First Savings and ICBA Offer Tips for Travelers

May 27th, 2011

With Memorial Day being the kick-off of summer,  many Americans are planning to hit the road or the skies for their much-anticipated summer vacation, the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) and First Savings want consumers to have the information they need before they leave home so they can keep their money safe.

“Nothing can ruin a vacation faster than losing your wallet or running out of funds, so plan ahead and talk to your community banker about how you can protect your money while traveling both domestically and abroad,” said Sal Marranca, ICBA chairman “Since community banks are relationship bankers who work one-on-one with their customers, they can help customers be better prepared for travel emergencies. And in the event that something unfortunate does happen, they are ready and willing to help.”

Financial professionals agree that the safest and most convenient way to travel with your money is to take a small amount of cash with you.  It’s also a good idea to carry a debit, credit or ATM card. These cards are convenient while traveling because they are easy to carry, easy to use and often offer the lowest fees and the best exchange rates.

However, travelers still need to plan ahead to be prepared.  To help, ICBA and First Savings offer these tips to consumers about what they need to take care of before they take off:

  • Let your community bank know when and where you will be traveling so that you will avoid any potential for fraud alerts when out-of-the-ordinary transactions are posted.
  • Call or stop by your community bank to find out what ATM or debit card fees you may be subject to in this country and abroad.
  • If you’re traveling overseas, keep in mind that ATMs in many countries only accept four-digit personal identification numbers (PINs) and some countries have keyboards with numbers only, while others do not acknowledge zeros. Ask your community bank if you should create a new PIN for your account before you take your trip.
  • Carry a back-up card that you keep in a separate place. Families or couples may get even greater back-up coverage if each person takes a different card.
  • Make copies of all the cards you’ll be carrying. Be sure to copy the front and back of the card. Take a copy with you and give a copy to someone you trust back home. Be sure to also include the security code for the card and the customer-service phone number.
  • Bring a list of emergency phone numbers, but remember, 800 numbers can only be used in the United States and Canada. Be sure to get a number for your bank that you can call if you’re out of the country.
  • Many credit cards provide travel accident insurance and traveler’s assistance. Ask your community bank what special services are available through your card.
  • Check your balance before you leave. Know the limits on how much you can withdraw. Save all your receipts.

“Whether your destination is overseas or closer to home, it really is better to be safe than sorry,” Todd Hurley, Exec. VP, Chief Retail Officer of First Savings said. First Savings is here to help you prepare.”

For more information about what to do if you your card is lost or stolen or if you need additional help, visit http://usa.visa.com/personal/using_visa/travel_with_visa.html or http://www.mastercard.us/support/lost-card.html. 

About ICBA

The Independent Community Bankers of America, the nation’s voice for community banks, represents nearly 5,000 community banks of all sizes and charter types throughout the United States and is dedicated exclusively to representing the interests of the community banking industry and the communities and customers we serve. For more information, visit www.icba.org.

Posted in Financial Literacy, Retail Banking | Comments Off

Now We’re Cookin’

May 10th, 2011

First Savings is the primary sponsor of the Ribs BBQ Competition at this year’s “Perkasie Olde Towne Springfest” on Saturday, May 21st.  The Springfest was previously known as “Hot Ribs, Cool Music” and has been expanded with many more events throughout the day.   

We’re told there are still slots available if you are interested in joining in the Ribs BBQ cooking competition for cash prizes.  More information can be found at http://www.perkasieoldetowne.org/.  

Whether you’re lookin’ to cook or eat, there should be something for everyone at this new expanded family event. 

First Savings will have a table at the event as well, come on out and stop by!

Perkasie Olde Towne Association Springfest Event List 

► Lenape Park Pavilion

10:00 a.m. – Noon – 5K Run / 1 mile fun-run 

► Main Stage (Market & 7th Streets)

12 p.m. – 2:00 pm – Battle of the Bands

2:10 p.m. – Perkasie Olde Towne Association Music Scholarship Presentation

2:20 p.m. – Hot Ribs Award Presentation—Sponsored by First Savings

2:30 p.m. – Perkasie Olde Towne Association Scholarship presentations

3:00 p.m. – 4:30 pm – Mango Men

4:30 p.m. – Pie Baking Award Presentation

4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. – 102.9 WMGK Radio Station

7:15 p.m. – POTA Raffle Drawing

7:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. – Zydeco A Go Go 

► Main Tent (Shelly’s Parking Lot – Chestnut & 7th Streets)

12:30 p.m. – Sampling Starts for First Savings Hot Ribs Competition – don’t forget to
             purchase your taste tester’ coins while supplies last.

