Tax Season Financial Fitness Tips

capeandcoastbk on March 1, 2019

piggie bank with headband next to dumbellsTax season.  Those two words conjure up stress for many people.  But whether you’re getting a refund or hit with a hefty payment, we love tax season for another reason entirely.  Filing forces us to take a hard look at our financial big picture. By diving into last year’s numbers, we can make adjustments and get a clearer picture of the coming year’s financial outlook.  Tax season presents a new fiscal beginning and a fresh start towards financial fitness. Here are 4 tips for getting on the right track this year.

1. Review Your Credit Report

It’s not enough to just monitor your credit score.  At least once per year, you should review the contents of your report. Believe it or not, a staggering one in four people have an error on their report.  That can significantly impact your credit score.  The three main credit bureaus – TransUnion, Equifax and Experian – are required by law to provide you with one free copy of your report annually.  Review it carefully for any accounts that you don’t recognize, inquiries to your credit that are unfamiliar or reported late payments that are inaccurate. Little errors can lead to big problems when it comes time to finance a home or other important purchases.

2. Ensure You Never Miss A Payment

On-time payments are one of the biggest factors that determine your overall credit score.  A payment that is thirty days late can drop your score by as many as 100 points. One of the most effective ways to ensure you never miss a payment is to put it on autopilot. Using your bank’s automatic payment system you can set up recurring payments each month.  For those bills that vary from month to month (like your credit card or electricity bill), you can have those bills automatically sent to our Bill Pay system and we’ll send you a reminder prior to their due date.  Online banking makes it easier than ever to keep from missing a payment.

Learn more about our online and mobile banking services and features that can help you manage your payments:

Online Banking Options and Features

3. Save More

Sounds easy, right?  Many of us vaguely resolve to “save more”, but without a solid plan, that pledge can quickly lapse.  Establish your savings goal for the year and then break that down into manageable monthly installments.  When you add this installment as a line-item in your monthly budget, you’ll soon stop missing it — all the while squirreling money away in an interest-bearing account for your future. To make it even easier, set up automatic, recurring transfers so you’re not tempted to skip a month.

We have interest bearing savings accounts that can help:

Savings Account Options

4. Have an Emergency Fund

An emergency fund is your financial security blanket.  While we all hope we won’t need it, the fact is that emergencies and unexpected things happen – it could be a medical emergency, a job loss or major car repair.  Things simply happen that are beyond our control (good example: the recent shutdown of the Federal Government). These unexpected events, while temporary, can be catastrophic if you’re not financially prepared.  We recommend having between three and six months of living expenses saved in this fund.  When you need it, you’ll benefit from the security it provides for you and your family; and if you don’t need it, you’ll benefit from the peace of mind it provides.
Read more about planning for your future, or talk to one of our financial planning advisors.

Saving for Your Future

 

Sheryl Walsh headshotSheryl Walsh is a SVP and Chief Consumer and Small Business Banking Officer with The Cooperative Bank of Cape Cod. 

Cape Cod’s Best 2019 – Vote for the Coop!

capeandcoastbk on March 1, 2019

Thank you to all of our customers and friends that have supported us.

We are honored and humbled to be nominated as one of Cape Cod’s Best 2019 in Cape Cod Times’ Community Choice Awards

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If you would like to continue your support, The Coop has been nominated in the following categories:
Cape Cod's Best of the Best Vote for Us
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Local Services:
People & Places: 
Vote for The Coop, and tell your family and friends!
If you vote in more than 25 categories, you’ll be entered in a sweepstakes to win $250! Votes can be placed between March 1st and March 24th.
It’s easy to do. Simply choose a category, place your vote and fill in your email address.
Continue and complete the registration form.

Coop Team Members Appointed to Local Board of Directors

capeandcoastbk on February 15, 2019

smiling staff from The Coop

Left to right: Laurie Maul, Kirsten Wickson, Charlotte Green

As a community bank, we take pride in the role we play on Cape Cod by helping our friends and neighbors achieve their financial goals and dreams. But, we do so much more than that. We support hundreds of nonprofit organizations, sponsor events, and volunteer for local charities. To that end, we would like to honor and congratulate a few of our employees who volunteer their time and were recently appointed to serve on a nonprofit board of directors.

WE CAN

Laurie Maul, VP and Human Resources Manager, was appointed as the Personnel Committee Chair to the WE CAN Board of Directors. Laurie joined WE CAN because she has long admired the organization’s ability to provide women with dignity and support as they develop the necessary skills to turn their unique challenges into opportunities for growth and empowerment.

Cape Cod Center for the Arts

Kirsten Wickson, the Bank’s CRM Administrator joined the Board of Directors for the Cape Cod Center for the Arts, the organization that oversees the Cape Playhouse in Dennis Village. The playhouse has undergone significant changes over the past few years and Kirsten is excited to help them as they unfold their strategic plan, which includes launching a capital campaign to update the aging buildings.

