Live Green. Go Green with Reliabank

Did you know that by signing up for Reliabank's e-statements, automatic payments and/or bill pay service you will also be helping the environment? At Reliabank we offer a safe and secure way to do your banking online, anytime that is convenient for you.

What are e-statements? It's simply receiving your statement in electronic format, delivered right to your email address. They look the same as paper statements. It's free!

What is online bill pay? It's a faster, easier, and more convenient way to pay your bills. And it's safer too! Just log in, tell us who you want to pay, how much, and when. It's that easy. You can pay individual bills, or schedule regular payments. It's all part of our continuing effort to provide you with the most complete banking services available.

We encourage you to view our online education center at http://www.reliabank.com/ for more information on bill pay and online banking.

So what are the benefits of using electronic banking?

Reduce clutter.
The average household receives approximately 19 bills and statements and makes approximately 7 payments in paper form monthly.

Save time and money.
The average consumer saves 2.5 minutes per bill when paying electronically instead of with a check. The cost of postage and check stock can add up to more than $100 per year; these costs can be saved by making payments electronically, instead of by paper check. Also, credit scores are significantly increased when a consumer receives payments by Direct Deposit and uses Direct Payment to pay recurring monthly bills and/or save and invest automatically.

Improve security.
Consumers receiving electronic bills and statements and making payments electronically can maintain tighter control over accounts in real time. Almost 85 percent of identity theft cases are due to "offline" transactions such as lost checkbooks and stolen bills, statements, and check payments.

Consider these facts!
By switching to online bill pay, electronic statements, and automatic payments, every year the average household can:
*Save 6.6 pounds of paper
*Save 0.079 trees
*Avoid use of 4.5 gallons of gasoline to mail bills, statements, and payments
*Avoid release of 63 gallons of wastewater into the environment
*Avoid producing 171 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions

Source: Pay It Green Alliance.org
Copyright © 2009 NACHA. All Rights Reserved

2009 Lincoln Bicentinnial One Cent Program

New designs … Coming soon to pennies near you!
In 2009, the United States Mint will mint and issue four different one-cent coins in recognition of the bicentennial of President Abraham Lincoln's birth and the 100th anniversary of the first issuance of the Lincoln cent. The reverse (tails) designs were unveiled September 22 at a ceremony held at the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. While the obverse (heads) will continue to bear the familiar likeness of President Lincoln currently on the one-cent coin, the reverse will reflect four different designs, each one representing a different aspect, or theme, of the life of President Lincoln.


These coins will be issued for circulation in quantities to meet the demands of commerce.

Celebrate Green!

April is the month to celebrate green - as in saving the environment. Wednesday,April 22, is Earth Day, where we all should make a conscious effort to care for our world. It's a day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's environment. However, this shouldn't be just one specific day out of the year - in order to truly make a change, Earth Day must be everyday. How can one person make a difference you ask? It's really quite simple. Here are some ideas you and your family can do on a daily basis:

• car pool
• ride a bike or walk to work
• recycle in your community
• shorten your shower time
• wash clothes in cold water
• turn down the thermostat in the winter
• take along reusable shopping bags (this takes a while to get used to, but think of all the plastic bags that will no longer be needed!)

This is just a starter list. Go to eecsd.org for more ideas and tips. You may not think that one person can make a difference but if we want our grandchildren and their grandchildren to have the quality of life we do, we have to think about how the decisions we make will impact them.

Here is something else to think about; examples of how long it takes garbage to break down:

*plastics take 500 years (think reusable bags!)
*aluminum cans take 500 years (wow!)
*organic materials take 6 months
*cotton, rags, and paper take 6 months

Going green is not only friendly to the environment, it can also be friendly to your wallet! You can celebrate Earth Day everyday with Reliabank's Ultimate Checking account. This PAPERLESS account offers you a high rate of interest which will add more "green" to your wallet! Visit us at www.reliabank.com/checking.html

See What We Have to Offer

Mark your calendars for this Friday to stop in and visit a Reliabank location near you! We are celebrating Community Banking Month and on Friday, April 24, all our locations will be hosting open houses with goodies and refreshments served all day.

If you are a Reliabank customer we THANK YOU for your business and your trust in us. Not yet a customer? We invite you to stop in and visit with a customer service rep or a loan officer. As your locally owned, hometown community bank, we have all the technology to keep you connected, while still offering you the personal attention you deserve.

Since 1920 we've been helping business people, families, farmers and young students take care of their finances. We are proud of Reliabank’s 88+ years of service and guarantee we’ll continue to be a strong, stable and secure community bank well into the future.

Come see what we have to offer!

First-Time Home Owners Receive Tax Credit

If you are looking to purchase your first home - now is the time to do it. With mortgage rates at an all time low, falling home prices, and an $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit, a growing number of buyers are jumping into the housing market.

First time home buyers are defined as a buyer who has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase. If you fall into this category and are looking to purchase, our mortgage lenders would be happy to visit with you about any questions or concerns you may have regarding this tax credit.

The tax credit is a true credit - it does not have to be repaid. The only repayment requirement is if the home owner sold the home within three years after the purchase.

Visit with a Reliabank mortgage lender for more information. Travis Torgerson in Watertown at 886-6000, Gail Olson-Duck in Hartford at 528-4000 or Pat Biederstedt in Hayti at 783-3616.

Gail - City Council in Hartford

One of our very own, Gail Olson-Duck, mortgage lender at Reliabank in Hartford, is taking on the task of city council person in Hartford for Ward 1.

Gail feels the biggest challenges facing Hartford in the next five years are the economy, growth and taxes. She is not a proponent of tax increases being the total solution, stating there are state and federal grants to be utilized and applied for.

Gail is looking forward to working with the city of Hartford and moving the city towards growth in both commercial and residential development.

APRIL IS COMMUNITY BANKING MONTH

If April showers bring May flowers - what do April blizzards bring? Wow - another snowy week around here and by the looks on everyone's faces, Spring needs to get here and QUICK! I suppose come July many will have forgotten about the cold and snow and will then be complaining of the heat and humidity... and so the cycle goes.

But for now, lets focus on April and Community Banking Month. It's a month where we as a community bank get to toot our own horn a bit. It gives us a chance to tell you what community banking is all about and to thank the customers who support us.

So what makes a community bank so special?
We are there to help our friends and neighbors develop small businesses, run family farms, purchase homes, finance college and build financial security. We put communities and people first.

• Community bank officers are generally accessible to their customers on site. CEOs at megabanks are often headquartered in office suites, away from daily customer dealings.
  
• Many community banks are willing to consider character, family history and discretionary spending in making loans. Megabanks, on the other hand, often apply impersonal qualification criteria, such as credit scoring, to all loan decisions without regard to individual circumstances. As a community bank we take great pride in getting to know our customers needs


• Our core concern is lending to small businesses and farms. The core concern of the megabank is corporate America.
  

So who would you rather trust your finances to? If you are unfamiliar with us, please stop by and visit one of our locations - you will see that we offer all the latest in technology, products and services but at the same time offering you small town, personalized service.

In celebration of community banking month, we invite you to join us at any our Reliabank locations Friday, April 24 for coffee and treats. Get to know us!