Issue 21 / January 2015 www.firstfedindiana.com LOCATIONS Downtown Office 648 N. Jefferson St. Huntington, IN 46750 (260) 356-3311 South Office 1240 S. Jefferson St. Huntington, IN 46750 (260) 356-5633 North Office 100 Frontage Rd. Huntington, IN 46750 (260) 358-4680 Warsaw Office 402 E. Center St. Warsaw, IN 46580 (574) 269-3331 Southwest Fort Wayne Office 5317 S. Bend Dr. Fort Wayne, IN 46804 (260) 436-2100 Northeast Fort Wayne Office 10316 Maysville Rd. Fort Wayne, IN 46835 (260) 245-0543 ATM LOCATIONS First Federal Savings Bank 24 W. Park Dr. Huntington, IN 46750 First Federal Savings Bank 100 Frontage Rd. Huntington, IN 46750 Parkview Huntington Hospital 2001 Stults Rd. Huntington, IN 46750 First Federal Savings Bank 402 E. Center St. Warsaw, IN 46580 First Federal Savings Bank 5317 S. Bend Dr. Fort Wayne, IN 46804 First Federal Savings Bank 10316 Maysville Rd. Fort Wayne, IN 46835 MEMBER FDIC REPORT A LOST/STOLEN CARD MasterMoney/ Debit Card: 800-448-8268 MasterCard/Visa Credit Cards: 800-558-3424 Meet Joe Cavacini! Joe Cavacini joined First Federal Savings Bank in April as the Vice President of Commercial Lending and Business Development Officer for the Fort Wayne market. Joe was a double major graduate from IPFW, earned an MBA from Indiana Tech and has over 20 years of financial experience. Joe recently completed the prestigious Graduate School of Banking program at the University of Wisconsin. Joe is a member of Rotary and is involved with Junior Achievement. He resides in Fort Wayne with his wife, Theresa, and their two children where they attend St. John’s the Baptist Church. Joe is located at 5317 South Bend Drive in Fort Wayne and can be contacted at 260- 436-2100. MEET THE STAFF Joe Cavacini 7 Tips for Improving Your Credit Score An important step to finding a home, whether you’re renting or buying, is ensuring that you have a good credit history. The American Bankers Association suggests the following tips to improve your credit score. • Request a copy of your credit score report – and make sure it is correct. Your credit report illustrates your credit performance, and it needs to be accurate so that you can apply for other loans – such as a mortgage. Everyone is entitled to receive a free copy of his or her credit report annually from each of the three credit reporting agencies, but you must go through the Federal Trade Commission’s website at www. annualcreditreport.com, or call 1-877-322-8228. Note that you may have to pay for the numerical credit score itself. • Set up automatic bill pay. Payment history makes up 32 percent of your VantageScore credit score and 35 percent of your FICO credit score. The longer you pay your bills on time, the better your score. Avoid missed payments by setting as many of your bills to automatic pay as possible. • Build credit through renting. VantageScore’s scoring model, created by the three major credit bureaus, will now weigh rent and utility payment records. This will allow it to score as many as 35 million people who previously couldn’t get a credit score. • Keep balances low on credit cards and ‘revolving credit.’ Racking up big balances can hurt your scores, regardless of whether you pay your bills in full each month. You often can increase your scores by limiting your charges to 30 percent or less of a card’s limit. • Apply for and open new credit accounts only as needed. Keep this in mind the next time a retailer offers you 10 percent off if you open an account. However, if you need a new line of credit, don’t jump at the first appealing offer; compare rates and fees offered through mail solicitation, on the Internet or at your local bank. • Don’t close old, paid off accounts. According to FICO, closing accounts can never help your score and can in fact damage it. • Talk to credit counselors if you’re in trouble. Using legitimate, non-profit credit counseling can help you manage your debt and won’t hurt your credit score. For more information on debt management, contact the National Foundation for Consumer Credit (www.nfcc.org).
