Social Report
Joe Zingale has organizing a group to hike South Mountain.  It will be this Sunday (September 26th).  Be there at 7:30am.  Bring family, friends, dogs, skateboard, whatever.  It will be warm so bring water and sunscreen.  Hike time will be approximately 2 hours followed by lunch at AJ's. 

Today's Discussion  - Banking 101
The new check card regulations will have a chain reaction.  Banks will lose money in fees that they will try to make up in other areas.  Service fees on accounts will go up.  ATM fees will probably go up.  Look at those notices that you receive with your statements (those items you normally toss).   Talk to your banker to see how you will be affected.

VISA and MasterCard are not affected by it.  You won't see a decrease in card swiping. 

CBS Construction is giving big discounts for cash!

Who accepts credit cards?  And who only takes cash? - 50/50 split in the group.

Most likely you are in the wrong type of account.  If your business has changed (average balance, etc) than your account needs have changed.  If you have a good relationship with your banker he will already be on top of it and let you know if you should be in a different package.

Look for discounts through package deals (including safety deposit boxes, personal accounts, etc.).

Banks are for profit.  They make no money on CDs because you earn all the interest.  They will try to get your checking account moved over too.  There is basically no interest in checking accounts.  They are considered sticky funds.  Banks will make money on  a checking account (debit card fees, etc).

Remote deposits have been around along time for businesses.  Now with smart phones it is becoming popular for personal accounts.  There is a new element where you can take a picture with your  phone and make the deposit.  Big banks will lead the way on this new technology because they have the resources to invest.  Smaller banks will follow by a year or two.

You can expect to go through more to get a business loan but credit is still possible. 

Alternative banking in the future....Cash.  Jake is weary of the fee structure coming in 2011.  He would like to see better decision making authority.  Technology will keep growing.  There will be less face-to-face contact with bankers, more email-type transactions. 

SBA fees are typically pretty lofty.  As part of the SBA bill, they had waived the fees for a while but the money ran out.  They are trying to do something similar again.  It is all government backed.  But the government has nothing to do with the approval process.  It is still up to the individual banks to handle that.  It also takes time because they have to send paperwork to the government for approval.  If everything is not in place, the bank does not get reimbursed for the fees.  

Lending is loosening up but there is competition on the fees and terms. 

Of those that process cards, how many know what you are paying on a daily basis?  It is a good general rule of thumb to monitor this activity.