Tag Archives: financial institutions

Global Lender Equities First Holdings Sees A Growing Trend Among Borrowers Who Use Stock as Loan Collateral to Secure Working Capital

As Banks and Financial Institutions Tighten Lending Criteria, Stock-Based Loans May Offer Some Investors an Attractive Alternative to Raise Capital.

Indianapolis, IN, USA — Equities First Holdings, LLC (EFH, http://www.equitiesfirst.com), a global lender and a leader in alternative shareholder financing solutions, is seeing more traction in margin loans and stock-based loans in an economic climate where banks and other institutions have tightened lending criteria. For borrowers who need to raise capital quickly or who may not qualify for more conventional credit-based loans, equities lending is gaining popularity as an alternative.

While some options still exist for these individuals, recently, many banks have cut their lending options for borrowers, tightened loan qualifications, and increased interest rates. Al Christy, Jr., Founder and CEO of EFH, sees loans collateralized by stocks as an innovative borrowing alternative for individuals seeking working capital. Stock-based loans typically have a higher loan-to-value ratio than margin loans and offer a fixed interest rate, providing certainty throughout the life of the transaction.

“During a typical three-year loan term, market fluctuation is inevitable, but stock-based loans provide a hedge because the borrower is lowering his or her investment risk in a downside market,” said Christy. “Most stock-based loans have a non-recourse feature that allows a borrower to walk away from a stock loan at any point, even if the stock’s value depreciates. The borrower is able to keep the initial loan proceeds with no further obligation to the lender.”

As Christy notes, some consider margin loans and stock-based loans to be synonymous. Although both forms of financing use securities for collateral, there are marked differences.

With a margin loan, the borrower must be pre-qualified, as with a conventional bank loan, and may require the money to be used for a specific purpose. The interest rates are variable and the borrower can expect loan-to-value ratios between 10 and 50 percent. In addition, the lending firm may liquidate the borrower’s collateral without warning in the event of a margin call.

With stock-based loans, borrowers can expect a fixed interest rate between three and four percent and a loan-to-value ratios ranging from 50 to 75 percent. There also are no restrictions on the loan, so the money can be used for any purpose. In addition, most stock-based loans are non-recourse, so borrowers can walk away without obligation, even if the value of the collateral stock has decreased.

“Any form of financial transaction has some risk associated with it,” said Christy, “But stock-based loans have been historically ignored as a viable borrowing option largely because a number of unscrupulous lenders have unceremoniously dumped borrowers’ collateral into the open market, failed to return stocks upon transaction maturity, or failed to address other concerns. We have built our business on a code of integrity and transparency and we rely on leading legal, regulatory, and trading institutions for counsel. Our mission is to deliver maximum benefit with minimum risk so our customers can meet their personal and professional financial goals.”

About Equities First Holdings
Since 2002, Equities First Holdings, LLC (EFH) has provided clients with alternative financing solutions, supplying capital against publicly traded stock to enable clients to meet their personal and professional goals. EFH provides capital against shares traded on public exchanges around the world. The company has completed more than 650 transactions worth more than $1.4 billion to date, offering customers high loan to values at low fixed interest rates.

EFH is a global company with offices in nine countries, including wholly owned subsidiaries Equities First (London) Limited, Equities First Holdings Hong Kong Limited, Equities First Holdings Singapore Limited, and Equities First Holdings (Australia) Pty Ltd. For more information, visit, http://www.equitiesfirst.com.

DISCLAIMER
This release is intended for informational use only, and does not constitute an offer, stated or implied, of any type. Equities First Holdings, LLC and all of its subsidiaries work exclusively with individuals classified as sophisticated investors. The Equities First Holdings platform is not intended for retail investors.

Media Contact:
Brandon Russell
+1-317-429-3500
media@equitiesfirst.com

‘AuraPortal’ Solution Implemented by More than 20 Financial Institutions

Business Process Management software automates operational and administrative processes in important financial institutions.

Woburn, MA, December 03, 2014 – AURA (www.auraportal.com), a global provider of AuraPortal Business Process Management (BPM) software, has announced that AuraPortal solution has been implemented by more than 20 financial institutions to automate their operational and administrative processes.

