With severe Winter weather moving through Ohio this week, we feel it important to remind you that Spring is just 43 days away! Meanwhile, maybe this sunny beach will keep you warm. Remember, if it’s too cold and snowy to go outside, you can always bank online with us at www.vintoncountybank.com.
Have you ever needed to make a payment or check an account balance at VCNB and wished you could do it from your smart phone? Now you can! Signing up for our Mobile Money is incredibly easy and can be done in just a few easy steps.
The first step to using Mobile Money is that you need a mobile phone with internet capabilities and you need to be enrolled in our online banking service.
Follow these instructions to get our Mobile Money app:
– Go to the App Store or Google Play and download Touchbanking.
– Enter the app code VCNB1867 and your online banking ID.
– Answer your previously set security question.
– Enter your online banking password.
Follow these instructions to enroll in our Mobile Browser Banking or Text Messaging.
– Log in to Online Banking.
– Select the Options tab.
– Click on Mobile Settings.
– Enter phone number and have your mobile device on hand.
– Choose either Mobile Browser Banking or Text Messaging.
– Select accounts to view by phone.
– Read and accept mobile agreement.
Look for a text message to confirm enrollment with a web site address. Save it to your favorites for browser banking.
With just these few easy steps you will be ready to view balances, transfer funds, pay bills, deposit checks and do more with VCNB on your mobile device!
Watch this video to learn more about Mobile Money or click here to read frequently asked questions. Standard messaging and data rates may apply.
Member FDIC
Many Americans view a new year as a fresh slate, an opportunity to make resolutions and life changes. Yet fewer than ten percent of those people actually achieve their goals.
Did you resolve to lose weight, save money or maybe just to be more organized this year? If you have already abandoned your resolution, don’t despair. It’s never too late to make changes and every day is the right day to work toward your goals.
Some experts say it takes thirty days to form a habit. That means you have to repeat the same activity for thirty days in a row before it becomes part of your lifestyle. If you approach your goals one day at a time, and just keep going, you can turn those resolutions into reality.
Here at VCNB we put together a cheat sheet for sticking with it and following your goals:
Write down your plan. Write down your goal. Write down how you will achieve your goal. Post it somewhere visible and study it regularly.
Identify saboteurs. Sometimes a saboteur is your mother who encourages you to eat just one more cookie or that email from your favorite retailer. It could be a negative co-worker who is happiest when they are raining on someone’s parade. Identify the source and find ways to combat the negativity or temptation they bring to your life.
Buddy System. Find a friend with similar goals and hold each other accountable by swapping tips and lending support.
Baby steps. You didn’t gain the weight overnight. Chances are you did it one bite at a time. That means losing weight can’t happen all at once. Think about small things you can do to reach your goals. If you’re losing weight, don’t try to overhaul your entire diet at once. Instead, start by skipping your nightly dessert and walking through your neighborhood in the evenings.
Schedule time. Make an appointment with yourself to work on goals. Set an alarm on your phone to remind you that your goals are just as important as anything else you will do today.
Celebrate accomplishments. When you reach a milestone, give yourself a small treat. If you’re saving money, give yourself a few bucks to go to the movies or buy that fancy coffee you love so much. Just don’t go overboard and undo your hard work!
Be kind to yourself. Be your own cheerleader. Remind yourself why you started on this journey and replace negative self-talk with positive affirmations.
Focus on the journey, not the destination. Achieving goals is about changing habits. Why do you spend too much money? Do you shop when you’re stressed or bored? Why do you smoke? Why do you overeat? Finding the answers to these questions often is key to changing your habits.
Keep record. Make a chart to monitor your debt pay-off. Keep a food diary or use a phone app to monitor calorie intake. Keep a checklist of all the areas in your house that you want to organize this year or write on a calendar each day that you didn’t smoke a cigarette.
Get help. If you are dealing with a serious addiction or a problem that you can’t handle alone, find a support group or seek counseling. There is no prize for struggling alone and there are people and organizations who can help.
Don’t give up. Whatever you do, just keep trying. You most certainly will face obstacles and setbacks but remember not to give up the thing you want most in this world for the thing you want right now.
Have you used Popmoney ® personal payment service at VCNB yet? Do you know what it is?
Popmoney is a way that you can send money to someone electronically. All you need is that person’s email address or mobile phone number. If you are a Bill Pay customer at VCNB, you have access to Popmoney for just .50 cents per transaction.
Owe your roomate for rent this month? No need to write a check or hit the ATM – just use Popmoney® personal payment service.
