1. Start with a Clear Monthly Budget

If you’ve never created a budget, now is the time to start. Many people draft a budget at the start of the year, but they never give it a second thought. Any list of budgeting tips and good money habits will tell you how important it is to keep track of all your spending, even if your finances are tighter than you would like. The most common approach to household budgeting is known as the 50/20/30 rule. It’s a straightforward approach where you make a list of where you spend all your take-home pay (your after-tax income) into three categories:

• 50% is for essential living expenses, such as what you spend to keep a roof over your head (rent or a mortgage), plus utilities, clothing, and groceries. Your Internet plan would probably be considered a utility these days, especially if you need it for work or school.
• 30% is for things you want to spend money on, but don’t really need. This may include restaurants, take-out food, and delivery, plus luxury items such as expensive clothes, jewelry, or a morning coffeehouse run.
• 20% is for savings and debt. Whatever you’re setting aside for retirement, such as a 401(k) plan, falls into this category. It may also include your savings, such as an emergency fund or an education fund. Your debt payments may include things like credit cards and student loans.

Of course, you’ll also need to keep track of your budget to make sure you meet your goals. There are plenty of budgeting apps available, but whether you use a phone app, a pen and paper, or a laptop spreadsheet, it needs to be something that works for you something you’ll stick with. Keeping track of where every dollar is spent might seem inconvenient, but it’s essential to meeting your goals.

Set a goal of keeping track of your expenses for a week and see how that goes. Hopefully, you stick with it and keep doing it. At the end of the month, you can look back and see how well you did and whether you need to adjust your budget. Fortunately, digital banking tools and mobile banking apps can make it easy to track your spending habits.

7. Regularly Review Your Accounts

Even if you’ve automated your savings and bill payments, you’ll still need to review your accounts regularly—just like your budget. Most people do this at least once a month. You might discover that you’re saving more than you expected and can transfer more funds from your checking account to a savings account.

If your savings account has enough of an emergency fund built up, any excess savings could be put to use in other ways, such as opening a money market account or a certificate of deposit (CD) to earn more interest. You might also consider what’s known as a CD ladder, where you keep some of your savings and CDs of different term lengths. The idea here is that one of your CDs would mature every few months, so if an emergency came up, you could use the funds in your savings account and then tap into the next CD that comes to term. By reviewing your accounts on a regular basis you can find ways of improving your finances and maximizing your savings.

8. Set Short, Midterm-and Long-Term Financial Goals

Your financial goals should be SMART, which stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Instead of just saying you’d like to reduce your debts, cut back on spending, and save more, try to be as specific as possible. Depending on where you are in life, your goals might be saving up for a major purchase (such as buying a home), building an emergency fund, or setting up an education fund. By giving yourself an amount and a timeline, and checking your progress on a regular basis, you’ll be more likely to meet your goals.

Your short-term goals are things you’d like to accomplish between six months and two years. For example, you might want to set up an emergency fund or improve the one you have. Maybe you have a debt that you could eliminate within the next year or so. Midterm goals range from two years to five years and might include saving up for a major purchase, such as a down payment on a home or a new vehicle. Long-term goals would be for something that’s more than five years away, such as setting a certain amount aside for a college fund or retirement.

9. Protect Your Finances

Setting up account alerts can be a great way to protect your finances. Many of our customers set up alerts for payments or withdrawals above a certain dollar amount from any of their accounts. You should also make sure that all of your passwords are as secure as possible and consider setting up multifactor authentication on your devices. This way, even if someone hacked your password they wouldn’t be able to access your email, your bank portal, and other accounts unless you approved it through a text message or a security app.

10. Build a Relationship with Your Bank

One of the many benefits of being a locally run bank is that we take a personal approach to dealing with our customers. With us, you’re more than an account number. If you need to apply for a business loan, a mortgage, or some other type of financing, you won’t have to wait for approval from someone in a faraway office somewhere. We make all our decisions locally, from people who understand and live in your community.

How Small Habits Build Confidence and a More Prosperous Future

It takes time to establish positive spending and saving habits, but it’s worth the effort. As you review your budget and goals from time to time, celebrate each accomplishment as getting you one step closer to success. Our LifeBundled accounts and digital banking tools are the kind of Maryland and Virginia banking solutions that can help you meet your goals. For more information on banking in the DC Metro area, contact one of our representatives by calling 703.436.3800. You can also contact us online or visit one of our locations in Fairfax County, Loudoun County, Arlington County, Virginia, and Washington, DC.

The post 10 Simple Habits That Build Long-Term Financial Confidence appeared first on FVCbank.

Following the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold interest rates steady, FVCbank Chairman and CEO David Pijor joined Rick Fowler on WMAL to provide a CEO-level perspective on what the move means beyond the headlines. Rather than viewing the pause as inactivity, Pijor describes it as a deliberate and stabilizing policy decision that supports economic predictability for consumers, homeowners, small businesses, and regulated industries. The conversation explores inflation trends, mortgage expectations, small business planning, and the evolving cannabis market in Virginia—highlighting the value of disciplined community banking in a steady-rate environment. FVCbank can be contacted at 703-436-3800 or through their website, FVCbank.com.

