Big Bank vs Community Bank...

Late last week I stopped by my bank of countless years, Regions Bank, and canceled my three checking accounts. Out of the blue they decided to start charging a monthly fee for my tiny little accounts so rather than pay them to use my money I picked up the phone and easily found a lot of other banks that didn't charge. I had two business accounts and a personal account (no fee on that one). None of them had a lot of money in them, but since the money just sat there for months without being used, thus allowing them to earn money on my money it was silly to stay with Regions Bank.

I planned my day to allow time to answer questions when I canceled my account. I wasn't upset and I really like some of the people at the bank who I've known for years so no way I'd fuss even if I did have a problem! However, no one asked why I was canceling. I walked in, asked the teller who I needed to talk with about canceling my account and was told she could do it. Five minutes later my accounts were closed, I had my cash and I left. Not one question. Not one "gee, we're sorry you're leaving" (even before they saw my small balances!).

As said, I'd found quite a few banks that didn't charge. I had talked face-to-face with some of the various bank reps at the Fayette County Chamber Expo in September. It's a great event and I was able to get a good feel for the people plus got to take home a lot of info to compare.

I settled on Charter Bank. It's a small community bank with branches in Fayette County, Coweta County, and then a few going down into LaGrange and over into Alabama. The only thing they didn't have that I would have liked is ATM fee reimbursement given the small number of locations... but since I never use them that wasn't a biggie for me, but might be for others.

The people were fantastic. Not over the top fake gushing friendly, but real, down-to-earth, gee we really appreciate the fact that you chose us fantastic. I walked out of there feeling that I'd made some friends. I also walked out with a pair of computer speakers and a good thermos. How many banks these days give you gifts for opening an account? I got a kick out of it and had to joke that I was glad they weren't handing out toasters! Then I looked at the list and saw that back in the early part of the year they handed out little bread-toasting sandwich grills... close.

I like the idea of a community bank. I like feeling like I'm more than a number. I like it that while they of course want the big accounts, they still appreciate all the small accounts. I like the free checking, too.

I had forgotten what excellent customer service felt like. Sure, my old bank had really nice people and I liked them. However, their hands were tied when it came to making decisions... understandably so given their size. They didn't know much about me or my account. Only one person in the branch that I've gone into for years remembered my name, and that was because we knew each other outside the bank. I have the feeling that when I walk into Charter Bank they'll remember my name.

I hear SunTrust's commercials saying they give you an individual banker who cares. I like the concept, but somehow I can't imagine that two little start-up businesses like mine would warrant a whole lot of individual attention! I think I have found a bank where I'll get the kind of attention that makes me feel like I matter. That's a rare thing these days in the world of big, bigger and biggest.

I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Oh, the reason Regions Bank gave me for starting to charge a fee is that the changes in the way ATM withdrawals work will cost them a lot of revenue... they have to make it up somewhere. The new regs don't allow them to overdraft your account when you make a withdrawal but don't have the funds. I gather that in the past if you took out a hundred dollars but only had fifty in the account they'd give you the money, then charge your overdraft fees or the overdraft protection would kick in, which also cost money. Now you have to designate which way you want it to work. I found it ironic that I was being charged a fee on my banking account due to ATM fee changes and yet I never use an ATM card on the Regions accounts... I do on my main personal account, which is with another bank. If things go well at Charter, that account may be moving, too...

Medical Specialists Petition Congress to Preserve Access to Care for Millions of Medicare Patients

/PRNewswire/ -- The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) sent a petition to Congress today signed by 1,325 AACE members, non-AACE member physicians, allied health professionals and patients opposing a new Medicare policy which would eliminate consultation codes for specialists. Overturning this policy would preserve access to care for millions of Medicare patients seen by a medical specialist.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) new policy, which went into effect on January 1, 2010, no longer allows endocrinologists and other cognitive specialists to bill for consultations provided for patients referred to them by primary care physicians.

In December, AACE surveyed its members. The results of that survey indicated that if consultation codes are eliminated, four out of five endocrinologists would be forced to drastically reduce or eliminate the number of Medicare patients seen in their practices.

AACE is also extremely concerned about the hasty implementation of this new policy. Guidance on how to comply with the new policy was only made available to health care professionals and Medicare contractors less than two weeks before the January 1st implementation date. The new policy will severely restrict patient access to specialty care, and the expedited implementation of this policy will cause major disruptions in the health care system in the weeks ahead as new Medicare claims are processed.

As a result, AACE is urging Members of Congress to adopt Senate amendment 3163, introduced by Senator Arlen Specter (D-PA), as part of the final health care reform agreement or as part of any legislative vehicle that is expected to imminently pass Congress. The Specter amendment would delay the new CMS policy for one year to allow more time to adequately prepare for this policy change and fully consider its impact.

