Volume 1 Issue 1
T
hank you for taking the time to read our inaugural edition of the “State Bank Account”.
We hope you find the Account informative
and valuable to your financial education and
success. Our goal is to continue to provide
you with a value-added relationship and it is our hope
that the ­“Account” will help further our commitment
to you our customers. With each edition, we will provide insight on various financial and agricultural topics, new bank products, and also local economic
conditions and national market statistics. Please do
not hesitate to let us know how we can improve the
Account or better serve you. As always, thank you for
your business and continued support of State Bank.
We appreciate the opportunity to serve you. And to insure that everyone has ­access to the Account, we will
post it on our web-site at www.statebankfreeport.com.
Credit Card ­Accountability
and ­Responsibility Act
Chris Schneiderman - On Monday, February 22nd,
2010, the new federal credit card act went into
­effect. This new legislation was intended to enhance
­consumer friendliness and require full disclosure by
credit card issuers. For consumers, the most significant ­provisions involved rates, terms and fees. The
act now limits when credit card issuers can increase
interest rates on existing card balances. The law also
requires that fees for paying late or going over the limit are reasonable and related to the infraction. Credit
card issuers must now notify consumers of significant
changes in terms on their accounts at least 45 days
before they take effect. Issuers must also inform card
2
Your Credit Score
Andrea Moring
3
Agriculture
Andrew Garnhart
holders of their right to cancel or close the account –
called opting out – if they do not agree to the changes.
One group that the new legislation has impacted is
college students and those under 21, who will find it
considerably harder to land a charge card. For many
college students it was extremely easy to get a credit
card. But now, people under the age of 21 can not
get cards unless a parent or other adult co-signs and
takes liability for the charges – or the young person
has enough income from a job to qualify on their
own. (The required income level is not spelled out
precisely in the law). The act also bans credit-rating
houses from giving out data to issuers to send unsolicited pre-approved card offers to young people,
unless people under 21 have specifically authorized
credit raters to give out the data. It also bans issuers
from promoting cards to young people with frisbees,
tee shirts and other freebies. An example of how seriously the law is trying to crack down on credit cards
for college students: One provision bans credit card
companies from even marketing to college students
within 1,000 feet of campus. For more information on
this topic, visit www.creditcards.com.
LABOR FORCE - JANUARY 2010
Labor Force
12,839
25,446
73,275
147,551
Freeport
Stephenson
Rockford
Winnebago
Unemployed
1,961
3,727
15,208
28,434
UNEMPLOYMENT
Freeport Stephenson Rockford Winnebago
Jan ‘10
Dec ‘09
Jan ’09
15.3
13.2
11.9
14.6
12.2
11.7
Source: IDES
4
E-Statements
Chris Schneiderman
20.8
17.5
14.5
19.3
16.1
13.4
About credit reports and scores….
by Andrea Moring - As you probably already know,
lenders use credit reports and scores to assess your
credit risk. What you may not know is that your credit
score is also used in calculating insurance premiums, interest rates, and the available limit on your
credit card. More than ever, your credit score is impacting
some of your everyday
expenses.
15% is affected by established history, which means
the longer you maintain open accounts with creditors
the better.
10% is affected by inquiries, so unnecessary credit
inquiries are going to hurt your
score.
!
SCORE
R
U
O
Y
W
O
KN
10% is affected by mix of
credit, so try to use different
types of credit.
The score most wideScore: 678
ly used is called the
it
d
The most important aspect
re
C
S
U
e
Averag
FICO score. FICO score
of maintaining a good cred50+
7
:
it
comes from Fair Isaac
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it score or attempting to
re
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t
Excellen
50
7
0
and Company, the com5
6
­improve on your score is to
Good Credit:
0
pany that developed
5
analyze your credit report on
600 - 6
the software used by
r
e
a routine basis. ­Fortunately,
Fair Credit:
w
lo
600 and
:
it
the three credit bureaus.
d
the law requires each
re
C
Bad
FICO scores can be ob­reporting agency to give
tained from three credit
you at least one free look a
bureaus, including Experian,
year. This does not include the score, but gives you
TransUnion and Equifax. Your score is determined the capabilities to review your report. You can use
using various criteria and weighted as follows:
the web-site www.annualcreditreport.com or call
1-877-322-8228.
35% is affected by Payment History and thus late
payments, collections, charge offs, bankruptcies, If you find inaccurate data on your report, our
judgments, and liens will hurt your score. All is time ­suggestion is to call one of the credit bureaus and
based, so the older the information, the less it is they will give you instructions on disputing. Their
­contributing to the score.
contact information can be found via the web.
30% is affected by utilization, which is your ­balance
­divided by your credit limit. Lower than 10% ­utilization
is recommended per account and this is one of the
fastest means for increasing the overall credit score.
