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
Seven Bad Financial Habits You Need to Break Right Now Human beings are habit-creating machines, craving any mental or physical shortcut that lets us focus on higher-level thoughts, such as what’s for lunch or developing theories about Netflix dramas. Still, every person who is good at money learned good habits, which means you can, too. “What we know from lab studies is that it’s never too late… Read More
Side Jobs that Can Make You Extra Cash “Mo money, mo problems,” a popular song lyric popularized by the Notorious B.I.G (Biggie Smalls) in the ‘90s, laid out the problems inherited as one’s cash supply grows. But, what if your problem is a lack of money to begin with? Certainly no one, not even Biggie Smalls, is arguing that there are somehow less… Read More
What Dogs Can Teach Us About Saving Dogs. The very name conjures up thoughts of adorable puppies, tear jerking movies, and fond nostalgia for owners. They’re cute, they’re fluffy, and they’re a man’s best friend (women seem to love them, too!). While we wouldn’t advise you to take financial advice from your dog (insert puns here…”de-paw-sit”), we can point out where Fido… Read More
Five Tips to Avoid One of America’s Most Costly Scams Wire Fraud. Picture this: You’ve saved $75,000 — your entire life savings for a down payment on a new home. You spent months looking and finally found your dream house. Your offer’s been accepted, your mortgage approved and closing day is set. You’re over the moon. Before you close, you’re emailed wire instructions on where… Read More