AuraPortal has been distinguished with great advantage over its competitors by Ovum in its Decision Matrix report and by other renowned analyst firms.

Since the beginning of the global economic and financial crisis, financial institutions have embarked on the search for technology tools to help optimize their resources and processes, becoming more profitable, efficient and offering an improved service in order to retain customer loyalty.

But not just any technology is adequate enough to successfully undertake business improvement projects in the financial sector. This technology must meet certain requirements, such as: flexibility, adaptability, fast implementation, reliability and modernity, in line with current and future times.

Amongst these financial institutions are: ScotiaBank, Davivienda Bank, BMG Bank (Minas Gerais Bank), Falabella Bank, BCCR (Central Bank of Costa Rica), Banca March, BNF (National Development Bank), Baneco (Economic Bank), Bank of Guatemala, BDF (Nicaragua Finance Bank) Carrefour Financial Services, Excellent Incasso, and the list goes on.

The following processes can be highlighted as examples of processes automated with AuraPortal:

• Core Business Processes (Credit Concession Management, Goods Received in Lieu of Payment, Document Approval, Credit Committee, etc.).

• Operational Risk Management Processes (Element Protection, Change Control, Preventive Control, etc.).

• Financial Analysis Processes (Legal Analysis, Financial Analysis, Impact Analysis, etc.).

• Customer Management Processes (Campaigns and Promotions, Creation of new Products, Checking Account Creation, Inquiries and Complaints, etc.).

• Procurement, Supply and Outsourcing Management Processes.

• Human Resource Management Processes (Staff Administration, Absence and Overtime Management, Evaluation and Control, Recruitment, etc.).

• Standards Management Processes (Basel II/III, Patriot Act, AML, SOX, Quality, Information Security, Occupational Security, Personal Data Security, etc.).

• And many more.

In the words of Pablo Trilles, Vice President of AURA: “The fact that more than 20 Financial Institutes express their satisfaction with AuraPortal just goes to show that it is the optimum solution for this type of institution. The increase of customers in this industry has been continuous over the last few years and we have become an international benchmark in the Business Process Management (BPM) field”.

About Aura (http://www.auraportal.com)
AURA is a global BPM (Business Process Management) software provider delivering a solution that creates, without the need of IT programming, Business Process Workflow Execution Models. AuraPortal is 100% Web-based, and is complementary to existing ERP and CRM systems.

AURA has a presence in 40 countries with more than 300 customers including, among others: Walmart, Toyota, General Motors, Pemex (Petroleos Mexicanos), Carrefour, ArcelorMittal, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Danone, INCAE, Kimberly-Clark, Yamaha, Royal KPN, Bristol-Myers Squibb, etc., as well as many Government Agencies and Departments in several countries. All of these customers benefit from maintenance contracts.
It is headquartered in Europe and has an executive branch in North America (Florida). It also has offices in several countries and a vast network of partners who locally attend customers throughout the world.

Contact:
Cristina Siscar
Auraportal
400 Trade Center
Woburn, MA 01801-7472
978-808-6340
http://www.auraportal.com

T5 Data Centers Signs Lease with Financial Services Customer at T5@Kings Mountain Campus

Financial Institution Turning to T5 as Experts Who Can Deliver Customized, Resilient Data Center Infrastructure.

Kings Mountain, NC, USA (September 17, 2013) — T5 Data Centers today announced that a global financial services company is the newest tenant to sign a lease for data center space at the T5@Kings Mountain campus.

The customer has signed a 10-year turn-key lease for an undisclosed amount of critical load. The lease gives this customer occupancy of half of one of the campus’ powered building shells. The financial institution selected T5 Data Centers because of the company’s ability to completely customize the facility’s design to meet their specific requirements, resulting in a data center with a very robust and redundant infrastructure that ensures uninterrupted uptime. Leasing space at the T5@Kings Mountain campus will give the customer complete control over their data processing environment. They have dedicated and isolated computing space for absolute security.