Cape Cod Young Professionals

Charlotte Green, our Assistant Residential Mortgage Sales Manager, was appointed to the Cape Cod Young Professionals Board of Directors this month. CCYP connects Cape Cod’s emerging workforce and community leaders, engages them in the community, and supports their efforts to advance, personally and professionally. The Coop has been a Premier Sponsor of the organization for over 6 years and we’re glad to continue to give back to the organization through volunteer support as well.

We’re proud to support the communities where we live and work and grateful for the Positively Different people who work for us!

Tax Identity Theft Awareness Week

capeandcoastbk on January 30, 2019

IRS form 1040 with red SCAM written in marker across the top

Tax Identity Theft Awareness Week is January 28 to February 1. This annual campaign aims to help consumers be more informed about protecting themselves from tax-related identity theft and scams. Tax-related identity theft occurs when someone steals a Social Security number and uses it to claim a tax refund or get a job.

We’ve assembled some useful resources to help our customers to be more aware of potential tax and identity scams:

Bank on it: Reflecting on 2018

capeandcoastbk on January 16, 2019

Coop CEO Lisa Oliver

As we start the new year, it’s a time to reflect, review and celebrate.  And we had a lot to celebrate in 2018.

While our fiscal year doesn’t end until March, we are on track to surpass our revenue and return on asset targets.  Said differently, we are succeeding in our focus on adding value to our client relationships by delivering advice, solutions, speed and ease.

Our success isn’t incidental. We’ve built, and are continually growing, a team of professionals who are passionate about serving our clients and community. We significantly expanded our Residential Lending team with the addition of several new loan officers. We added strength to our branches with new managers and invested in both our commercial banking and government outreach divisions.

I’m exceptionally proud of our current team and proud of The Coop’s commitment to investing in our employees through education and professional development.  That includes all levels, from branch employees and senior leadership members, to our Board and the CEO.  We don’t just talk about fostering growth, we actively embrace it.

As a community bank, we are here for one reason only and that is you.  We are driven to continually evolve, add and modify our products and services to deliver solutions that are right for you. Whether you bank in our branches, on your phone or on your computer, we rolled out products in 2018 designed to make banking easier, faster and more convenient for you.  For the small business owner, we’ve made it easier for you to get a cash advance in the event of an accounting error or cash flow shortage.  For the commercial customer, we began offering longer term (10 year) fixed rate loans.  Our client focus from the commercial team also earned us the distinction as the Small Business Association of Massachusetts Third Party Lender of the Year. And through our new relationship with Allpoint network, we are proud to be the only community bank on Cape Cod that offers access to thousands of ATMs with no fees. And those are just the highlights. Our products, services and digital offerings are on par with any major, national bank.

Lastly, but certainly not least, I want to recognize the bank’s continued commitment to giving back to the communities we serve. In 2018, we launched The Cooperative Bank of Cape Cod Charitable Foundation Trust, which marks an exciting next chapter in our story of giving.  The Coop Foundation will allow us to significantly extend and increase the reach of our philanthropy.  We celebrated the Foundation’s debut in December by awarding $105,000 in one time and multi-year grants to four charitable organizations. What an exciting way to kick off the Foundation and close the year!

As always, we thank you for choosing The Coop as your community bank.  We wish all of you happiness and success in the year ahead.

Jeans Day Employee Charitable Giving Program #CharityJeansDay

capeandcoastbk on January 12, 2019

The Cooperative Bank of Cape Cod Jeans Day

Employees of The Cooperative Bank of Cape Cod wearing Yarmouth Police Foundation’s Thin Blue Line t-shirts during the special #CharityJeansDay benefiting the family of fallen Yarmouth Police Sergeant Sean M. Gannon.

The impetus for #CharityJeansDay created in 2009, was to give employees an opportunity to create some good for the local community in a fun and engaging way. We really wanted to design a program that the employees could “own.” This program is completely managed by employees. A great side-benefit is we get to dress more comfortably and casually a couple of days each month…the banking industry, as you know, is pretty conservative!

How it works:
Every other Friday, all employees at The Coop are given the option to wear jeans to work. That includes employees in the executive offices and on the front lines in the branches. The only requirement is that the employee has to make a minimum donation of $5 to the Jeans Day fund.
Every other week, a charitable organization is designated as the beneficiary. The organizations are nominated by employees and selected by the employee-based Jeans Day committee. The only criteria for nominations is that the organization be affiliated with Cape Cod and a registered 501(c)3.

Why it works:
Employees appreciate the opportunity to dress more casually at work on a Friday, but also love the chance to support local non-profit organizations in our community. Because the employees help choose the organizations that benefit, they feel invested in the program. This is truly an employee-owned program that’s a win for everyone!

Who it helps:
The organizations we’ve supported range from small groups that fly under the radar to well-known programs like “Stuff a Bus” and “Be a Santa To a Senior.” It also gives us an opportunity to respond to tragedies that unexpectedly impact our community. After the tragic death of Sgt. Sean M. Gannon, for example, our employees initiated a special Jeans Day and raised $2,270 for The Cape Cod Foundation in care of Sgt. Gannon’s family.
With more than half of our employees participating on a regular basis, and often donating more than the $5 minimum, we’re on track to hit our goal of raising $25,000 in 2018! That includes a pledge from the Bank to match up to $500 of each Jeans Day donation.

