In an effort to find new customers, banks are aiming to help with a big public concern: debt relief. TD Bank, located on the East Coast, hosted a free pizza night for potential customers. Citizens Bank has promised to give new customers $1,000 if they are saving for their children’s college fund. Bank of the Wichitas, in Oklahoma, is hitting the market hard with a new advertising campaign with “Where bankin’s funner!” as their slogan. Regardless of their geography, banks are looking for new customers and finding creative ways to reach out to a new market.

Since the Federal Reserve set an extremely low interest rate, banks are trying to work with the numbers. This explains why most banks offer bonuses , but with conditions. For example, Citizens Bank’s $1,000 college fund is available, but only if customers open a new account and deposit at least $25 per month. To qualify, families must have children younger than 6 and agree to contribute at least $25 every month until the child is 18. Another example is HSBC’s program to give away Amazon Kindles but only to customers who open a new account with $50,000 and agree to maintain a combined balance of $100,000 at the bank.

Small banks

To find good interest rates, some searching is required. First of all, smaller banks are now trying to compete with large banking centers. They are offering “rewards” checking accounts that often return 4 percent or more. Studies show that small banks often carry interest rates that are twice the national average. Gabriel Krajicek, CEO of BancVue.com, stated, “Most small banks have maintained the higher interest rate package for over a year, so their reliability is great.” BancVue.com is a web site that lists reward-running banking programs from around the country, at a community level. It’s a great tool for consumers to look for banks offering the best perks.

Online banks

For consumers looking for debt relief, searching online may also aid their financial positions. Online banks gained popularity a few years ago and managed to gain a strong market share almost immediately. Although online banks still have less than 4 percent of total retail deposits, their revenues have grown more than $160 billion since 2000. Part of the reason is their rates are normally better than brick-and-mortar banks. Online banks have smaller overhead costs and can pass the savings onto their customers. James Kelly, COO of ING Direct, the largest online-only bank, stated, “Despite the economy, we’re getting as much money as we need.”

The downside of online banking, however, is that most have limited online services. For extra accounts such as auto loans or credit lines, consumers still have to go elsewhere. Also, many online banks don’t have their own ATM networks, so getting charged a fee for using a debit card is inevitable. Check cashing can also be a hassle with banks that do their business solely online. Customers have to grapple with a traditional bank and explain their online status or mail the check to their online facility and wait for days, sometimes weeks, for their money.

Finding funds

In the end, debt relief is available to those to search hard for it. Fortunately in today’s computer age, there are web sites that do the work and research for consumers. Web sites like BancVue.com build their business on becoming a banking resource for their visitors. Consumers need to find tools like these and use them to maximize their savings.

I spent over an hour in the bank this morning. Last month, before they moved my friendly little “Bank in the Mall” to its new quarters in a big building, everything happened instantly. I would walk in; both clerks would greet me by my first name with smiles and offers of coffee and then deal with my business on the spot. Then disaster struck. They moved the bank to the latest 8-story building in town. It’s modern, square cornered and soulless.

What happened to my bank?

The bank went the same way. They changed both clerks, added all sorts of new departments, fitted the place out in a symphony of glass and stainless steel with a white marble floor and super-bright lights and made it as unfriendly as possible. In other words, dear customer, we are here for our business and not for your pleasure.

In future I am going to do all my banking, which is mainly borrowing and repaying money at the Personal Money Store. I will opt for an assortment of Payday Loans, No Fax Payday Loans and Personal Loans and I will stay away from the bank.

It all takes so long…

There were maybe five people in the bank. One was a guy depositing huge globs of paper money – I could hear the counting machine spitting out the notes. Behind him was a woman who had ordered checkbooks which hadn’t arrived. Poor woman, she had Parkinson’s and struggled getting the words out to the very patient bank clerk. There was an old man sitting in a wheel chair being spoken to softly by his Pilipino care-giver and as far as I could make out, he is a permanent fixture in the bank.

I understand that everyone is in the bank for a purpose and wants to do their business and leave as quickly as possible. I understand that some operations take longer than my usual 37 seconds. I understand that waiting in line is part of life. What I don’t understand is why it all takes so long. What do the customers talk to the bank clerks about? Why do they lean in close and have these confidential conversations? What are they discussing? How come they don’t notice that there are other people waiting? And how come the bank clerk, who is facing the line of irritable and anxious customers, doesn’t move things along?

My business

I had transferred some money from one account to another. It usually takes a day. Now it’s been a week and the other bank suggested that I check to see what’s going on. The bank usually sends me an email if there is any activity in my account. In fact the bank sends me an email if I happened to look in the direction of my account. Not this time. The money had arrived within one day but no one said a word.