“We are seeing more financial institutions from the Northeast coming to T5 for data center solutions that can be customized, offer greater reliability and better security at a reasonable price,” said Pete Marin, President and CEO of T5 Data Centers. “Our Kings Mountain facility is ideally located, since it is in the same time zone and close to the Northeast and has a solid fiber connection with multiple providers including long haul fiber connectivity from AT&T & Level 3. We anticipate other financial institutions to follow the customer’s example because of our low Risk location, High Quality Data Center Space and our Customized Solution.”

Other factors that make T5@Kings Mountain an attractive data center location are the low cost of occupancy and the low cost of power. Duke Energy has a dedicated 180 MW substation servicing the Kings Mountain data center campus delivering stable, low-cost power. The campus also uses underground concrete encased duct bank system for secure reliable power delivery. Additionally, state and local tax incentives offer up to 100 percent abatement on data center equipment and software.

The T5@Kings Mountain data center campus features turn-key, power shell and build-to-suit options within the 280-acre campus. The geographic location has a low occurrence of both natural and manmade disasters and the buildings are structurally enhanced to withstand winds up to 185 mph. The core and shell is LEED certified.

About T5 Data Centers
T5 Data Centers (T5) is a leading national data center owner and operator, committed to delivering customizable, scalable data centers that provide an “always on” computing environment to power mission critical business applications. T5 Data Centers provides enterprise and wholesale colocation data center services to organizations across North America using proven, best-in-class technology and techniques to design and develop facilities that deliver the lowest possible total cost of operations for its clients. T5 currently has business-critical data center facilities in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Charlotte with new projects announced in Portland and Colorado. All of T5’s data center projects are purpose-built facilities featuring robust design, redundant and reliable power and telecommunications and have 24-hour staff to support mission-critical computing applications.

For more information, visit http://www.t5datacenters.com.

Contact:
Aaron Wangenheim
T5 Data Centers
(415) 292-7700
aaron@t5datacenters.com
http://www.t5datacenters.com

‘AuraPortal’ Solution Implemented by More than 20 Financial Institutions

Business Process Management software automates operational and administrative processes.

Boca Raton, Florida, February 02, 2013 – AURA (www.auraportal.com), a global provider of Business Process Management (BPM) software, has announced that the AuraPortal.(*) solution has been implemented by more than 20 financial institutions to automate their operational and administrative processes.

(*).AuraPortal has recently been distinguished by the independent market analysis firm Ovum in its Decision Matrix 2011 report as the most advanced BPM in the market.

Since the beginning of the global economic and financial crisis, financial institutions have embarked on the search for technology tools to help optimize their resources and processes, becoming more profitable, efficient and offering an improved service in order to retain customer loyalty.

But not just any technology is adequate enough to successfully undertake business improvement projects in the financial sector. This technology must meet certain requirements, such as: flexibility, adaptability, fast implementation, reliability and modernity, in line with current and future times.

Amongst these financial institutions are: Davivienda Bank, BMG Bank (Minas Gerais Bank), CABEI (Central American Bank for Economic Integration), Falabella Bank, BCCR (Central Bank of Costa Rica), Banca March –the most solvent bank in Europe-, BNF (National Development Bank), Baneco (Economic Bank), Carrefour Financial Services, Excellent Incasso, and the list goes on.

The following processes can be highlighted as examples of processes automated with AuraPortal:

• Core Business Processes (Credit Concession Management, Goods Received in Lieu of Payment, Document Approval, Credit Committee, etc.).

• Operational Risk Management Processes (Element Protection, Change Control, Preventive Control, etc.).

• Financial Analysis Processes (Legal Analysis, Financial Analysis, Impact Analysis, etc.).

• Customer Management Processes (Campaigns and Promotions, Creation of new Products, Checking Account Creation, Inquiries and Complaints, etc.).

• Procurement, Supply and Outsourcing Management Processes.

• Human Resource Management Processes (Staff Administration, Absence and Overtime Management, Evaluation and Control, Recruitment, etc.).

• Standards Management Processes (Basel II/III, Patriot Act, AML, SOX, Quality, Information Security, Occupational Security, Personal Data Security, etc.).

• And many more.

In the words of Pablo Trilles, Vice President of AURA: “The fact that 20 among the most relevant financial institutions are using AuraPortal with total satisfaction demonstrates that we are speaking of an optimal solution for the financial world. AuraPortal is becoming a strong benchmark in the Business Process Management (BPM) software”.