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Issue 21 / January 2015www.firstfedindiana.com
LOCATIONSDowntown Office648 N. Jefferson St.
Huntington, IN 46750(260) 356-3311
South Office1240 S. Jefferson St.
Huntington, IN 46750(260) 356-5633
North Office100 Frontage Rd.
Huntington, IN 46750(260) 358-4680
Warsaw Office402 E. Center St.
Warsaw, IN 46580(574) 269-3331
Southwest Fort Wayne Office5317 S. Bend Dr.
Fort Wayne, IN 46804(260) 436-2100
Northeast Fort Wayne Office10316 Maysville Rd.
Fort Wayne, IN 46835(260) 245-0543
ATM LOCATIONSFirst Federal Savings Bank
24 W. Park Dr.Huntington, IN 46750
First Federal Savings Bank100 Frontage Rd.
Huntington, IN 46750
Parkview Huntington Hospital2001 Stults Rd.
Huntington, IN 46750
First Federal Savings Bank402 E. Center St.
Warsaw, IN 46580
First Federal Savings Bank5317 S. Bend Dr.
Fort Wayne, IN 46804
First Federal Savings Bank10316 Maysville Rd.
Fort Wayne, IN 46835
MEMBER
FDIC
RepoRt A Lost/stoLen CARd
MasterMoney/ Debit Card: 800-448-8268
MasterCard/Visa Credit Cards: 800-558-3424
Meet Joe Cavacini! Joe Cavacini joined First Federal Savings Bank in April as the Vice President of Commercial Lending and Business Development Officer for the Fort Wayne market. Joe was a double major graduate from IPFW, earned an MBA from Indiana Tech and has over 20 years of financial experience. Joe recently completed the prestigious Graduate School of Banking program at the University of Wisconsin. Joe is a member of Rotary and is involved with Junior Achievement. He resides in Fort Wayne with his wife, Theresa, and their two children where they attend St. John’s the Baptist Church. Joe is located at 5317 South Bend Drive in Fort Wayne and can be contacted at 260-436-2100.
MEET THE STAFF
Joe Cavacini
7 Tips for Improving Your Credit Score An important step to finding a home, whether you’re renting or buying, is ensuring that you have a good credit history. The American Bankers Association suggests the following tips to improve your credit score.
• Request a copy of your credit score report – and make sure it is correct. Your credit report illustrates your credit performance, and it needs to be accurate so that you can apply for other loans – such as a mortgage. Everyone is entitled to receive a free copy of his or her credit report annually from each of the three credit reporting agencies, but you must go through the Federal Trade Commission’s website at www.annualcreditreport.com, or call 1-877-322-8228. Note that you may have to pay for the numerical credit score itself.
• Set up automatic bill pay. Payment history makes up 32 percent of your VantageScore credit score and 35 percent of your FICO credit score. The longer you pay your bills on time, the better your score. Avoid missed payments by setting as many of your bills to automatic pay as possible.
• Build credit through renting. VantageScore’s scoring model, created by the three major credit bureaus, will now weigh rent and utility payment records. This will allow it to score as many as 35 million people who previously couldn’t get a credit score.
• Keep balances low on credit cards and ‘revolving credit.’ Racking up big balances can hurt your scores, regardless of whether you pay your bills in full each month. You often can increase your scores by limiting your charges to 30 percent or less of a card’s limit.
• Apply for and open new credit accounts only as needed. Keep this in mind the next time a retailer offers you 10 percent off if you open an account. However, if you need a new line of credit, don’t jump at the first appealing offer; compare rates and fees offered through mail solicitation, on the Internet or at your local bank.
• Don’t close old, paid off accounts. According to FICO, closing accounts can never help your score and can in fact damage it.
• Talk to credit counselors if you’re in trouble. Using legitimate, non-profit credit counseling can help you manage your debt and won’t hurt your credit score. For more information on debt management, contact the National Foundation for Consumer Credit (www.nfcc.org).