The cost

So I lost about 2 hours of working time and an entire morning if I include the walk to the bank, the window shopping as I crossed the mall and a chat with a neighbor who I met on the way. I came home irritable and unable to write. But the bank is fine, thank you.

There are just as many reasons to balance your checkbook each month as there are opportunities to secure a same day cash advance. I’ll begin by sharing five excellent reasons why you should consider balancing your checkbook.

Five Good Reasons in a Nutshell

1. Mistakes do happen, especially if you forget to post a transaction in your register. These mistakes — or bounced checks — could cost you $25 or more in incurring fees for each “mistake.” I’ll reiterate: bounced checks could cost you $25 + in incurring fees for EACH bounced check. That’s a good enough reason to balance your checkbook, isn’t it?
2. When your records are balanced and in order, you’re more assured that your record’s match the bank’s.
3. Remember that banks are susceptible to mistakes as well, but with their advanced technology, it’s more likely that you’ll make a mathematical error in the register of your checkbook before the bank does.
4. If you do find a problem (or the bank does), you don’t have to forage through months and months of transactions to decipher the issue.
5. Become a consumer minority. Research shows that a whopping 87% of consumers forget to reconcile their checking accounts.

This is How:

Record Everything

The first step is to record everything into your checkbook register: deposits, withdrawals, checks, debits, any charges at all.

Conciliate Your Checks

An important factor of balancing your checkbook is to determine if there are any checks you sent out that haven’t cleared in the bank. In your checkbook register, all you have to do is check off the cancelled checks returned back to you or observe each check that appears on your check listing, just to make sure your records match what the bank shows.

Conciliate Your Deposits

Remember that you have a check register, and it’s not useless. Take note of each deposit that appears on your bank statement, record it as well (direct deposits can easily be forgotten, that’s why record keeping is so vital). It would also help to sift through your paycheck stubs and deposit slips, making sure the statements are correct in documentation of all the deposits you’ve made. The same as you did for your checks, record the deposits in your check register.

Conciliate Your Debit Card Purchases and Withdrawals from the ATM

Following the same steps mentioned in step two, check off each transaction on your bank statement in your check register for debit card purchases and ATM withdrawals. Pay close attention, because if the bank shows exchanges not included in your check register, it’s best to record them instantly.

Note Outstanding Checks

In column two of the balancing form in your checkbook register, record all of your outstanding checks, ATM withdrawals, and debit purchases that have not cleared from the bank yet. Then total up the column of outstanding debits, checks, and ATM withdrawals.

Note Outstanding Deposits

Next, total the column of outstanding deposits in your checkbook register, in column one of the balancing form. Remember that the deposits not checked off in your check register as having been cleared by the bank are to be listed.

Register Your Bank’s Ending Balance

Enter the ending balance shown on your bank statement on line one of the bottom section on your checkbook balancing form.

Enter Outstanding Checks

Enter the total outstanding checks from column two on line three of the bottom section on your checkbook balancing form.

Enter Outstanding Deposits

Enter the total outstanding deposits from column one onto line two of the bottom section on your checkbook balancing form.

Calculate Your Balance

Finally, use a calculator to add up the numbers from line one through three (indicated by plus and minus signs on the form) and write down your total on line four. If you’ve performed everything correctly, this should equal the balance shown in your checkbook register. If not, don’t fret, just go back and check the math entered. Make sure there are no reversed numbers anywhere, like $76 instead of $67. Also, try and look for mistakes such as subtracting a deposit rather than adding it, inserting a check written instead of subtracting it and other blunders such as forgetting about automatic payments you’ve set up… or forgetting to document that cash advance that you needed on that rainy day and so will be coming out of your account on the next payday.

Here, let me take that money of yours...

BBC News reports that FBI agents in Virginia have located and served Sir Allen Stanford with civil papers, a quick loan courtesy of the SEC. They would like to see him pay it back with other people’s money… and jail time.

Stanford has been accused of $8 billion fraud against investors. The claim is that they were lured by the promises of “improbably and unsubstantiated high returns on certificates of deposit and other investments.” The SEC calls the case “fraud of shocking magnitude” that loans itself quickly and easily to the recent memory of Bernie Madoff’s $50 billion Ponzi scheme.

Richard Kolko of the FBI revealed that agents had served the legal papers to Stanford in Fredericksburg, Virginia, at the request of the Securities and Exchange Commission. This step was necessary in order to ensure that Stanford would turn in his passport and be made aware of what he faced, said the BBC’s Richard Lister from Washington. Criminal charges have yet to be filed, so Stanford is not currently being held in custody.