About Aura (http://www.auraportal.com)
AURA is a global BPM (Business Process Management) software provider delivering a solution that creates, without the need of IT programming, Business Process Workflow Execution Models. AuraPortal is 100% Web-based, and is complementary to existing ERP and CRM systems.

AURA has a presence in 50 countries with more than 500 customers including, among others: Toyota, General Motors, Pemex (Petroleos Mexicanos), Carrefour, ArcelorMittal, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Scotiabank, Danone, Sodexo, Kimberly-Clark, Yamaha, Eletrobras, Royal KPN, Bristol-Myers Squibb, etc., as well as many Government Agencies and Departments in several countries.

AURA Headquarters are located in North America (Florida) and Europe (Holland) whereas the software development facilities are located in Spain and India.

Contact:
Scott Rich
Auraportal
400 Trade Center
Woburn, MA 01801-7472
978-808-6340
diana.farrington@auraportal.com
http://www.auraportal.com

The Bank of Marion Selects Continuity Control for Compliance Platform

High-Performing Community Bank Looks To Improve Regulatory Efforts And Reduce Costs

New Haven, CT, June 28, 2012 – Continuity Control, the only complete compliance platform built for community financial institutions, today announced that The Bank of Marion (Illinois) has signed on to use the firm’s award-winning solution.

By centralizing all regulatory management activities, the Continuity Control platform enables financial institutions like The Bank of Marion to reduce the resources they spend on compliance while ensuring that they pass regulatory muster and effectively keep up with the steady stream of regulatory changes.

“We’re a high performing bank and we try to do everything right,” says Ray Altmix, The Bank of Marion’s president and CEO, “but compliance still keeps me up at night, even more than a potential problem in the loan portfolio. Though we have done very well on our exams, I can’t say we’ve ever been able to keep up.”

According to Mr. Altmix, by shifting certain responsibilities to the Continuity Control platform, the bank will be in position to do a more thorough job with fewer employees. “I see us getting by on one-half full-time employee less. And I’m not talking about a teller, I’m talking about mid-management.”

The Bank of Marion, with over $330 million in total assets, is the largest locally owned and operated bank in Williamson County. By all key performance measures available through FDIC data, including efficiency ratio, return on assets, and return on equity, The Bank of Marion is an extraordinarily high-performing institution. The bank’s ability to achieve similar returns going forward is complicated, however, by the relentless rise in operating expenses due to increased regulations.

“Even a well-managed community bank like The Bank of Marion can’t keep up with the 58 rule changes that have come down in the last six months, much less the 157 that have been issued in the past year. The costs associated with this kind of regulatory compliance represent an insurmountable challenge to their current business model,” says Andy Greenawalt, Continuity Control’s co-Founder and CEO. “Our platform is the only way for community banks to operate in this complex regulatory environment to maintain reasonable and sustainable overhead.”

Continuity Control’s mission is to help community financial institutions survive and thrive by offering personalized, expert service coupled with innovative technology to relieve the compliance burden. The firm was recognized as one of the five most interesting companies in financial services at FinovateSpring 2010 and recently named among the “10 Tech Companies to Watch” by Bank Technology News.

About Continuity Control
Continuity Control is an award-winning compliance platform that combines advanced software with personalized service to help community financial institutions effectively manage their regulatory burden. Founded in 2008 by distinguished technology, banking, and compliance specialists, Continuity Control’s platform effectively reduces the resources a bank or credit union must spend on compliance while ensuring that it passes regulatory muster. Built just for smaller banks and credit unions, Continuity Control is the most comprehensive compliance management platform on the market today for community financial institutions. For more information, visit www.continuity.net.

Contact:
Katie Weathers
CSG PR
3225 East 2nd Avenue
Denver, CO 80206
404-791-8245
kweathers@csg-pr.com
http://www.csg-pr.com

Market Rates Insight’s New Integrated Study Helps Financial Institutions Avoid Costly Mistakes on Service Fees

New Study on Service Fees for Banks and Credit Unions Reveals How to Balance Consumer Preferences with Price Sensitivity and Competitive Offerings.

