That’s the phrase printed on one of the most popular custom t-shirts at Totem Supply Co. Store owner Courtney Lewis is one of those dreamers.

After growing up in Chillicothe and graduating from Ohio University in Athens, Courtney Lewis decided she wanted to live in a big city.  She moved to Cleveland with a sense of adventure and excitement.  She found inspiration while living there for five years.  The majority of people she met were proud to be from Cleveland.  They held the city and its landmarks in high regard.  She began to miss her hometown and found that she had much pride in her hometown as well.  Realizing that small towns sometimes get a bad rap, she wanted to encourage the same pride in Chillicothe that she had witnessed in Cleveland.

After moving home in 2009 and while working in graphic design, she noticed there was no place to purchase Chillicothe memorabilia.  In 2012 Lewis started to sell custom t-shirts while working at her former career.  All shirts featured logos of former local businesses whose memory lives on in the community.

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In November 2013, with her t-shirt sales doing well, she decided to take a leap of faith and open Totem Supply Co.  Her vision of the nostalgia-based business was to highlight the small town and service the townspeople who enjoy being from the area.

Located in the historic district of downtown Chillicothe, Totem Supply Co is a retail store filled with merchandise created by local authors, designers, and artisans.  Memorabilia with references to Chillicothe are of the upmost popularity.  Everything from Chillicothe logoed coffee mugs to Ohio patterned pillows are arranged beautifully in clusters of like items making it easy to shop.  Some of the other items available include handmade deodorants, greeting cards, jewelry and sustainable toys for children.

T-shirt sales have flourished in the store and remain one of the top selling items.  Lewis often looks back into her childhood memories for which former business logos to use next but she’s also been contacted by families requesting her to make their families’ former businesses into shirts.

Printed on soft cotton tees, these shirts are comfortable to wear and tug at many people’s heartstrings.  Recently, Lewis was contacted by a customer who had purchased a Schachne’s t-shirt for her elderly mother.  Her mother had worked at this popular downtown clothing store in her earlier years.  The customer told Lewis that her mother lit up when she was given the shirt.  This gift sparked a lengthy conversation about her time working at Schachne’s and other stories from her youth.  “It’s so cool to spark memories,” Lewis says.  “There’s something so special for generations to share stories.”

Totem Supply Co. is open Tuesday-Friday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 pm. and Sunday noon to 4 p.m.  Visit them at 11 West 2nd Street in Chillicothe or follow them on Facebook.

 

 

Do We Have Your Contact Info?

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Do we have your most up-to-date contact information on file? If we don’t, we hope you’ll take a few minutes to let us know that something has changed. Help us to better serve you by making sure we have your current mailing address, cell phone number and email address.

Here are three important reasons why:

  • If there’s ever a question or a problem with your account, it’s important we be able to reach you.
  • If we don’t have the correct mailing address or email address, your statements or other correspondence will just come back to us.
  • If we suspect fraudulent activity on your account, we will try to call you. If we don’t have the correct number, or if we just have your home number and you’re away from home, we won’t be able to reach you. This makes it imperative that we keep your mobile number on file.

If you have online banking, log-in to your online account and look for the Online Forms link at the top of the page. From the list of forms, select the Change of Address Form. This gives you the opportunity change your address, email address and phone number electronically.

You can also change your phone number or email address by calling our Customer Service Team at 1.800.542.5004 or by stopping by your local branch.

To change your mailing address, we do require a written request to make the change. This must be signed and dated by the account holder and can be submitted in-person or by mail, email or fax. This precaution is taken for your protection.

It’s a little extra effort for you but it means a lot to us to know we can reach you if necessary. Thanks for your cooperation!

Honoring a Pioneer: Gwen Egan

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Earlier this year we told you about the first woman employed by Vinton County National Bank. Today we’re featuring the first female employee at Salt Creek Valley Bank, now known as Salt Creek Banking Center. Read on to learn more! 

When Gwendolyn Dent Egan began working at Salt Creek Valley Bank in 1937, the landscape of the banking industry was decidedly masculine. Few women worked in banks and there were no other women at the Laurelville bank.

Many things have changed in the industry and the country in general since Gwen was a young woman starting her first day at a job that would become her career for many years. She was not just Salt Creek’s first female employee, she was the first female bank officer as well.

Fresh from high school, Gwen enrolled at Capitol University to study business but found herself homesick and unhappy. “Mom said I had to stay but Dad said I could come home as long as I did something else,” Gwen recalled.

At the time, the bank employed just two men – Elmer Strauss and Joe White. “Dad knew Mr. Armstrong, the Bank President, so he went to see him. He asked Mr. Armstrong if he didn’t need a girl in that office,” she laughed. “Mr. Armstrong talked to the board and that’s how I got the job!”

That’s how Salt Creek Valley Bank hired their first female employee. “After that we had a lot of women employees. Most were very good but I was the only one for a while,” Gwen said.

Her first job was to run checks through a posting machine. “I remember that thing was a real antique, all the way back then!” she exclaimed. Another big part of her job was waiting on customers. “We had some very nice customers. You got to know everyone working at the bank.”

While modern banks are equipped with state-of-the-art technology, for the early part of her career, banking tools were basic. “Everything was recorded in a big ledger. After we balanced out for the day, I did the book work. There was a ledger I wrote it all in,” she explained. A typewriter, adding machine and pencil were the other tools of the trade used during her early career.

In 2016, at age 97, she claimed her memory was failing but she recalled the names and family trees of many coworkers and shared a host of stories about the town and the bank. “There were a lot of good times and there were some bad,” she said recalling friends of old, girlhood hours at the skating rink and the terrible flood of 1968 that threatened the town’s future.

She discussed how the flood waters reached countless homes in town and how everyone pitched in to help with clean up and recovery, saying that even inmates from the state penitentiary were sent to help clean up. “We got the town cleaned up and went back to work,” she said.

But Gwen has many positive memories as well. Since the bank closed on Thursdays, she recalls how she spent her Thursday afternoons. “When we closed on Thursdays, away I went to Columbus to shop at Lazarus. I just loved that Lazarus store in downtown. I know I spent too much money on clothes over the years but I loved them and my husband never complained,” she said with a chuckle. “The bank didn’t have a strict dress code but I always tried to look nice.”

By the time she retired, the banking industry had changed a great deal and the Salt Creek Valley Bank was changing with it. “When I first went to work, if someone came in and wanted to borrow a little money and you knew them, you would just write the note out. But it got to be you just couldn’t do that anymore. Times certainly changed,” she said.

One thing that never changes, according to Gwen, is the flow of customers who need their community bank. “I miss the people. I loved the people. I liked to talk to people and always tried to be real nice to everyone. After all, you have to be a friend to have a friend.”

Gwen retired in 1983, after 46 years of service to the bank and community. She still lives in the home she was born in and the one she shared with her late husband Howard Egan. “This is home. I hope to never leave,” Gwen said.