Head of the Class – Several local businesses have told us they’re taking advantage of a lighter work load by planning and hosting free webinars and educational seminars for their customers. It’s a great way to utilize your expertise to help your customers and to position yourself as a resource that the community can reach out to with questions.

A Faster Door-to-Door – The internet has made communication with customers easier than ever and there are literally hundreds of internet sites that offer inexpensive services to help you design and send e-mail newsletters. Newsletters are an easy and effective way to share product news, give updates about exciting developments at your business and feature your latest promotions.

Giving Outside the Box – For many businesses that have had to cut back on charitable giving, it may be time to think outside the box. In-kind donations such as flyers for a non-profit event—which you might be able to design and print right from your own office—allow you to help in unconventional (but necessary) ways that can keep you in the eyes of the community even if you can’t write a big check this year.

Gather Round – With so much change happening in local and national governments, it’s hard for the community to keep abreast of all the changes that may affect them. Town Hall meetings are an excellent forum to share pertinent information and, perhaps more importantly, to listen to the concerns of your customers and give them straightforward answers that are hard to find anywhere else.

Did you know that Venture Bank has all of the tools you need to make banking a part of your earth-friendly lifestyle?

• VISA Check Cards – You can use our check cards anywhere VISA is accepted. They are safer than cash and can considerably reduce the number of checks that you order and write.
• Online Bill Pay – Pay regular monthly bills and make one-time payments to landlords or doctors offices, all without writing a single check or stamping a single envelope.
• E-Statements – Stem the tide of unopened mail by simply receiving an e-mail each month when your statement is ready to be viewed, printed or saved right to your home PC.

If you’d like to learn more about how to bank greener, talk to your neighborhood banker at any Venture Bank location or call us at 888-373-2265.

In an historic, unprecedented action, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced on October 14, 2008, that it will insure all non-interest bearing deposits at member banks, regardless of amount. The change is guaranteed through December 31, 2009.

This announcement is great news for businesses and other customers who need to carry high checking balances in payroll and expense accounts, but still want the security of FDIC insurance and the convenience of maintaining all accounts at Venture Bank.

All interest-bearing accounts remain covered up to a quarter-million dollars per depositor. These include interest checking, money market, savings, certificate of deposit and IRA accounts. In addition, Venture Bank has ways to significantly increase the amount of coverage for interest-bearing accounts.

Here are the most current FDIC insurance coverage limits for interest-bearing accounts:

• Single Accounts (owned by one person) - $250,000 per owner
• Joint Accounts (two or more persons) - $250,000 per co-owner
• IRAs and certain other retirement accounts - $250,000 per owner
• Trust Accounts - $250,000 per owner per beneficiary*
  (*Commonly known as payable-on-death [POD] or living trust accounts. Subject to specific limitations and requirements. Beneficiaries were recently expanded to include a person, charity or non-profit organization.)

If you have questions about these changes or if you’d like to make sure you’ve maximized your FDIC insurance coverage, stop in to your local financial center or call us at 1-888-373-2265.

You can also estimate your current FDIC insurance coverage online by visiting the FDIC insurance estimator.

To address the rapid of identity theft in America, Venture Bank is now offering all of our customers LifeLock, a proven, successful system developed to prevent identity theft before it occurs.LifeLock works to protect your identity and offers a one million dollar service guarantee.

As a Venture Bank customer, you receive a 10% discount on this service so your cost is only $99 a year for adults ($9.00 per month) and $22.50 a year for children 15 and under ($2.25 per month). Click here to enroll and enter VBWEB as your promotion code. To learn more about what to expect when you enroll click here.

When you’re ready to open one of our great new accounts, call us at 1-888-373-2265 or stop into any of our 18 financial center locations.