Watertown Holiday Lighted Parade

Reliabank won best theme at the Watertown Lighted Parade on Friday! "To Grandmother's House We Go"

Piece of Mind When Using Your Debit Card

Everyone, at some time or another, has felt a little bit anxious about using a debit card. With all of the wicked ways that people work to steal your private information, we don't blame you. However, with these five tips, you can rest a little easier.

1. Watch your account with online banking. With our free, online banking, you get real-time access to see what is coming through your account.

2. Know who you do business with. If you shop online with your debit card, do it carefully and make sure you only give information to established merchants that you trust. Make sure the website address is https: - the "s" means it's a secured site.

3. Read the fine print. When shopping online, you may order from a merchant and unknowingly authorize them to pass your information (including your debit card number) to “affiliated third parties”. Make sure you read the fine print before you submit an order.

4. If there is a problem, go to the merchant first. If you discover a charge to your account, call the merchant first to try to resolve it. They will be able to give credit to your account faster and MasterCard rules (which we have to follow) require that you give the merchant a chance to make it right. The best way to find the contact information for the business is to do an internet search. If you don’t get satisfaction from the merchant, go to the next step.

5. We can dispute the charge on your behalf. If you are unable to resolve an unauthorized charge with a merchant, contact us to dispute the charge. It is a slower process, but will usually yield results.

This Holiday Season Shop Locally

As the holiday season gears up, many people are making their lists and checking them twice. Have you thought about WHERE you are going to make those purchases? Reliabank strongly encourages shopping locally. By supporting businesses in our local communities, you keep our economy growing, create employment, and fund important services such as education and health care. You help create jobs, fund more services through sales tax, invest in neighborhood improvement, and promote community development.

By shopping close to home you save on the high cost of gas and enjoy a wide variety of unique specialty shops within our area.

Make a commitment to spend your holiday dollars in our local businesses.

Some ideas include gift certificates from local restaurants, retail stores and day spas. If you plan on attending one of the many upcoming holiday events sponsored by the Uptown Watertown Association, (home to over 200 businesses - retail, service, hospitality and professional) browse and spend time in the many unique, independent businesses.

LET THE HOLIDAY SHOPPING BEGIN!

FDIC Issues Warning

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has released information warning the public about fraudulent email messages purporting to come from the FDIC. These email messages provides a link to a fraudulent FDIC website. Users are then instructed to download their "personal FDIC Insurance File. Users are encouraged to take the following measures to protect themselves from this type of phishing scam:

1. Do not follow unsolicited web links received in email messages.
2. Verify the website by manually typing the URL when attempting to connect to web sites recommended in an email.
3. Refer to the document @ http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST04-014.html for more information on social engineering attacks

DO NOT give sensitive information to anyone unless you are sure that they are indeed who they claim to be and that they should have access to the information.