Welcome back to the Chagrin Falls Merchant Association Podcast where we’re talking all things Chagrin Falls and the businesses who reside here.
All of my interviews with fellow Clevelanders, have showed me the same unique through line: that we're all so community minded and want to help raise each other up, especially in the small business community.
And that’s exactly what I experienced talking with Carlye and James at First Federal Lakewood.
In this episode they shared:
not only how banking with them is so much deeper than a transaction
but the specific ways they can help your business (that some of the big guys can’t.)
This episode was produced by Megan Moran at Mompreneur Co. Studio.
Did you know there’s a beautiful meeting space and podcast studio right here in the Falls? Take a virtual tour to see for yourself.
How have you seen community play into your work here in Chagrin Falls?
First Federal Lakewood is very involved in the communities for wherever they're located and where they're serving. That is our main thing. We love to get involved and seek out ways to help people that live and work in the communities.
Is that a value you both hold yourselves as well? Is that why you were so drawn to the company?
Carlye: Yes, absolutely.
James: Yeah. I love it too, because technically we're a mutual bank. So we, don't have shareholders, which is unique to most commercial banks. We get to be a little bit more gray when it comes to fee structures and rates because we're not trying to make a shareholder happy at the end of the quarter.
So being a customer, you are technically part owner of the bank because you are now a depositor with us. It's super cool and a different way to do banking.
Megan: I think that's a really special thing and it only makes sense that something like that would be in Chagrin Falls since we are such a tight knit community.
What is a relationship bank?
Carlye: One of the things I like, is we are able to think outside of the box.
Obviously we have to follow the same regulations of any financial institution, but we can definitely structure things to make it work for the individual client.
Like if, somebody's looking for a special rate, since we are a relationship bank, we look at the full picture.
If you've been with us and we are your primary bank, we're able to make some exceptions.
Also in terms of lending. Because we are smaller, I can pick up the phone and call my underwriter, which is nice and a unique perspective, too. I can tell the story of the individual client.
I think it’s so important, especially in a small town like Chagrin. Where everybody seems to know everyone, we can really help our business clients gain more clients.
Small Business Banking with First Federal Lakewood
James: Yeah, here in Treasury we call it: private bank meets commercial because when our clients need something:
they're not calling a customer service number
getting a random person that picks up
and then helping piece together a picture.
There's a group of five of us. So if they can't get a hold of me personally, there's a support team that's always there picking up the phone or answering a group email.
And they know these people by name, so it's a small town home feel vs. just calling a call center and hoping someone picks up the pieces from where you left off the last time.
Partnering with a bank that cares
Carlye: James is a fabulous partner.
James: So is Carlye. She usually handles the everyday small business banking, but when it comes to complex setups or complex accounts, structuring, etc. that's where I usually come in and partner.
I am a treasury management officer.
So I partner with Carlye at the Chagrin Falls office with her clients and with all of the 20 branches up here in this area.
Carlye: I'm the manager of the Chagrin Falls office.
We are very involved in the community and I think that's helping people recognize and, seek our services.
If I have a client that needs something or I think James’ product or service could help my client, I can call him, text him- he is always responsive and I have confidence when I refer people to him.
James: It's very much a home feel.
Our CEO is someone I could call on my cell and talk through a customer situation. Whereas if you're at a larger commercial bank, you have so many different layers to get to somebody to make that decision.
Keeping Your Business Financially Safe
James: In today's world, fraud is just so prevalent. You see it everywhere, whether it's mail fraud or online schemes or your online banking has been hacked.
So we offer a service called Positive Pay. Each morning you get an alert to go in and decision those items, whether they're legitimate checks that they wrote, or ACH items that are legitimately supposed to come through their account.
They can look at the item and say, No, that's not mine, and they can reject it right there.
It gives that extra layer of protection on their account.
There've been so many customers with stolen checks, cleared, but with this positive pay service, they’ve gained this added protection.
Now they don’t have to worry about closing their account, getting a brand new number or anything like that.
Email Fraud
A lot of people are watching people's emails now. They sit dormant for a long time, watching how you address people, where you put your punctuations, all that type of stuff. So that they can then, all of a sudden, act as you, email one of your vendors and say, this is my updated routing and account information.
That person then that's getting that email is like, oh yeah, that's them. And they go and update their information, send the money out. But you’ve never received their payment because they used the new routing account information.
So, there's a lot of training that we do with that too when we sign clients up for ACH services.
Never trust an email. Always call the number that you have in your phone or you have on that person to validate that email. Never click a link.
Megan: They are getting so sneaky and it's tough, especially as a business owner. You do all these other things, you wear so many hats and you're trying so hard to help other people and do the work that you love.
And then something like this takes you down. And it sounds like you guys are there to really hold people through that and try to make sure it doesn't happen from the get go.
Plus you guys have so many different products to help people with.
And I think the core of what I've heard this whole time is:
that relationship
that community
that connection
and that you guys are more than just a corporate entity, but you're real people that are here to help the community
and I think that's so beautiful.
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