 

For more on The Coop’s #CharityJeansDay:

 

Want to help?

To learn more about some of the organizations we’ve helped through our #CharityJeansDay program, you can visit their websites below:

 

Headshot of Johanna Zarra, Residential Lending Sales Assistant

 

My name is Johanna and I’m part of the Residential Mortgage team at The Coop. I’m also part of an internal team that’s been running a very cool employee program – “Charity Jeans Day.”

Music & More Concert Series

capeandcoastbk on January 4, 2019

Music & More, Cape Cod Museum of ARTThe Coop is thrilled to sponsor The Cape Cod Museum of Art’s popular “Music & More!” Concert Series.

The 13 Concert Music & More series offers a great variety of musical performances that include pop, folk, blues, classical, jazz and more.

Music & More, which has been bringing joyful music to Cape Codders for 16 years, opens the New Year with a spirited performance of Blues and American Roots Music by Jerry Portnoy and Brother Phil.

After the performance, guests mingle with the musicians over coffee, tea and cookies.

​Tickets are $18; $15 for CCMoA members.  Season Subscriptions are also available for $150; $120 for CCMoA members. Reservations recommended.  Order online, or call 508-385-4477 x 20.​ To purchase tickets or learn more visit the Cape Cod Museum of Art website

Lisa Oliver Appointed New President and Chief Executive Officer of Cape & Coast Bank

capeandcoastbk on February 14, 2017

Hyannis, MA (February 14, 2017) – Joel Crowell, President and CEO of The Cooperative Bank of Cape Cod, on behalf of the Bank’s Board of Directors, today announced the appointment of Lisa Oliver as his successor.  Oliver becomes only the 5th President of the 95-year-old community Bank and the first female to assume the role.

“Lisa embodies the customer- and community-first philosophy that has always been at the heart of The Cooperative Bank of Cape Cod,” said Crowell, who announced his retirement last fall after forty-seven years of service to the Bank.  “She has a proven track record of leadership, team building and community service.  I am extremely proud to pass this torch to Lisa, who will continue to build upon the tremendous relationships we’ve developed with our customers, while shepherding the Bank into its next hundred years.”

Oliver brings thirty-plus years of financial services experience to the post, including twenty five years at Cleveland, Ohio-based KeyBank where she rose quickly and assumed several senior leadership roles.  Most recently she served as Executive Vice President and Head of Business Banking, leading the company’s $3 billion business banking unit.  Her career path at KeyBank also included thirteen years as President of the Bank’s Greater Cleveland District, where she oversaw the Bank’s 85 branch locations as well as the commercial and private banking sales teams, and led the Bank’s extensive philanthropic initiatives.  Earlier in her career, she served as the Northeast Sales Executive and Segment Leader, leading business banking teams across Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and New York.

“I am a community banker whose career has been focused on clients, community and employees.  Banking is all about people: the expertise to offer the right solutions to meet a client’s financial needs, the service ease and speed to exceed client expectations and the career dialogues to enhance growth opportunities for employees.  The Coop has demonstrated how such a focus has returned benefits to the organizations in its footprint and the communities in which it serves. Its mission aligns perfectly with my business values and I’m thrilled to be joining this wonderful team and the Cape Cod community” said Oliver.

The Cooperative Bank of Cape Cod’s fifteen-member Board of Directors conducted an extensive search of candidates before making their selection.

“Lisa was selected because of her proven leadership, extensive industry experience in both large and small markets, and commitment to delivering cutting edge service in a highly personal way.  She has a deep appreciation for the importance of community banking, particularly in a region like Cape Cod,” said Shelia Vanderhoef, Lead Director of the Board.

A passionate advocate for volunteerism, Lisa has been deeply entrenched in Ohio’s philanthropic community for the past two decades.  She’s served in numerous leadership capacities with organizations including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, United Way, American Heart Association, Gilmour Academy, and Cleveland Botanical Garden, among many others. She was also Co-Executive Chair of the Young Professionals Key Business Networking Group and was honored by the YWCA Greater Cleveland as a Woman of Achievement Recipient. This prestigious award is presented to a select group of women who have achieved extraordinary accomplishments through career success, community service, leadership, mentoring, and dedication to YWCA’s mission of eliminating racism and empowering women.

Oliver will assume the role effective Monday, March 6, 2017.  Crowell will work closely with her for a period of time to ensure a smooth transition.

A graduate of Colgate University where she studied International Relations and French, Lisa went on to complete an Executive Leadership Program at Case Western Reserve University.  She was raised in Kingston, New York and spent many years in the Northeast prior to moving to Ohio to join KeyBank.  No stranger to Cape Cod, she has spent time enjoying our coastline as a visitor.