There are countless ways you can use this service. Here are just a few!
There are lots of ways to use Popmoney. Learn more by visiting our website.
All of our offices will be closed today in observance of the Martin Luther King holiday. We will resume regular hours tomorrow. Please remember that VCNB is always open online at www.vintoncountybank.com.
Today we are warning consumers not to fall victim to phishing scams related to the Target data breach. Phishing attacks use spoofed e-mails and fraudulent websites designed to fool recipients into divulging personal financial data. By hijacking the trusted brands of banks, online retailers and credit card companies, phishers are able to convince recipients to respond to them.
“Industry experts warn that victims of the Target data breach are particularly vulnerable right now to phishing.,” says VCNB Head of Operations Joe Griffith. “These criminals are capable of sending very legitimate looking e-mails. The most important thing for customers to remember is that we will never ask you for personal information in an e-mail.”
To avoid becoming the victim of a phishing scam, we offer the following tips:
• If you have responded to an email, contact your bank immediately so they can protect your account and your identity.
• Never give out your personal or financial information in response to an unsolicited phone call, fax or email, no matter how official it may seem.
• Do not respond to email that may warn of dire consequences unless you validate your information immediately. Contact the company to confirm the email’s validity using a telephone number or Web address you know to be genuine.
• Check your credit card and bank account statements regularly and look for unauthorized transactions, even small ones. Some thieves hope small transactions will go unnoticed. Report discrepancies immediately.
• When submitting financial information online, look for the padlock or key icon at the bottom of your Internet browser. Most secure Internet addresses, though not all, use “https.”
• Report suspicious activity to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center.
If you receive suspicious communication from someone claiming to be from VCNB or representing VCNB, please contact customer service immediately. Customer service representatives are available to help you at 1-800-542-5004 or you can chat with a representative from our website at www.vintoncountybank.com.
We love Bill Pay and are certain that you will too. In case you don’t want to take our word on that, we put together a list of the top ten reasons we think you will agree!
1 Cost Savings. That’s right. Bill Pay will save you money. How much money do you spend on stamps and checks each month? It adds up quickly over the year and the cost of postage continues to increase.
2 Peace of Mind. Using our secure website to pay bills is safer than sending a check in the mail. Plus, email reminders can help you never miss a due date again!
3 Schedule Payments to Suit Your Needs. If you get a one-time bill from the doctor you can schedule a single payment for that bill. However, if your car insurance is always $104 a month, you can schedule that payment for the same amount on the same day every month for a period of months or for an ongoing period of time.
4 Eliminate Paper Clutter. Save the environment and receive E-bills through Bill Pay. Many companies can send you an electronic bill each month that goes straight to your Bill Pay account. From your account you can review, print and sometimes download your e-bills. And, of course, you can pay those bills with Bill Pay.
5 One word: Popmoney ®. We really, really, really love Popmoney ® personal payment service because it allows you to send money to an individual using only their email or mobile phone number. So if you owe your roommate for rent or a friend for dinner, this is an easy and quick way to send them funds. It costs .50 cents per transaction for you to send and nothing for them to receive!
6 Pay bills anytime, anywhere. Do you work a lot? Have little ones who you hate to drag into the post office to buy stamps? It’s ok. You can schedule Bill Pay transactions from anywhere at anytime using Online Banking or Mobile banking.
7 No monthly limit. With Bill Pay, it doesn’t matter if you pay one bill per month or twenty bills per month. There is no maximum limit on the number of transaction. There is a minimum requirement of one transaction every thirty days to avoid a $3 dormancy fee. But we are certain you will love it so much that dormancy will not be a problem.
8 It will save you time. Think of the time you will save when you don’t have to track down stamps, write checks, lick the envelopes and get the bills into the mail on time! Bill Pay takes care of all that for you!
9 It’s Easy! It takes just a minute to enter account information for each bill you pay. Once that information is added, it will remain in your Bill Pay account until you delete it. That means you will only need to click on the payee, add the amount you wish to pay and the date you want them to receive the funds. It’s as simple as one, two, three!
10 It’s FREE! You read that correctly! You get an easy-to-use, time saving tool that helps you organize your bills while saving money. . . and it’s FREE to use every month!
Want to learn more? Click here to read more about internet banking and Bill Pay!
This month we are talking a lot about the Health Savings Account or HSA. An HSA is a tax favored savings account created to pay medical expenses.
These accounts are offered to help individuals and families with high deductible health insurance plans to save money for qualified medical expenses. While this is an extremely helpful savings tool, many Americans are not familiar with this kind of account or how it works.