Bank terror bonanza

As a result of Stanford’s fraudulent operations, branches of banks controlled by the Stanford Group have been shut down or placed under national control in Peru and Venezuela. The former nation suspended operations for 30 days, while Venezuela has announced it will take control. Panama, Ecuador and Antigua have also have taken action against Stanford’s interests there.

Regulators would have liked to allay investor fears about the banks Stanford is associated with, but runs on banks were perhaps inevitable in light of the news.

A US civil court judge has frozen Stanford’s assets and those of the Stanford Group, Stanford International Bank (SIB) and investment adviser Stanford Capital Management. Experts predict that criminal charges will be brought on Stanford soon. Until then, Bernie Madoff remains the sole charged financial shyster to light up the news boards from 2008. Eventually, when Stanford joins the club, perhaps both will go on quick loan to jail. Quick, because the resourceful never stay for long…

Related articles

• SEC files charges in another “massive” fraud (americablog.com)
• Stanford charges spark run on banks (guardian.co.uk)

With the collapse of Wall Street, we, Americans, suffer from financial worries and the need for Cash Advances here and there. Wherever we go, recession is the word of mouth. Large companies are shut down, jobs are lost, credit cards balances are multiplying, and lifestyles, if not lives themselves, are ruined.

Uncertainty is today’s plaque

We live at a time where uncertainty is a plague that devastates the land. It knocks on our doors at night, it looms over us even when we sleep, and it follows our every footstep, becoming a constant shadow that does not leave even when daylight is gone. Wherever we go, whatever we do, the unsettling fact remains: the world is witnessing a financial crisis bigger than it ever has over the past years. How are we then supposed to survive it?

How to overcome our financial worries

The first step we must take is to clear our minds and stay focused. The more we worry about losing our jobs, the more our performance dwindles, thus creating a bigger chance for our worries to come true. We must analyze our financial situation and think of the next step from there. Instead of asking questions that are impossible to answer (e.g. What if I can’t pay my debts? What will my future be?), ask yourself questions that you can solve with some thinking (e.g. What can I do to earn more money? What should I do to spend less?). Little by little, by asking yourself the right questions, you’ll find solutions to the problems you face.

What can you live without?

The next step is to review your current lifestyle. What is excessive? What can you do without? What needs immediate attention? What can you put off until later? Prioritize your needs to know which ones have to be solved first. Again, don’t focus on losing whatever comfortable lifestyle you had before. Focus on adapting. What’s done is already over with, and the only things you should deal with are what you have at hand. After that, study your possible options. Would debt consolidation make it easier for you to pay cash advances/debts? Do you need the advice of a professional? Is there a relative or a friend you can borrow money from in desperate times? What alternative sources of money are available out there?

Monetary resources

Believe it or not, there are many alternative sources that we can rely on. One source is opting for cash advances through a reputed company.  Cash advances are very easy to obtain these days and can be received by spending a few minutes in front of the computer. Oftentimes we limit ourselves to the sources we are already used to, but we must never forget money comes to the ingenious. For example, holding garage sales may be an old remedy, but with today’s technology, doors to better opportunities are opened. You never know, your old cassette tape or LD may be a collector’s item to others. Auctioning it over the internet might bring you more money than you expect.

You can also consider taking part-time jobs. They don’t have to be physical, or as stress-inducing as your main job. You can make use of simple skills, like data entry and writing. There may even be freelance opportunities online. Knowledge and experience in voice acting, video editing, programming, and the like can earn you even bigger bucks.

Positive attitude is a must for survival

Finally, the last step to surviving the financial turmoil is to keep a positive, and at the same time realistic, attitude. No matter how many problems arise, as long as you have the proper mindset, solutions will be found.

The world has faced countless economic downturns before. Maybe not be as big as the one we have right now, but each situation provides us with the same relevant lesson: those with a will strong enough to survive it come out triumphant. Let today and now be the triumph for you.  Take President Obama’s advice, when he spoke about the banking system and indicated more cash advances will be needed to get credit flowing again.

If we search back through history, we may find that today’s concept of payday loans goes back about a thousand years. In the early-mid 1100’s, there came to be a group known as the “Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon” (were they in sore need of  payday loans?), their emblem depicting their meager, poverty-stricken beginnings with two knights seated upon one horse. These are the ones more commonly known today as the “Knights Templar”, or “Templar Knights”. While the group’s start was not very financially powerful (they started out as a mere nine knights), they rapidly became a favored charity throughout Christendom, and grew quite rapidly in number, and in financial and influential power.

