April is Community Banking Month!

In celebrating our 90th anniversary this year, we realize as a community bank how integral we are to our area communities and engage in community reinvestment and development on a daily basis—one of our key missions is to ensure our local communities are vibrant and thriving.

One advantage of saving at a community bank is that because we are local, we want to build lasting relationships with our customers so we work hard to deliver superior customer service. A house down payment, retirement, college, adoption expenses, vacation, emergency funds—to name a few—are all goals families and individuals may have that require savings and are great reasons to start a savings nest egg at Reliabank now.

Come celebrate with us all month long! We will be having a kids coloring contest at each of our bank locations, and April 23 will be our community appreciate open house at all locations - serving up beverages and treats! Stop in and see what a locally owned community bank can do for you!

Keeping Up with Online Scams - FACEBOOK

Facebook is no longer a Web site -- it's rapidly approaching the scale of the Internet itself. With over 350 million users, many young users spend more time on Facebook than on e-mail. That means scammers are now crawling all over Facebook, since they always go where the people go. There are hundreds of Facebook scams, such as phishing e-mails, Trojan horse infections, and misleading advertisements. The most current scam involves a notice appearing on the wall of user profiles as a message from a friend, saying “Hey, I got a new facebook account. Im going to delete this one, so add my new profile” then with a link that appears to be a link to the new profile.

Users fooled into resubmitting their Facebook details on this page then have their Facebook accounts hijacked and all of their contacts receive a similar message, propagating the phishing scam.

It’s not clear yet exactly what the phishing scammers are planning on using the compromised accounts for, or how far it has spread.

But the crime you should most worry about is Facebook impersonation. A criminal who hacks into your Facebook account can learn a staggering amount of information about you. Worse yet, he or she can gain trusted access to friends and family. We've seen plenty of stories that show Facebook friends can easily be tricked into sending money in response to believable pleas for help.

For this reason, it's time to upgrade your Facebook password (make it a strong password with letterS, numbers and symbols). Treat it like an online banking site. The stronger the password, the less chance of being hacked!

PLEASE BE VIGILANT WHEN IT COMES TO THE INTERNET - DON'T BE FOOLED BY ADVERTISEMENTS THAT SEEM TO GOOD TO BE TRUE, LINKS THAT ARE QUESTIONABLE, OR POP UPS THAT CLAIM YOUR COMPUTER NEEDS TO BE UPDATED. THE MORE CAUTIOUS YOU ARE, THE BETTER OFF YOU WILL BE.

Gift and Travel Cards Available at Reliabank

Graduations? Upcoming weddings? Reliabank makes it easy for YOU to give the perfect gift with a Visa® Gift Card. No need to worry about finding the perfect gift, we have it right here for you! When you give your family, friends, or co-workers the gift of a Reliabank Visa® Gift Card, they can use it anywhere a Visa® logo is displayed, including retail stores and online merchants. These cards are great gift ideas for Holidays, Birthdays, Graduations, or Just Because! Gift Cards can be purchased at Reliabank in amounts from $10 to $500 for a fee of $2.50 per card.

Reliabank Visa® Travel Cards take the worry and stress out of travel. More convenient than traveler’s checks and more secure than cash, the reloadable Visa® Travel Card is essential gear wherever you travel. The Visa® Travel Card can be replaced if it is lost or stolen, making it a smart choice to take along with you on your travels. Visa® Travel Cards can be purchased at Reliabank in amounts from $10 to $10,000 for a $3.50 fee per card.

Advantages of BANKING ONLINE

With the increasing popularity of online banking, many people have heard of it, but the majority have yet to give it a try. Perhaps it's because many of us prefer working with real people and real paper when it comes to money matters rather than performing transactions in an unknown cyberworld. While it can simplify life for some people, for others it is just plain intimidating.

Is it safe? YES! At Reliabank we take every precaution to make sure that your accounts are secured and protected. We use an encryption system along with an enhanced authentication that ensures your info is secure. This authentication is an image and phrase that verifies your ID and also verifies to you who we are. For more on this, we encourage you to visit our online banking demo on our website http://www.reliabank.com

So, what are the advantages of online banking?
It is convenient. It allows you to perform transactions, pay bills and check balances 24/7. At Reliabank we virtually never close because online banking is as accessible as your PC or laptop. No matter where you are in the country or in the world, you can visit our website and handle money matters. You can even schedule to pay several bills ahead of time rather than keeping up with paper bills or trying to remember when to visit a payee's web site to make an online payment. With free bill pay, we automatically send the payments on your behalf in the amounts and on the dates you specify.

Second, online banking is fast, efficient and effective. In addition, online banking gives you the ability to handle several bank accounts (checking, savings, CDs, IRAs, etc.) from one site.

If you have not visited our online banking site, we encourage you to take the demo, view our online education and get signed up. We will be here to help you every step of the way.

Helping Small Businesses Grow

Starting as a small home-based machine shop, First Manufacturing originally opened in Rocklin, California and relocated in 2003 to South Dakota. Kevin and Emily Berg, both engineers, first contacted the Sioux Falls SBDC office in November 2006. As a small business, they had questions about hiring employees, marketing and growing their sales. This relationship soon expanded into obtaining financing to support
this growth. In 2008 the SBDC assisted the Bergs in leveraging their own investment dollars to obtain financing through a local lender and the APEX loan program of the South Dakota Governor’s Office of Economic Development. With these monies, the Bergs were able to purchase additional equipment and the former grocery store building in Humboldt to further grow and have room to manage the contracts they were landing.

Taking advantage of historically low interest rates, First Manufacturing again contacted the SBDC in 2009 to assist in putting together a plan to refinance as well as obtain some additional working capital to support ongoing expansion. This was done through an SBA loan provided by John Roers of Reliabank. The more advantageous loan terms allowed the Bergs to obtain the working capital necessary for the business while minimizing the impact on the monthly cash flow.

Since 2006 First Manufacturing has tripled in size, providing CNC milling,CAD/CAM work, turning, inspection and assembly. First is experienced in a wide variety of materials including aluminum, steel,stainless steel, plastics and composite materials.

Emily says of working with the SBDC: “We contacted the SBDC in early 2008 to discuss how to create a business plan and to determine different financing options available to small businesses. As the details of our project emerged, we worked with Mark Slade to create financial projections for a major capital expansion involving equipment and a new building in 2008. We contacted him again to update projections in order to refinance and add working capital in late 2009. The process was extremely thorough, and the information provided gave valuable insight as to the capabilities of our business, different options available, and challenges ahead.”

*South Dakota Small Business Development Center
By Mark Slade, Regional Director
Sioux Falls SBDC