To be eligible for an HSA in 2014 you must have an annual deductible of at least $1,250 for an individual or $2,500 for a family
VCNB Senior Vice President Jane Nickels said that contributions to an HSA are tax deductible and withdrawals to pay qualified medical expenses are never taxed. The money you deposit into your HSA belongs to you – not your bank, employer or the government. That money rolls over from year to year and can be used only for approved medical expenses, according to Nickels.
“Our customers tend to like the HSA because their contributions and distribution are tax free. Once it’s set up, it’s easy to use and easy to maintain,” Nickels said.
She explained that unused money in your HSA isn’t forfeited at the end of the year. Instead, it continues to grow, tax-deferred. “Best of all, the unused money that you accumulate in your HSA rolls over to the next year so you never have to worry about losing your money,” she explained.
Qualified medical expenses are defined by the Internal Revenue Tax Code and you can read a list of these qualified medical, dental and vision expenses here.
A word of caution: any funds you withdraw for non-qualified medical expenses will be taxed at your income tax rate plus 20 percent tax penalty if you are under age 65.
At VCNB, our Health Savings Accounts feature free checks with unlimited check writing, a debit card, a monthly statement, online access and interest checking with tiered rates. There is a monthly service charge of $3 and an initial set-up fee of $25. However, if you open an HSA now through March 31, 2014 you can find a coupon here. This coupon can be used to waive the initial set-up fee.
Do you believe an HSA is right for you? At VCNB we have Account Representatives who can help you get started! Call your local branch or 1-800-542-5004 to talk with one of our knowledgeable accounts representatives. You can also watch a short video on our website by clicking here.
Member FDIC.
Today we are both sad and joyful to celebrate the retirement of longtime bank employee Kathy Caudill. Kathy came to work at the bank in June 1966 and has worked her way up from bookkeeping to be the bank’s Chief Auditor.
When Kathy started at the bank, a gallon of gas cost .32 cents, the Beach Boys were singing “Good Vibrations” and the mini skirt was all the rage. The bank was 99 years young and had only about a dozen employees in the original McArthur location. “I can still remember what I wore that day,” Caudill said of the day she came in to ask Bank President J.G. Will for a job. “It was a dress I made with pink and coral flowers. And I wore matching coral colored shoes,” she said.
That was the first and only interview outfit for Kathy as she would stay with the bank for nearly 48 years.
She has seen many changes in technology, society’s expectation of work attire and the size of the bank. “There were only ten or twelve of us here at the time. We really were one big happy family,” she said. “That was a time when women wore hose, skirts and no pants and if you weren’t dressed properly you were sent home to change,” she explained.
In this undated photo from Kathy’s early career, a group of female bank employees are pictured in their bank jackets. Kathy is pictured in the front row, second from left.
Kathy’s first job with the bank was in bookkeeping. “That was when bookkeeping was really bookkeeping. We used lots of pencils. And we were excited when we got one of these,” she said, pointing to an electronic calculator which replaced old fashioned adding machines.
Over the years, Kathy has done nearly every bank job imaginable. She described a time before computers when a human touch was necessary for every transaction and when the bookkeeping and proof departments reviewed every check for valid date, signature and matching written and numerical amounts.
She processed payroll and student loans, worked as a loan clerk, answered phones, filled in at the teller window when needed and even worked for a time creating advertising and editing the bank newsletter. She supervised the Bookkeeping and Proof departments. Most recently she has served as Chief Auditor for the bank.
“I have seen the bank through a lot of changes and a lot of Presidents. There was J.G. Will, Bob Will, George Booth, Steve Hunter and now Ron Collins. Don’t ask which was my favorite, that’s not fair,” she said with a laugh. “And the bank has seen me through a lot too,” she mused, referencing wedding bells, the births of three daughters, divorce, a bout with cancer and other highs and lows that life has brought her way.
When asked about her retirement plans she said “the plan is to not come to work. It’s an un-plan. Guess I’ll have to find some new hobbies.”
“Every now and then I wonder if I really want to do this but I think it’s time,” she said. “It’s time.”
While 48 years with the same company may be a long time, her bank family is still sad
to see Kathy leave.
At her retirement party today, colleagues, family and many retired bank employees gathered to honor the bank’s longest tenured employee. Bank President Ron Collins complimented Kathy’s hard work and dedication to the bank. “Kathy always made me sleep better at night and that’s and important thing for a president. I always had confidence and for that, I thank you,” Collins said.
VCNB Family 