Huntington County Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner
Monday, January 19th from 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
PAL Club
Big Brothers Big Sisters Bowl for Kids’ SakeSunday, March 8th
at 12:00 PM/2:30 PM/5:00 PMRainbow Lanes
Sign up online at www.bbbsnei.org
Special Olympics Polar Bear PlungeFebruary 21st at 10:30 AM
The Bowling AlleySign up online at www.bbbsnei.org
Special Olympics Polar Bear PlungeFebruary 21st at 10:30 AM
Meta Park Beachhttp://www.firstgiving.com/soindiana/
fortwayne2015
Fort Wayne Home & Garden ShowFebruary 26th thru March 1st
Allen County Memorial Coliseum4000 Parnell Avenue
http://home-gardenshow.com/
Big Brothers Big Sisters Bowl for Kids’ SakeMultiple days and times
Thunder BowlSign up online at www.bbbsnei.org
Vera Bradley Outlet SaleApril 8th thru 12th
Allen County Memorial Coliseum4000 Parnell Avenue
Monday, February 16, 2015President’s Day
Friday, April 3, 2015Good FridayClose at Noon
Drive up reopens: 3PM – 6PM
Holiday Closings
Huntington
warsaw
Fort wayne
Community events
Community events
Community events
Ian Hope, Assistant Vice President, celebrated 10 years of service with First Federal Savings Bank on December 29, 2014. Currently, Ian is the Commercial Loan Portfolio Manager, assisting current commercial clients with renewals and incremental loan requests. He also supports the commercial loan officers and credit staff. Additionally, he is leading the implementation of new software for the commercial department.
Ian is a resident of Allen County where he resides with his wife, Jennifer. They have three children. Ian attends The Chapel in Fort Wayne, where he’s been involved in the Children’s, Middle School and Small Group Ministries. He also volunteers at his daughter’s elementary school. Ian enjoys cycling and fixing/restoring bicycles.
Milestone Anniversary Celebrated
Ian Hope
First Federal Announces Teller of the Year and Recognizes EmployeesFirst Federal Savings Bank announces that Christina Ruckman has been named the Teller of the Year for the second consecutive year. Christina received her award at First Federal’s Christmas Party, held on December 10th. She works at First Federal’s Downtown Huntington Office and has been employed with the bank since February of 2012. This recognition comes from accuracy, hard work, customer service, dedication, number of transactions and job knowledge.
The following tellers were recognized for their high transaction counts: Christina Ruckman, Heather Korporal and Cietera Vogleman.
Also honored were employees celebrating anniversaries: Brittney Shoemaker for 5 years, Kary Monroe, Marti Evans and Ian Hope for 10 years, Miriam Barker for 25 years and Cindy Zay for 30 years of service.
Now is the perfect time to start saving for next year! Did you know that First Federal offers a Christmas Club account? It’s a savings account that you can make deposits in any time during the year, and we’ll cut you a check in time for your holiday shopping!
It only takes $10 to open, and there are no monthly service charges or transaction fees. If you felt like the holiday crept up on you this year, it’s the perfect way to be prepared in 2015!
First Federal Savings Bank was recognized as the number one SBA Lender in Northeast Indiana in the most recent issue of the Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly. Results were taken from October 2013 to September 2014 and covered a 12 county area. Of the 31 financial institutions listed, First Federal Savings Bank led the way in total SBA 7(A) loans at $15.16 million. That performance was almost 60% higher than the next closest lender. In addition to leading this territory in SBA lending, First Federal Savings Bank was third overall in the State of Indiana with $25.66 million in SBA loans during the same time period.
First Federal Savings Bank President and CEO, Michael Zahn, comments, “Small businesses are vital to the success of our communities. As a community bank, it gives us great pride to be able to provide capital to businesses to help them succeed and grow.” Zahn continues, “Our commercial team does an incredible job working with our business clients to find the right financing products to meet their needs.”
First Federal Savings Bank Named #1 SBA Lender in Northeast Indiana