For additional information on credit reports, please
call the Bank or there are various web sites with
­detailed information, including www.bankrate.com
and www.myfico.com.
HOME SALES 2008 - 2009*
500450400350300250200150100500-
MEDIAN HOME SALE PRICE*
$120,000-
444
467
$100,000$80,000-
$80,800
$78,900
2009
2008
$60,000$40,000$20,000-
2009
2008
0-
*Stephenson County single family/condominium sales. Source: www.illinoisrealtor.org
Agribusiness
Welcome to the ­agricultural section of our
inaugural e
­ dition of the State Bank ­Account.
Each ­quarter this ­section will be d
­ evoted to the
­current ­issues s­ urrounding the a
­ gricultural
­community and how it relates to our customers.
by Andrew Garnhart - Recently State Bank, along with a few
other local community banks,
held its ­annual Winter Agricultural
­Seminar. Professor Ron Hansen
of the University of NebraskaLincoln ­captured the audience’s
attention with his presentation on
family farm ownership ­succession
planning. According to Professor ­Hansen, most families fail
to ­discuss the real life “what if”
issues in terms of farm business ownership succession. He
shared numerous stories of families that were not prepared and
­experienced unfortunate ­endings
to the family farm due to unexpected deaths, divorces or jealous
­sibling squabbles. The main point
of his program was to start planning now, it is never too early!
Here are a few questions to ask
yourself and your family as you
begin your succession ­planning:
1 Why is developing a farm
s­ uccession plan important to your
family?
2 When family members farm
together, what most often causes
the disagreements between these
family members? What type of
conflicts can actually split a farm
family apart?
3 For your family to be successful in implementing a farm
succession plan for the next generation, what factors and/or issues
need to be discussed by all family
members involved? Are there any
potential problems that need to be
resolved?
4 What problems/issues could
impair the progress your family
makes in developing and implementing a succession plan for your
operation?
5 Have mom and dad discussed
their wishes with the family regarding the farming operation/estate
in case of unexpected death of
either spouse? Have their wishes
been put in writing or even made
known to any of the children? Are
mom and dad willing to sit down
with their children and share their
feelings and plans for passing
their farming operation onto children in their estate plan? Are the
children’s spouses involved in the
conversation?
6 If the family is not able to
r­ esolve these issues and reach
agreement, would all family
­members be willing to work with a
­professional consultant to develop
a business ownership plan for the
succession of the family farm to
the next generation?
Spring will be here soon, when
we again will see tractors tilling
the fields in preparation of this
year’s crop. During the slower time
­between now and then we encourage you and your family to prepare
for the long-term to ensure the
family farm tradition carries on. Do
you have a plan?
A portion of this information
was derived from professor Ron
­Hansen, University of NebraskaLincoln.
Coming Soon!
e•statements
In the next few months, State Bank
will be introducing e-statements.
E-Statements allow:
• Faster and more secure ­delivery
of your checking or savings
statement.
• Reduced risk of mail fraud and
identity theft from your ­paper
statement ending up in the
wrong hands.
• Access to your most recent
statements in a secure online
environment.
• Flexibility to view, print and
save your statements onto your
­computer at any time.
What are E-Statements?
An e-statement is an electronic
statement delivery system that is
a quicker alternative to receiving
a traditional paper statement. You
will receive the same information as
your paper statement but with the
convenience of electronic delivery
and security of viewing on Internet
Banking.
s­ tatement has been processed
and is ­available for review on
­Internet Banking. Simply log onto
­Internet Banking and view your
­statement. (Images of your checks
can be viewed through the History
then Statement tab). You have the
­flexibility to save your statement
onto your computer and print a
copy at your convenience.
How E-Statements Work:
In order to receive checking or savings e-statements, you must first
be enrolled on Internet Banking.
After enrolling in e-statements you
will ­receive an e-mail from State
Bank notifying you when your
If you have questions or would like to
be notified as soon as ­e-statements
become ­available, please call your
relationship ­manager or email Coral
Lamm at [email protected].
U.S. MARKET STATISTICS
Q4 09
Q3 09
Q4 08
5.90%
2.20%
-5.40%
2/26/10
12/31/09
12/31/08
3.25%
3.25%
3.25%
3/18/10
1 year ago
2 years ago
Dow
10,791
7,400
12,100
S&P 500
1,165
784
1,331
Oil
$81.75
$51.55
$103.25
Gold
$1,123
$955
$960
GDP
Wall Street Journal National Prime
BANKING HOURS:
Lobby
Mon-Thurs 8:30am - 5:00pm
Friday
8:30am - 5:00pm
Saturday
Closed
Source: Federal Reserve, CNBC
Drive-up
Mon-Thurs 8:00am - 5:30pm
Friday
8:00am - 6:00pm
Saturday
8:00am - 12:00pm
www.statebankfreeport.com