SAN ANSELMO, Calif. (April 24, 2012) – Consumers are demanding more value in exchange for service fees. Banks and credit unions need to reduce the risks associated with fee choices and balance those factors against the need for incremental income from services. In response, Market Rates Insight, Inc. (MRI, http://www.marketratesinsight.com), a leader in pricing intelligence for deposits, personal loans, mortgages, and fees, has created a unique research study designed to reduce risks and uncertainty and help financial services avoid a repeat of the failed debit-fee attempt, and to uncover value-added services consumers want and are willing to pay for.

Traditionally, decisions on service fees were based on a survey of the competitive landscape. Such an approach is no longer valid due to the increased risk associated with the uncertainty about consumers’ reaction to changes in service fees. The newly designed Integrated Study by MRI combines consumers’ preference and price sensitivity with competitive landscape information for a more balanced approach to decisions on service fees. This first-ever Integrated Study helps financial executives reduce the risk of poor decisions and increases the probability of generating incremental income from services.

This twice-annual Integrated Study is specifically designed to identify new and innovative services that consumers value and are willing to pay for. It is scheduled for release in the second quarter of this year, and will specifically assess consumer preference and perceived value for services such as credit score monitoring, identity theft alerts, mobile banking services, personalized couponing services, person-to-person payments, and other services. The Study will gauge likelihood to use and willingness to buy mapped against demographic data such as age, income, and gender. And the Study includes a review of the same service categories compared to the top five U.S. banks for competitive analyses.

“Financial institutions can no longer afford the risk of arbitrarily deciding on new services or fees,” said Dan Geller, Ph.D. Executive Vice President of Market Rates Insight. “Poor service fee decisions can be very costly in loss of customers, damage to reputation and now involvement of the newly established Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.”

The first Integrated Study on Service Fees is scheduled for release in May 2012. It is being offered as an integrated study across all seven services, or as individual studies on each of the seven service areas. Individual studies will be available on credit score services, identify theft protection, personalized couponing, prepaid reloadable cards, overdraft protection, personal money transfer, and mobile remote deposit capture. Each study features consumer research on preferences and perceived value, as well as demographic segmentation.

For more information, contact Market Rates Insight at info@marketratesinsight.com.

About Market Rates Insight
For more than two decades, Market Rates Insight (MRI) has been helping clients price with precision by providing banks, thrifts, credit unions, and other financial institutions with comprehensive market intelligence on deposits, loans, and fees. MRI uses deposit surveys, mortgage and consumer loan surveys, fees and features studies, new product alerts, benchmarking and market share analysis to give subscribers the intelligence needed to strategically position products, optimize pricing and react to emerging trends. MRI’s products include web-enabled, customizable report programming, proprietary product research tools, searchable databases, market alerts, and online dashboards that aggregate key client data to provide real-time interactive views on how they rank against their specific competitors.

Market Rates Insight is located in San Anselmo, California. For more information, see http://www.marketratesinsight.com.

Photos available upon request

For additional information contact:
Tom Woolf
Market Rates Insight
(415) 259-5638
tom.woolf@marketratesinsight.com

Emprise Bank and Kasasa Change the Face of Local Banking

Offering Consumers a Better Banking Experience

Wichita, KS, February 15, 2012 – Emprise Bank asks consumers, “Do you Kasasa?” as it becomes the first financial institution in Wichita to launch the country’s most innovative financial products.

Kasasa® is a new brand of free checking and savings accounts that pays consumers to use their account with what interests them most—high interest or automatic savings. These accounts, combined with the personal service that only community financial institutions can deliver, are offering residents a better checking account option.

“Consumers deserve to wake up to happier days of banking. We are pleased to be the first in Wichita to offer these unique products,” said Teri Ginther, E.V.P. at Emprise Bank. “Kasasa delivers what research shows people really want but believe they can’t have—great financial products with the personal service of a community based financial institution.”

Emprise Bank is offering two Kasasa financial products, including Kasasa Cash® and Kasasa Saver®. All Kasasa products are free, reward-based accounts, with no minimum balance to get the rewards, no monthly service fees, online banking and nationwide ATM fee refunds.

Kasasa Cash – A free checking account that pays high interest for every month the account holder qualifies.

