The Choice Bank Blog has Moved

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Have you seen the SMART car?????????

If you have seen our SMART car around town we want to know where!!!

Post a comment to the blog and let us know where you have seen the SMART car or better yet, send me comments or even your smart car photos to info@choicebank.com. I'll post all of them to the blog to share with everyone!

SMART

So, maybe it's just me... but I am SUPER excited about the Smart Car Choice Bank is going to be driving this month. We picked it up from Bergstrom's yesterday. I just picked it up again from Art City Signs who added an awesome wrap so everyone will know who we are when we drive by. Of, course we couldn't just park it so after stopping at Leon's for some Custard we took our time getting back to the bank. Even in the dark people noticed the car! I can't wait until daylight tomorrow!

I'm not going to post a photo on the blog yet. Keep your eyes open and you'll see us around town! Make sure to stop and say hi, we'll be handing out prizes!

Ann

Financial Literacy

The last two weeks have been busy here at Choice Bank. I am happy today, on this cold spring day, to have the opportunity to reflect on Choice Bank's Financial Literacy Initiative.

There are astounding statistics out there such as Americans save, on average, less than 1% of their income! We have hears kids say, "How can my account be overdrawn? I still have checks in my check book!"

The topic of financial literacy is one that concerns everyone. It seems that many children don't have a handle on the concept of money. Here in the bank we have debated this topic to no end, asking how this has happened? We always end the discussion with an even bigger question. How do we make a change? How can we help teach children (and even some adults) the value of a dollar?

Our big start was to sponsor the Newspapers in Education Financial Literacy Tab. It was distributed in the Oshkosh Northwestern and in schools on April 17th. The day before its distribution we held a launch event for Oshkosh area teachers. At this event we found many teachers asking the same questions I mentioned earlier.

In our quest to broaden financial education in the community please let me know if you have any ideas! Teachers, thank you for all that you do! I am hoping that soon we will have an online opportunity for all of you to share your ideas and lesson plans. I'll let you know as soon as we do!

In the mean time...
If you have a blog post about Financial Education e-mail it to me at getsmart@choicebank.com and I'll add it to this discussion.

Ann

Wow

Every week the Choice Bank team gathers together to talk about what is happening in the bank. One thing we do is share WOW experiences that we came across during the week. Sharing these helps us to remember that if we turn a customer's ordinary banking into an extraordinary experience then they will walk away with a WOW too. Occasionally on this blog I'll be sharing these experiences (since they are many times to good to keep to ourselves).

My WOW experience at Jelly Belly
If you every find yourself in Pleasant Prairie make the trip to Jelly Belly. When you're ready for a taste test from the Jelly Belly Bar ask for Sam; you'll be glad you did!

Sure, Sam could hand out one bean at a time like the others but he looked beyond the bean. "What can I get you today," he asked from behind the colorful wall of Beans. "An Almond Joy? Snickers? Maybe you'd like a rum and coke, red wine or a margarita," he offerd. After placing my selection he carefully made a mix of one bean of this and three beans of that and the next thing I knew I was eating an almond joy made of Jelly Bellies.

What is extraordinary about this...? Every person who walks into Jelly Belly expects to get free samples, but who that day was expecting to taste a snickers made of jelly beans or a Jelly Belly "mixed drink?"

Sam doesn't just hand out the tasty beans; he creates Jelly Belly experiences.

Welcome To Oshkosh Johnny!

What a great week in Oshkosh! Johnny Depp sightings and a brand new look for the Choice Bank website!

If you have found our blog that means you must have traveled through our new website. It was just launched yesterday and we couldn't be happier. Some of my favorite features of the website are the web outs on the Home Page, Mortgage Tab & Business Tab, the Community Calendar, and the Financial Literacy Library.

We have done our best to make the sight informational and easy to navigate. If you think of something I've missed on the site let me know! That's what this blog is all about!

What do you think of the site? Do you have any suggestions? LETS TALK!

Learning about banking

On Monday January 28^th, 2008 I had the pleasure of giving Brownie troop 264 a behind the scenes look at the wonderful world of banking at our Witzel location. We began our tour in our board room, where the girls got a chance to sit in the big chairs and see what it is like to be a director of the bank. Next I took the group through our bank lobby and we talked about all the different areas of the bank and who does what. Throughout the tour I quizzed the girls to see how much they knew about banking and what an impressive group they were! They were so eager to answer my questions and I was happy to reward them with a chocolate coin!