After a while, the Knights Templar became quite financially powerful…

They may have had meager beginnings, but the Order’s status of poverty did not last for very long. In 1129, at the Council of Troyes, these knights were officially endorsed by the Catholic Church. With such formal blessing, the Order became a favored charity throughout Christendom, receiving many gifts such as money, land, businesses, and even sons from noble families, eager to help fight the Crusades in the Holy Land. Perhaps the largest gift was received in 1139.  Pope Innocent II’s papal bull, “Omne Datum Optimum”, had completely and utterly exempted the Order from obedience to any local laws in any country. This basically meant that the Templar Knights could pass freely through and across all borders, weren’t required to pay taxes anywhere, and were exempt from the rule of any king, and under absolutely no authority other than that of the Pope himself.

The industriousness of the Templar Knights…

As they grew in numbers and in power, they established many centers and headquarters throughout Europe and the Middle East. With the received donations of money, land and businesses, they thrived and became quite industrious, establishing a wide financial network. They built churches and fortifications; they bought and tended vineyards; they also became involved in importing and exporting and even manufacturing. They even owned their own fleet of ships and at one time had owned the entire island of Cyprus. Certainly, none of them were in need of payday loans.

The beginnings of today’s banking system…

Basically, they became the world’s first multinational corporation. Eventually, they kept track of their wealth throughout their network, and even aided royalty, often loaning funds for a small fee. They eventually dealt with what we know of today as banking. A king traveling to another country was in danger of having his monies stolen en route, so all he needed to do was to deposit his needed funds at one Templar establishment, and withdraw his funds from the local Templar chapter in the country of destination. All he required was the proper documentation, and a small fee, of course. This in effect became the world’s first international banking system, the documentation carried being like the first traveler’s checks.

The fall of the Knights Templar, and the legacy they left behind…

It seems to go without saying that companies, economies and even entire civilizations rise and fall. The crumbling of the Knights Templar began in 1307, when the Catholic Church, pressured by King Phillip the IV of France, charged them all with numerous false crimes of blasphemy and heresy. The king, enormously in debt to the Templars himself, had found a way to free himself of his debt by causing the Order to be disbanded, and many of the Templar Knights were burnt at the stake for their supposed crimes against God and the Church. Hoping to seize the Order’s assets, he was none too pleased to find that the Pope had all of it distributed between other Orders, such as the Knights Hospitaller. However, the legacy of the Knights Templar lives on through various Orders of Knights who took in the remaining Templars, the churches and fortifications they left behind, and today’s modern banking and payday loans systems.

The bank manager leads the attack

There’s a war raging all around me. Most of it is money based. Will a payday loan help? I have searched everywhere and this looks like the best bet. The guys in the office all use it and swear blind that it’s the ultimate solution to an empty pocket. I was already thinking about prying an ATM loose and taking it home. I will try the payday loan system.

Leading the onslaught is my bank manager. He is constantly threatening to cut me off, whatever that means. What, from my overdraft? He wouldn’t dare! How will he explain this to his boss? So I live on an overdraft– I’m used to it and it doesn’t bother me anymore. I don’t understand why the bank manager is permanently hysterical.

My boss is in the front line too

Whenever I close my eyes, I picture the angry face of my boss. Not the general manager of the company but the head of the engineering department. He is only midway up the ladder, but he is still my boss. I guess he hates me because he feels threatened by the fact that I am the best engineer in the business and the fact that I am continually borrowing from the petty cash box.  I pay back the small loans regularly and it’s usually only on Fridays that I ask for a little something to get me through the weekend. Do you know what a game of golf costs these days?

In my opinion the petty cash box does a sterling job. It is there to be used and I make sure of that. How would you like to manage a library and hate the people who borrowed the books? Same thing, right?

Mother-in-law is the company back-up

My mother-in-law doesn’t like me. It’s mainly because I married her daughter and fathered her 3 gorgeous grandchildren but it’s also because I borrowed from her to buy the new car and I am a little slow in paying her back. She really gets to me and I have made up my mind to apply for a payday loan and get her off my back. Next month, for sure…

The rest of the battalion

There are a whole slew of guys out there crying for my blood and it’s all about money. I was at the lotto kiosk when Fred from up the street walked up. I suggested we split a ticket and he agreed. We bought one, we never won and now he wants my half. Okay Fred, I will cough up one of these days or perhaps I’ll pay for your half on another ticket sometime.

The vicar says I haven’t contributed to the New Roof Fund. I designed the new roof over the church for no fee and now he wants a contribution? Okay vicar, as soon as I can I’ll come over and see how the roof is coming along.