Kasasa Saver – A free, high interest saver account linked to a Kasasa Cash checking account. The interest and ATM fee refunds earned in the Kasasa Cash account are automatically deposited into the Kasasa Saver account when the consumers qualify. The balance in the Kasasa Saver account also earns a high rate of interest.

To receive the Kasasa account benefits, each monthly qualification cycle account holders are asked to do a few simple things like, receive an eStatement, use a debit card a minimum number of times, and have an electronic transaction (such as direct deposit) post and clear their account. If an account holder does not meet the qualifications in a given month, Emprise Bank will alert the individual, who will be eligible the following month for the benefits.

“Extensive research has shown us that consumers would prefer to do business with community financial institutions, but feel they would lose access to products,” continued Ginther.

“Kasasa is opening people’s eyes to a new banking model where no sacrifices are necessary. It’s a win-win because account holders get innovative products and personalized service.”

In 2009, Kasasa was piloted in six other markets across the U.S. In just the first two months of offering Kasasa, participating community financial institutions reported growth rates upwards of 150% on new account openings and 372% in deposits at institutions focused on deposit growth.

Kasasa is being introduced with an aggressive, highly engaging marketing campaign. It comes to life through a fresh mix of eye-popping advertising. The ads feature America’s top slam poets www.kasasa.com/news-and-media/advertising riffing lyrical threads around the theme of “Do you Kasasa?”

Kasasa is distributed to Emprise Bank from BancVue, the leading provider of innovative products, dynamic marketing, and data-driven consulting solutions to community financial institutions nationwide.

For more information on Kasasa accounts, consumers can visit www.emprisebank.com.

Do you Kasasa?
Kasasa® is the first national brand of the most innovative checking accounts available today. The accounts, offered exclusively by the finest community financial institutions, are designed to be the first and only accounts that actually take an interest in their account holders by paying them to use their account with what interests them most—high interest, cash back, automatic savings, money to donate to charity or iTunes® or Amazon.com® downloads. Kasasa, developed and distributed by BancVue, marries innovative banking products with the personal touch of community financial institutions. For more information, visit www.kasasa.com.    

Contact:
Katie Weathers
CSG PR
3225 East 2nd Avenue
Denver, CO 80206
(404) 791-8245
kweathers@csg-pr.com
http://www.csg-pr.com

Kasasa Changes the Face of Local Banking in Walton New York

The National Bank of Delaware County Introduces Kasasa, a Striking Alternative to the Mega Bank Rollercoaster

Walton, NY, February 07, 2012 – The National Bank of Delaware County asks consumers, “Do you Kasasa?” as it becomes the first financial institution in the Delaware County area to launch the country’s most innovative financial products.

Kasasa® is a new brand of free checking and savings accounts that pays consumers to use their account with what interests them most—high interest, automatic savings or digital downloads from iTunes® or Amazon.com®. These accounts, combined with the personal service that only community financial institutions can deliver, are offering residents a better checking account option than the mega bank experience.

“Consumers deserve to wake up to happier days of banking and leave behind the nightmare of mega bank fees and mistreatment. We are pleased to offer these unique products,” said Laura Vail, Senior Vice President at The National Bank of Delaware County. “Kasasa delivers what research shows people really want but believe they can’t have—great financial products with the personal service of a community based financial institution.”

The National Bank of Delaware County is offering three Kasasa financial products, including Kasasa Cash®, Kasasa Saver® and Kasasa Tunes®. All Kasasa products are free, reward-based accounts, with no minimum balance to get the rewards, no monthly service fees, online banking and nationwide ATM fee refunds.

* Kasasa Cash – A free checking account that pays high interest for every month the account holder qualifies.

* Kasasa Saver – A free, high interest saver account linked to a Kasasa Cash checking account. The interest and ATM fee refunds earned in the Kasasa Cash account are automatically deposited into the Kasasa Saver account when the account holders qualify. The balance in the Kasasa Saver account also earns a high rate of interest.

* Kasasa Tunes – A checking account that rewards consumers with digital downloads from iTunes® or Amazon.com® when they qualify.

