The Evolution of Checking Accounts: Fun and Weird Facts About How Checking Came to Be You probably don’t think much about your checking account. Money comes in, money goes out, and it came with a nifty debit card. Like anything else, checking accounts have a rich history with plenty of fun anecdotes. This may just be what you need to win that trivia night. So in honor of those who… Read More
What You Need to Open a Personal Bank Account Today’s to-do list: open a bank account, aka, adulting. “Ugh,” you think, “why isn’t this something that was taught in school instead of the Pythagorean theorem?” Not to fear we have the inside scoop straight from the horse’s mouth (we’re bankers after all). Banking 101 is now in session; so grab your pen, paper, and… Read More
Five Easy Ways to Avoid Debt During the Holidays Five Easy Ways to Avoid Debt During the Holidays Between buying gifts, hosting parties, and working fewer hours, it’s easy to add on debt during the holidays. So easy, in fact, most Americans tack on additional $1,000 to their credit card bills according to a national survey by MagnifyMoney. To help you this holiday season,… Read More
Four Ways to Prevent Identity Theft From Happening to You This Holiday Season Could the holidays make us more vulnerable to identity theft? According to experts, it can. And while fraud is a year-round problem, the holidays offer an especially opportune time for thieves. Think about it: purchasing multiple gifts — whether it’s online or in the store — increases exposure to our financial information, and sometimes that… Read More
Equifax Cyberattack: Three Things You Should Do Equifax, one of the major credit reporting bureaus, announced a major cyber breach potentially affecting 143 million Americans. The data breach primarily involved names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, but in some cases, driver’s license and credit card and cash reserve account numbers. We suggest you take the time to thoroughly read the information… Read More
Costly Mistakes to Avoid After College If you’re one of the estimated 4 million students who graduated last May, you may be experiencing some not-so-fun, post-graduation consequences. For instance, 51 percent of college graduates owe about $13,000 in debt, and that’s not including student loans. We want you to be the exception, so we’ve devised a list of seven costly mistakes… Read More
Five Things Bankers Wish You Knew Banking is an interesting industry these days. Some institutions seem to make headlines daily for good or bad reasons. You hear about them in commercials, online, on billboards. They sponsor events and put their names on stadiums. And despite how “in your face” many banks can be, there are still a lot of misconceptions about… Read More
How To Spot A Scam & What To Do: Technical Support Scams FirstBank is excited to announce a four-part series on scams: “How To Spot A Scam & What To Do.” So follow along as we highlight common scams, how to identify them, and what to do. First up: technical support scams. The Situation: While logging into online banking you receive a pop-up message that something is wrong… Read More
Get Out of Debt: Top Tips to Pay Off Student Loans Fast They say college is the best years of your life. In a blink of an eye those years are gone and you’re walking up to accept your diploma. Pictures and memories will be your only reminder of those great years. Well those and crushing student loans. While you could pay minimum payments every month for… Read More
Five Interesting Facts about American Money Cheddar, doubloons, big-ones, ‘the almighty dollar’; cash goes by many names. From bullet sized silver blobs in Thailand to the giant Rai stone-money on the island of Yap, money has been a medium of exchange between people for thousands of years. So how did we end up with copper-nickel rounds and green cotton-paper with the… Read More