I surrender! Where do I apply for a Payday Loan?

My mind is made up. I am looking for a life of peace and serenity without phone calls and nasty letters. If I use the payday loan money carefully, will everyone please leave me alone?

Payday Loans

No fax payday loans has been a fast-growing industry

The growth of the industry was predicated largely by the fact that traditional banking pulled out of the small-scale consumer loan arena and bank consolidations across the country produced greater numbers of consumers who were un-served or under-served by the banking establishment. The authors of the study, by recreating the environment that the average payday loan customer faces, examine what effect having access to the loan type has on their ability to manage their financial affairs and avoid traps.

With faxless payday loans, customers survive

What was it that the authors found? They found that payday loans are indeed an effective buffer against expenditure shocks. It raises their financial welfare. For those who do use payday loans during financial emergencies, however, the authors point out that there is a risk element involved, in that use must remain below a certain threshold in order to help consumers avoid creating a recurring debt cycle. However, the, majority of subjects in the experiment benefited from the existence of future use of payday loans.

Holiday shopping is drawing near and many people will likely be charging items…but have you checked your line of credit lately? In the last few weeks, many major banks have cut, in some cases slashed, both lines of credit to customers as well as overdraft fees.

Your No Fax Payday Loans News Source Quoted With Edits From: Many banks cutting lines of credit, overdraft (WROC Rochester)

America’s Latest Fallout

The slumping economy has put a lot of pressure on American families to cut back on excess ass the cost of food and gas has doubled and in some cases almost tripled. For those of us who were already on a conservatively tight budget, our troubles just got worse, or did they get better.

Many of us during this holiday season are willing to make any necessary sacrifices to make sure the right gifts are under the Christmas tree, matters of expense are left to ponder after the New Year. Although this isn’t wise, it’s a phenomenon that puts a lot of Americans in debt each year and looking for quick relief from no fax payday loans.

An Unwelcome Surprise

Credit Lines are Being Cut

This year however is going to be a little different as many are waking up to find that their lines of credit have been reduced. Some are finding there is nothing left on their cards but the balance owed. These actions are obviously a knee jerk reaction to this years fallout with some of the nations largest banks, the bailout, the nations credit crunch.

Feeling Short Changed? Don’t!

A lot of controversy surrounding these latest events as citizens are feeling they have been short changed. Are the banks operating in the best interest of it’s customers? Well, I guess that depends on how we look at it. True, we may not get the kiddies what they have been asking for all year, yet we won’t be stuck making extra monthly credit card payments through June of next year either or using no fax payday loans to make ends meet.

What About the Kids

Perhaps this years festivities would be an opportune time for families to come together simply to enjoy each other, something that our gift hungry starry eyed children often forget. For myself It’s going to take some improvising but I aim to make it memorable as always for both myself and my kids. The children however may remember this year as the year that they didn’t get what they wanted and the reasons why. In all reality, this lesson on life is probably the best gift I could give them.

CHICAGO—-The three highest-priced markets in the U.S. for average overdraft service fees on consumer checking accounts are Miami, Washington D.C. and Denver, while Florida ranks as the highest-priced state for OD fees, and the South leads as the highest-priced region for consumer OD fees, according to a nationwide survey.

Quoted With Edits From: Disparities in Checking Overdraft Fees by Geography and Size of Financial Institutions Revealed in National Survey (Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance)

A Rose is a Rose is a Rose

A rose is a rose

You may think that all overdraft fees are the same, you may also all installment loans are the same too. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case, and there are several factors that determine how high (or low) your bank’s overdraft fees will be, including the size and location of your bank. The three U.S. cities with the highest overdraft fees are Miami, Washington D.C., and Denver. The South has the highest rates, while the West has the lowest rates.

Bigger isn’t Always Better

Just because you bank at a larger institution doesn’t guarantee that your overdraft fees will be lower. In fact, banks with over $100 million in assets charge, on average, $2-3 more for overdrafts than the banks with less than $100 million in assets. Sounds like if you bank at a smaller, locally-owned bank you’re in for better treatment than with the big banks.

Avoid Overdrafts

Of course, the best solution to the overdraft problem is to avoid overdrawing your account altogether. Then it won’t matter where or with who you bank. A good way to prevent overdrawing your account is to keep a close record of all account activity. If you know there’s a payment you won’t be able to make without going into the red, you should consider taking out installment loans. With installment loans, you can avoid overdraft fees, and you’ll be set up on a convenient, affordable plan to repay the loan.