To receive the Kasasa account benefits, each monthly qualification cycle account holders are asked to do a few simple things like, receive an eStatement, access online banking, use a debit card a minimum number of times, and have an electronic transaction (such as direct deposit) post to their account. If an account holder does not meet the qualifications in a given month, The National Bank of Delaware County will alert the individual, who will be eligible the following month for the benefits.

“Extensive research has shown us that consumers would prefer to do business with community financial institutions, but feel they would lose access to products,” added Dawnette Hotaling, Senior Vice President at The National Bank of Delaware County. “Kasasa is opening people’s eyes to a new banking model where no sacrifices are necessary. It’s a win-win because account holders get innovative products and personalized service.”

In 2009, Kasasa was piloted in six other markets across the U.S. In just the first two months of offering Kasasa, participating community financial institutions reported growth rates upwards of 150% on new account openings and 372% in deposits at institutions focused on deposit growth.

Kasasa is being introduced with an aggressive, highly engaging marketing campaign. It comes to life through a fresh mix of eye-popping advertising, the likes of which exceed the typical mega bank’s high-budget programs. The ads feature America’s top slam poets www.kasasa.com/news-and-media/advertising riffing lyrical threads around the theme of “Do you Kasasa?”

Kasasa is distributed to The National Bank of Delaware County from BancVue, the leading provider of innovative products, dynamic marketing, and data-driven consulting solutions to community financial institutions nationwide to help them win the war against the megabanks.

For more information on Kasasa accounts, consumers can visit www.natbkdelco.com or www.kasasa/natbkdelco.

Do you Kasasa?
Kasasa® is the first national brand of the most innovative checking accounts available today. The accounts, offered exclusively by the finest community financial institutions, are designed to be the first and only accounts that actually take an interest in their account holders by paying them to use their account with what interests them most—high interest, cash back, automatic savings, money to donate to charity or iTunes® or Amazon.com downloads. Kasasa, developed and distributed by BancVue, marries innovative banking products with the personal touch of community financial institutions. For more information, visit www.kasasa.com.

Contact:
Katie Weathers
CSG PR
3225 East 2nd Avenue
Denver, CO 80206
(404) 791-8245
kweathers@csg-pr.com
http://www.csg-pr.com

Waterman State Bank and Kasasa Changes the Face of Local Banking

Waterman State Bank Introduces Kasasa, a Striking Alternative to the Mega Bank Rollercoaster

Waterman, IL, February 06, 2012 – Waterman State Bank asks consumers, “Do you Kasasa?” as it becomes the first financial institution in Waterman to launch the country’s most innovative financial products.

Kasasa® is a new brand of free checking and savings accounts that pays consumers to use their account with what interests them most—high interest or automatic savings. These accounts, combined with the personal service that only community financial institutions can deliver, are offering residents a better checking account option than the mega bank experience.

“Consumers deserve to wake up to happier days of banking and leave behind the nightmare of mega bank fees and mistreatment. We are pleased to be the first in Waterman to offer these unique products” said Steven Feith, CEO at Waterman State Bank. “Kasasa delivers what research shows people really want but believe they can’t have—great financial products with the personal service of a community based financial institution.”

Waterman State Bank is offering two Kasasa financial products, including Kasasa Cash® and Kasasa Saver®. All Kasasa products are free, reward-based accounts, with no minimum balance to get the rewards, no monthly service fees, online banking and nationwide ATM fee refunds.

* Kasasa Cash – A free checking account that pays high interest for every month the account holder qualifies.

* Kasasa Saver – A free, high interest saver account linked to a Kasasa Cash checking account. The interest and ATM fee refunds earned in the Kasasa Cash account are automatically deposited into the Kasasa Saver account when the account holders qualify. The balance in the Kasasa Saver account also earns a high rate of interest.

To receive the Kasasa account benefits, each monthly qualification cycle account holders are asked to do a few simple things like receive an eStatement, use a debit card a minimum number of times, and have an electronic transaction (such as direct deposit) post to their account. If an account holder does not meet the qualifications in a given month, Waterman State Bank will alert the individual, who will be eligible the following month for the benefits.

“Extensive research has shown us that consumers would prefer to do business with community financial institutions, but feel they would lose access to products,” continued Feith. “Kasasa is opening people’s eyes to a new banking model where no sacrifices are necessary. It’s a win-win because account holders get innovative products and personalized service.”