"The result of CMS' decision will be a significant reduction in the quality of care received by older Americans," AACE President and Chief of Endocrinology at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, Dr. Jeffrey R. Garber said. "AACE applauds the continued efforts of Senator Specter to delay this flawed (CMS) policy."

In addition to AACE, the Specter amendment has been endorsed by numerous societies representing medical specialists. AACE is encouraging all medical specialists and their patients to write their Members of Congress asking them to support the Specter Amendment.

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Social Security Administration Plans to Raise Identity Verification Fees by Nearly 900%

RJ Note: I can see it now-- another $4.46 on a mortgage will take the deal down. Right.

/PRNewswire/ -- Effective October 1, 2009, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will be raising its fees for mortgage and financial companies to authenticate borrower Social Security numbers from $0.56 to $5.00 per verification. This price increase could significantly impair the industry's move to protect itself against identity-based mortgage fraud.

According to a letter sent to Michael Astrue, Commissioner of the Social Security Administration by Congresswoman Kay Granger (R-Texas), this fee increase could lead to the de facto cancellation of the CBSV (Consumer-Based Social Security Number Verification) program, as it could significantly lead to fewer and fewer lenders using the program. According to that same letter, the decision to increase fees for the CBSV program was made by the Social Security Administration without collaboration with the U.S. Congress. Mr. Astrue denied Congresswoman Granger's initial request for a 60-day delay to evaluate the necessity of this fee increase.

On Tuesday, September 22, Congresswoman Kay Granger and key staff, which includes committees of oversight for the SSA, plan to meet with the Social Security Administration to discuss the negative repercussions this planned increase in fees will have on the mortgage industry and the nation as a whole, and intend to re-propose a delay in implementing these fees. Senate Majority Leader Reid, House Speaker Pelosi, House Majority Leader Hoyer and Senators Hutchinson, Harkin, Cochran and Cornyn have been contacted and are expected to support a delay in implementation as well.

"With lower loan production and lenders' increased focus on cutting costs, this fee increase could have a highly detrimental impact on the mortgage industry, as well as the U.S. and global economies," says fraud expert Jay Meadows, CEO of Rapid Reporting, the mortgage industry's largest provider of third-party income, identity and employment verification services. "While unfortunate, it's a definite possibility that lenders will avoid using these higher priced CBSV-based Social Security number authentication, even though it's a reliable way to protect against identity fraud."

Mortgage fraud has been widely recognized as a leading cause of the industry's collapse, and of the economic troubles that the nation is facing. Increasing the cost for lenders to screen for fraud could prove counterproductive to the industry's recovery efforts, particularly at a time when the industry is still struggling to repair the damage caused by fraud in the earlier part of this decade, asserts Meadows.

According to an article published by National Mortgage News on September 18, 2009, written by Paul Muolo, co-author of Chain of Blame: How Wall Street Caused the Mortgage and Credit Crisis, "The country has seen a 'drastic increase' in mortgage fraud cases as a result of the upheaval in the housing market, according to FBI director Robert Mueller. FBI agents are investigating 2,600 mortgage fraud cases as of July 31, up from 1,600 for all of 2008."

Furthermore, the Mortgage Asset Research Institute (MARI) lists elderly and immigrant identity fraud -- the predatory practice of stealing the identities of elderly and non English-speaking individuals for use in straw-buying or other property transactions -- as one of the three emerging fraud schemes expected to rise throughout 2009, and a Reuter's article citing the FBI Mortgage Fraud report states that higher lending standards have increased the value of identities of individuals with good credit to those who perpetrate fraud.

"Lenders need to remain diligent in their efforts to combat fraud," says Meadows. "With buy-backs costing companies hundreds of thousands of dollars per incident, even adding a few extra dollars per applicant still brings about a strong return on investment."

About Rapid Reporting

Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, Rapid Reporting Verification Company is a national provider of definitive income, identity and employment verification services for mortgage lenders to help combat fraud. In 2007, the company won the 2007 Fix-It Award for a technology solution that solves an industry problem. Core offerings include IncomeChek, which is used to verify income through information obtained from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), DirectChek, which meets USA Patriot Act compliance and verifies identity via a direct comparison of the SSN to the Social Security Administration (SSA) database and searches of over 15 billion records in public and private databases for identity fraud and abuse, and EmploymentChek, the company's newest offering that combines live, person-to-person telephone contact and comprehensive database research to verify borrower employment. All services operate over a secure Web-based portal, which is audited daily for security purposes, and both IncomeChek and DirectChek are available through RapidChek, a web services platform that allows companies to access both solutions through a single interface. Rapid Reporting formed and continues to build relationships with government agencies, such as the IRS and the Social Security Administration (SSA), to gather electronic data for verification purposes. Rapid Reporting's executive team led the successful lobbying efforts to secure the continuation of the enumeration verification system (EVS) with the SSA database. For additional information, email Info@RapidReporting.com, call 888.749.4411 or visit www.RapidReporting.com .

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