The highlight of the tour was getting to see how our teller line works. They had fun watching the drive up tubes travel out of the bank to the cars below. They also enjoyed seeing all the different views of the drive up through our drive up cameras. The big finale was getting to take a peek at the vault. The girls tried to guess how much money could be in there but it’s a secret! Overall we all had a great time. It was nice to see that at their very young age, all of these girls knew the importance and the responsibility that comes with saving their money. And who knows, we may possibly have some future bankers on our hands.

Marcia

The Joy of Technology

While setting up this blog I decided to ad the Tag feature which was found on the right hand side of the screen. This was a interactive feature to allow live conversations. Unfortunately the Tag recently was subjected to some internet "spam" or unwarranted tag posts, whatever you would like to call it. This has led me to remove the tag feature from the blog.

I apologize for any entries that may have been posted to the Tag before I had a chance to address this issue.

As the blog evolves (and I learn more about content filtering) an interactive feature will be added once again. Stay tuned.

Choice Bank Sponsors 2007 UW Oshkosh Federal Reserve Challenge Team

On November 5, 2007, a team of UW Oshkosh business students competed in the Federal Reserve Challenge in Chicago. The team members, Virgina Pliska, Todd Johnston, Jonel Kristo, Alex Christenson, Adam Stern and Austin Spangler, made tremendous strides in terms of the quality of presentation and the performance in the question and answer session.

Although the team did not advance to the finals, they unanimously voted to see the finalists present and students competing again next year have many new ideas (in fact, they spent the first hour of the drive back to Wisconsin arguing about Federal Reserve Fund Futures). The team was very pleased to see they had identified the same major trends and factors pushing the macro-economy as the champion team from the University of Chicago.

The student reactions to the class and competition were extremely positive. They liked the group work and project orientation to the class and emphasized how much they learn from this form.

“To listen to the students discuss macro-economic issues and current events, debating with each other, weighting information and reaching conclusions was a wonderful experience and we are grateful for Choice Bank of Oshkosh making this possible”, stated Marianne Johnson, associate professor of economics at UW Oshkosh and the team adviser.

Rate shoppers beware!

We all know the old adage, "you can't believe everything you hear [or read]."

Yesterday another bank in Oshkosh advertised about their money market that "It's simply the best Money Market in town." What a great statement, if only it were true! Rate shoppers beware. Many rates out there appear to be great or will flat out tell you that they are great but unfortunately it is up to you to find out the truth behind the glamorous rate. Here are some things to watch out for when shopping for ways to invest your hard earned money:

Teaser rate: A very high but introductory rate used to entice customers into opening a CD, Money Market or Checking Account. The rate is usually adjustable and goes down over time. In the case of a CD, the rate will be good for the first given number of months and then drop for the remainder of the term.

Tier rates: A great advertised rate that is available only on balances over a given amount. An example of this would be a Money Market advertised at 4.15% which is only available on balances over $250,000.

Fine print: A great rate on a given account but the fine print tells you that you need to sign up for one or more of the following items to get the rate:
A new checking account
Direct deposit
Automatic withdrawal
Bill pay
Paperless statements
There may also be other terms or conditions:
ATM/Debit card usage requirements
Only available with a new account
Only available to new customers

Keep these things in mind the next time you are looking for a great rate. You deserve the best account that will give you the best return. Read the fine print, challenge rates that are too good to be true and don't be afraid to ask questions!

My Home

Tomorrow morning our fearless leader, Keith Pollnow, is going to be interviewing with Bob Burnell on WOSH AM Radio 1490 at 7:45 A.M. The topic is sub-prime mortgages. With the market today this is a huge topic of concern. I once had a marketing professor who would ask me just about every day how Choice Bank was being impacted by sub-prime lending. The truth is, community banks don't have many issues with this.

At Choice Bank our mortgage lenders will not put you into a mortgage that you cannot afford! I know first hand! About 2 years ago I sat down with our mortgage lender Chris Leitch to weigh the benefits of owning vs. renting. In detail we listed my income against my bills, the potential mortgage payments and the additional home owning costs (utilities etc...). Chris made sure that I could afford a home (I couldn't) before we even took the process any further.

A few months ago I sat down with Chris again. The tables had turned and this time, using the same method, Chris helped me find the mortgage payments I could handle. I have been in my beautiful new home for a little over a month.

Purchasing a home - especially your first home like me - is a lot of work, not to mention a huge financial decision. Whether you choose Choice Bank for your mortgage or go with someone else, make sure that your mortgage lender is working for YOU! You don't just need a mortgage, you need an entire financial plan!