2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. – Pie-Baking Competition/Sampling/Eating – stop by to drool over the deliciousness and don’t forget to bid on your favorite pie (silent auction)

5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. – Beer Tasting Tent – wrist bands on sale all day at POTA tent 

► Kids Spot (Parking lot at Walnut & 7th Streets)

Noon – 5:00 p.m. – Inflatable Kid’s Rides (wristbands $12 for all day & INCLUDES Trackless train)

Noon – 12:45 p.m. – Lolly Hopwood & the Lots Play Today Band

12:45 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. – Leapin’ Lions – Let’s Play Today Kids Games

1:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. – Magic Show – Barry Weaver Magician

       PLUS – Favorite Characters, Roving Magician & more throughout the day 

► Teen Scene (First Savings Parking Lot 7th & Market)

1:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. – Competitionpalooza tournament & games 

► All-Day Activities

Noon – 5:00 p.m. – 5th & Market – Horse-drawn Wagon Rides

Noon – 5:00 p.m. – 7th & Arch – (Lovely Ladybugs Store Station) Trackless Train Rides

($2 per child OR unlimited rides are included with the wristband purchase)

Noon – 5:00 p.m. – Market Street – Craft Alley, Sponsor Vendors

Noon – 5:00 p.m. – Inflatable Kid’s Rides (wristbands on sale all day & INCLUDES Trackless train)

Noon – 9:00 p.m. – Shelly’s Parking Lot – Food Court

Noon – 7:00 p.m. – POTA Tent on 7th Street – RAFFLE tickets on sale all day!

  PLUS – Perkasie Historical Society Walking Tours (times TBA) 

► Into the Evening Hours (7th & Chestnut)

4:30 p.m. – ??? – 7th & Chestnut – A&T Chevrolet/Subaru Big Wheel Rock n Roll

5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. – Beer Tasting Tent

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Blood Drive Scheduled

April 22nd, 2011

The American Red Cross will be holding a Blood Drive beginning at 9a.m.  on Wednesday, May 11 sponsored by First Savings.  It will be held at the Perkasie Fire Hall, Arch and Fith Street, Perkasie, PA.  For your convenience appointments can be made by signing up online at https://www.membersforlife.org/pennj/schedule/login.php?sponsorcode=13424  or by contacting Kim Weichel at 215-453-2317 or kweichel@firstsavingsonline.com.  Please take time out of your day to donate blood and give the gift of life.  Someone is counting on you right now!

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Your Financial Records: What to Toss and When

April 15th, 2011

Bank statements, credit card bills, canceled checks and other documents can be useful for tax purposes, as proof of a transaction or payment, or for other reasons. But how long should you keep them? 

FDIC Consumer News can’t tell you when it’s safe to throw away financial documents. One thing to remember, though, is that federal tax rules require you to have receipts and other records that support items on a return for as long as the IRS can assess you additional tax. 

“In very general terms, because the IRS has about six years to assess additional tax if you underreported your income by more than 25 percent, many tax advisors recommend holding all tax records for about seven years, building in extra time for any unforeseen delays in processing your return,” said Rick Cywinski, an FDIC tax policy manager. He also noted that the tax period is unlimited if the IRS suspects fraud. 

With tax considerations in mind, here are suggestions that may be reasonable for many people. 

Credit card and bank account statements: Save those with no tax significance for about a year, but those with tax significance should be saved for seven years. 

Canceled checks: Those unrelated to anything you claimed on your income tax form and not needed to show you’ve paid a bill or debt probably can be destroyed after you’ve verified that your bank statement is correct. But canceled checks that support your tax returns, such as charitable contributions or tax payments, probably should be held for seven years. 

And, you may want to keep indefinitely any canceled checks and related receipts or documents for a home purchase or sale, renovations or other improvements to a property you own. But once a home has been sold and another seven years have passed, checks related to renovations or improvements can be destroyed. 

Of course, many banks no longer send cancelled checks, although they may provide copies of the originals. “You can keep the copies of your tax-related checks if you get them from your bank, but if you don’t get copies with your statement, you have some options,” said Evelyn Manley, a Senior Consumer Affairs Specialist at the FDIC. 

“The most conservative approach is to order copies of important checks soon after your statement arrives,” she said. “Another is to keep the information on your bank statement to order copies if you’re audited in the future because, in general, banks that do not return original checks to customers are required to keep copies of checks for seven years.” 