In 2009, Kasasa was piloted in six other markets across the U.S. In just the first two months of offering Kasasa, participating community financial institutions reported growth rates upwards of 150% on new account openings and 372% in deposits at institutions focused on deposit growth.

Kasasa is being introduced with an aggressive, highly engaging marketing campaign. It comes to life through a fresh mix of eye-popping advertising, the likes of which exceed the typical mega bank’s high-budget programs. The ads feature America’s top slam poets www.kasasa.com/news-and-media/advertising riffing lyrical threads around the theme of “Do you Kasasa?”

Kasasa is distributed to Waterman State Bank from BancVue, the leading provider of innovative products, dynamic marketing, and data-driven consulting solutions to community financial institutions nationwide to help them win the war against the megabanks.

For more information on Kasasa accounts, consumers can visit www.watermanbank.com or www.kasasa.com/watermanstatebank.

Do you Kasasa?
Kasasa® is the first national brand of the most innovative checking accounts available today. The accounts, offered exclusively by the finest community financial institutions, are designed to be the first and only accounts that actually take an interest in their account holders by paying them to use their account with what interests them most—high interest, cash back, automatic savings, money to donate to charity or iTunes® or Amazon.com downloads. Kasasa, developed and distributed by BancVue, marries innovative banking products with the personal touch of community financial institutions. For more information, visit www.kasasa.com .

Contact:
Katie Weathers
CSG PR
3225 East 2nd Avenue
Denver, CO 80206
(404) 791-8245
kweathers@csg-pr.com
http://www.csg-pr.com

Verafin Wins 3 Awards from St. John’s Board of Trade, including Business Excellence Award

Verafin Inc., a leading provider of compliance, fraud detection and anti-money laundering (AML) software, today announced it received three awards from the St. John’s Board of Trade, presented at the association’s recent 19th annual Business Excellence Awards event.

St. John’s, NL (Canada), Monday – December 26, 2011 — Verafin Inc. ( http://www.verafin.com ), a leading provider of compliance, fraud detection and anti-money laundering (AML) software, today announced it received three awards from the St. John’s Board of Trade, presented at the association’s recent 19th annual Business Excellence Awards event.

The awards honored the company in three categories for “Innovation,” “Growth in domestic and export markets,” and the top distinction of the year, the “Business Excellence Award.”

Brian Whiteway, Verafin chief financial officer, was on hand to collect the awards.

“We’re extremely pleased and humbled to be recognized by the local business community,” said Whiteway. “It’s really a testament to the hard work and the efforts of the 118 people both here in Canada and our office in Alabama. We certainly wouldn’t be the company we are without them.”

Most recently, Verafin announced it expanded operations by opening a new corporate office in Birmingham, Alabama, signaling the company’s continued growth and customer success driven by its industry-leading, FRAML™ solution for nearly 800 banks and credit unions in the U.S. and Canada.

Verafin’s FRAML™ solution utilizes artificial intelligence and behavior pattern-based recognition to detect suspicious activity. Bringing fraud detection and AML (FRAML™) processes together effectively alerts compliance officers and fraud professionals of suspicious behavior and anomalies while improving investigations and satisfying compliance with BSA/AML regulations.

About Verafin:
Verafin is a North American leader in fraud detection and anti-money laundering solutions for financial institutions, with nearly 800 customers that span 65 core processing systems and a broad asset range. Verafin helps financial institutions comply with the Bank Secrecy Act, USA PATRIOT Act, and FACTA regulations, while also helping to protect against fraud. Verafin is the exclusive provider of fraud detection and BSA/AML software for the California Bankers Association, Massachusetts Bankers Association, CUNA Strategic Services and 40 credit union leagues and associations in the United States. For more information, visit http://www.verafin.com , email us at FRAML@verafin.com or call 1-866-781-8433.

© 2011 Verafin Inc. All rights reserved. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Press & Media Contact:
Catherine Warren
Verafin, Inc
570 Newfoundland Drive
St. John’s, NL A1A 5B1 – Canada
(709) 752-3050 x3242
catherine,warren@verafin.com
http://www.verafin.com