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Be Sure Your Concerns are Addressed
Do you have a question for the president?
Would you like to see something specific in the newsletter?
Send all your questions or comments here. |
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Greetings!
We have decided to change the look and feel of our newsletter. We hope you you like it. Please take a moment to email and let us know your thoughts about the new layout. If there is something you would like to see in our Newsletter or a particular article included, please let us know.
Thank you,
Midtown Bank
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Back to School is a Good time to Check Your Credit Report |
 According to the North American Precis Syndicate ( NAPS), the start of school is a good time to review the family financial situation. Parents will be shopping for new clothes and school supplies and even paying tuition as students head back to school, so a review of your credit report is especially important now.
Financial experts say the starting point in reviewing your finances is to get a free copy of your credit report by going to www.annualcreditreport.com. This will provide you with an excellent, comprehensive overview of your outstanding debt obligations.
"The Federal Reserve Bank of New York did a study that showed that households underestimated their credit card debt by as much as a third," said Stuart Pratt, president and CEO of the Consumer Data Industry Association. "The average amount of credit card debt carried by a household was around $7,000. However, consumers estimated their debt at around $5,000. Credit report literacy is a priority for the credit bureaus. By looking at your credit report, consumers can get a more complete and accurate reflection of outstanding debt obligations," Pratt said.
Reviewing your credit report can also prevent any future issues that might cause a problem when applying for credit or for a home mortgage. If you find any issues or information you don't recognize in your report, notify the credit bureau right away. All three of the nationwide credit bureaus can be accessed online, by phone or by mail. Whatever method you choose, the credit bureau will contact the lender that provided the information and ask them to correct it and then notify you of the results within 30 days. A recent study by the FTC showed that 98 percent of credit reports had no errors that would negatively impact a consumer. And a 2011 study by the Policy and Economic Research Council found that 95 percent of consumers who notified the credit bureau about an error in their credit report were satisfied with the outcome.
The 3 Credit Reporting Agencies website links:
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Message from the President |
 Did you notice a change to MidtownBank.com? At the beginning of September, we encrypted our website with an EV SSL Certificate. This certificate is an enhancement which will help to protect you against fraud and cyber criminals. Our online banking has always been secure, and now our website is too!
Here is a little more information about what an EV SSL Certificate actually is:
- Extended Validation (EV) SSL is an advanced version of Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), which is a security protocol that encrypts information exchanged by browsers and websites.
- Both EV SSL and Standard SSL secure your online transactions using 128-bit encryption, which is the strongest method available for commercial use.
- The difference is that sites issued an EV SSL Certificate have undergone a more extensive evaluation by the certificate authority identified in the address bar. This helps to ensure the true identity of the site you're visiting and reduces the threat of phishing attacks, because the green highlight makes it easy to recognize website pages whose ownership has been verified.
- If your browser supports EV and you visit a secure page on a website that has been issued an EV Certificate, you may see the address bar turn green or the company name appear in green at the top of the browser. The latest version of many browsers support EV, including:
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 8+
- Mozilla Firefox 3.6+
- Safari 5+
- Opera 10.6+
- Google Chrome
If you have any questions, please call the Banking Center at (404) 969-4400.
Sincerely,
R. Stanley Kryder
President & CEO
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Football is Back!
Football has officially started its 2013-2014 season. Atlanta is home to the NFL's Atlanta Falcons, ACC's Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, and the Sun Belt's Georgia State Panthers.
Say"Goodbye" to Baseball
September also rounds out the end of regular season baseball. Go see your last regular season Braves game before you are forced to wait until April 2014. |
Busses Back on the Road September means back to school. This also means the busses are back in traffic. Remember to add back those extra few minutes you could shave off your morning commute during the summer. |
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