Also, she said, if you keep records electronically, be sure to back up your data. You can store it in various ways (on CDs, flash drives and so on), but as old technology is no longer supported, you will need to transfer your old data to new media. Another option is to research different companies that provide backup storage online, either free or for a small charge. 

Deposit, ATM, credit card and debit card receipts: Save them until the transaction appears on your statement and you’ve verified that the information is accurate. You may make an exception for receipts for expensive items. If they are under warranty or you have to file an insurance claim, the receipt may be helpful. 

Finally, before tossing away any document that contains a Social Security number, bank account number or other personal information (especially financial information), shred it to avoid becoming a victim of identity theft. 

For additional guidance on what records to toss and when, ask your accountant, attorney or another trusted advisor. 

Posted in Financial Literacy, Security Information | Comments Off

Alert…Were you affected by Epsilon data breach?

April 5th, 2011
Note: This incident does not directly involve First Savings online activity, and none of our customer data has been compromised. We are not a client of the online marketing company involved in the breach. However, it is likely that many of First Savings customers could be impacted by this incident, if they have online accounts with any of the other merchants or financial institutions involved.

 

This short update on the Epsilon breach was published April 5, 2010 by CNET, a respected online technology review site.  It contains good basic information on the breach and some good suggested precautions for consumers who feel they may have been impacted.

The list of customers affected by the Epsilon database breach continues to grow.

The breach, which took place last week but was announced over the weekend, compromised the e-mail addresses and some names belonging to the customers of many major U.S. companies that outsource their marketing and e-mail communications to Epsilon.

The company said Monday that 2 percent of the companies it counts as clients are affected by the security breach. There is no official list of affected companies that’s available, and a company spokesperson said Epsilon cannot release the names of its clients. Epsilon is in the midst of conducting an investigation of what led to the security breach.

The list of Epsilon clients whose customer e-mail addresses were stolen is not complete, and is likely to grow. But so far Target, Kroger, TiVo, US Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Capital One, Citi, Home Shopping Network, Ameriprise Financial, LL Bean Visa Card, McKinsey & Company, Ritz-Carlton Rewards, Marriott Rewards, New York & Company, Brookstone, Walgreens, The College Board, Disney Destinations, and Best Buy have notified their own customers about the breach. Hilton Hotels and Ethan Allen are also said to be affected.

Here are some tips on what to do if you did receive an e-mail from one of the companies above or if you believe one of them does have your e-mail or name, and what could happen next.

How do you know if you’re affected?
If you’ve ever given your e-mail address to any of the above companies, you probably are.

What will happen?
Most of the companies that are talking about it say the information that was stolen is limited to e-mail addresses and possibly names. Credit card companies and banks like Chase and Capital One say they do not believe any financial information was compromised.

But a bunch of e-mail addresses in the wrong hands means what’s likely to result is a rise in phishing scams. “Phishing” is an attempt to use e-mail to try to get you to reveal more personal information about yourself. This can include usernames, passwords, Social Security numbers, or account numbers.

Many times phishers are simply guessing and will pick a company that a broad group of people does business with, like PayPal, or a government entity, like the IRS. The threat in the Epsilon case is now whoever gets access to these lists of e-mail addresses knows exactly what companies count you as a customer. That means phishing attempts can be much more targeted and therefore potentially harder to spot because they can masquerade as being from a bank or company such as the ones listed above.

What should you do about it?
Do not open e-mail from someone you don’t know. That’s pretty simple. But you’ll also need to be extra vigilant now that phishers may know specifically where you shop, what airline you fly, or where you bank. Look at the e-mail address–if it’s purportedly from one of the companies above but ends in something other than .com, especially an international domain like .uk, that’s a good indication it’s a scam since most phishing attempts originate outside the U.S. Also be on the lookout for spelling errors in the e-mail address, URL, or body of the e-mail, or e-mails whose tone sounds particularly urgent.

If you do open the e-mail, don’t click any links. A common phishing practice is to ask people to click a link to update their personal information.

If in doubt, call the company
If you get an e-mail from one of the companies listed above asking for any information, and you’re unsure if it’s legitimate, you can always call them. Many retailers affected by the Epsilon breach are notifying their customers now that they would never ask for sensitive information via e-mail.

Read more: 

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-20050555-260.html#ixzz1IeXIHmfN

Posted in Financial Literacy, First Savings News, Press Release, Retail Banking, Security Information, Uncategorized | Comments Off

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