Transcript:

Prefer reading over listening? You can read the full transcript of the interview below.

The Fed Holds Rates Steady: What It Signals About the Economy

Rick Fowler (0:00): The Saturday morning update continues. I’m Rick Fowler. The Federal Reserve has just announced it is leaving interest rates unchanged. That reinforces the wait-and-see approach as inflation is continuing to moderate. Now, the administration has an opinion, the chairman of the Fed has an opinion, and we have what may be a more unbiased opinion from David Pigor. He is the chairman and CEO of FVCbank, and he’s got a CEO level interpretation of what the decision really means for consumers. It’s not politically motivated. What does it really mean for consumers, small businesses, savers, regulated industries, including even cannabis? Rather than focusing on the headlines, we’re going to talk about stability, planning, and disciplined banking in a steady rate environment. David Pijor is the chairman and CEO of FVCbank. David, great to have you back with us on WMAL.

David Pijor (1:04): Rick, thanks. It’s a pleasure to be back with you today.

Rick Fowler (1:07): So, from your perspective, the Fed just announcing that it is holding the rates steady. What does that decision tell you about the economy and where we are as consumers?

David Pijor (1:19): Rick, this generally anticipated decision means to me that the Fed is in evaluation mode as it considers the trajectory of our national economy in light of the Fed’s dual mandates to promote full employment and to manage inflation to its target rate of 2%. Fed Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told reporters on Wednesday that labor market indicators suggest that conditions may be stabilizing after a period of gradual softening. And in fact, the national jobless rate slipped to 4.4% in December from 4.5% in November. However, the central bank did leave its benchmark overnight interest rate the same after two previous quarter point reductions. I think what this suggests is that the Fed is focusing on stability and trying to be constructive in granting our business customers some level of stability in this market.

Stability vs. Stagnation: Why a Pause Is Still Active Policy

Rick Fowler (2:18): So, there are people who will hear the words no change and they may think that nothing is happening in the economy, that everything is flat. Is that a fair interpretation?

David Pijor (2:31): It’s certainly one interpretation. I think my interpretation is slightly different. Holding rates steady is still an active policy decision and this decision allows the Fed more time in validating its progress or lack thereof on inflation. The last inflation numbers have come in a bit higher than the target rate, around 2.7% by one measure. And I think the stability associated with a measured approach by the Fed actually helps reduce uncertainty and thereby creates an environment of stability in which businesses can can operate more clearly.

What This Means for Homeowners, Buyers, and Retirees

Rick Fowler (3:06): So, what does this mean for homeowners, home buyers and even retirees?

David Pijor (3:13): Well, interest rates don’t change overnight, notwithstanding the Fed’s prior two quarter point reductions. Mortgage rates won’t drop suddenly even when the Fed does move again, and it’s anticipated toward the end of this year that the Fed overnight rate will drop. But this puts pressure on mortgage rates. They will drop in the future. They’ll continue to drop as we’ve seen over the last year as interest rates do moderate, as the economy continues its path toward strengthening and improving.

Rick Fowler (3:45): So, let’s look at it from a community bank standpoint. An FVCbank specializes in community bank loans. It’s a regional bank. It’s not a national conglomerate where you always end up getting automated response and AI trying to route you to the right place. How does the environment affect small businesses?

Small Businesses and the Value of Predictability

David Pijor (4:06): Well, stability is important for small business. Obviously, lower rate borrowing helps. But as important, if not more important, is the stability to make timely, important business decisions knowing that there is some stability in the market. I think that the Federal Reserve’s generally conservative and moderate position, albeit disapproved by some in the economy, is actually a help to many businesses in developing an environment in which there is some stability and predictability. And I think that’s valuable in and of itself. Obviously, most businesses, almost all businesses and consumers would like to see lower interest rates. And I think we’ll see that in the future as the economy continues to improve.

Banking in a Highly Regulated Industry: The Cannabis Market Outlook

Rick Fowler (4:53): The cannabis industry is growing in the region. You’ve spoken a lot about this and there is new proposed legislation in Virginia, which would open it up further. How does a steady rate environment affect banking in the cannabis sector?

David Pijor (5:10): Rick, it’s important to understand that even with the considered possible legislation in Virginia, the cannabis market will remain highly regulated, subject to inspection for quality, for contaminants, highly regulated, inspected by state authorities. Much as the cannabis market in Maryland and in DC are highly regulated and very compliant markets. This is not street-level dealers. These are sophisticated growers that are subject to an increasingly tight regulatory compliant regime. And that’s the only type of operators that FVCbank provides banking services to. FVCbank provides a comprehensive suite of products. As you indicated, Virginia may be changing its legislative structure as to cannabis. In 2021, Virginia legalized the medical sales of cannabis, but this year Governor Abigail Spanberger has indicated she’ll sign a law permitting up to 350 retail dispensaries licensed to sell into the adult-use market. Current legislation working its way through both the House and the Senate of Virginia suggests that this legislation will pass. Some estimates have a Virginia adult-use market estimated to be as high as three billion dollars. This would be a significant change to the local cannabis market, perhaps even more important than interest rate stability or even a reduction in interest rates. Your listeners may find this helpful to know what’s happening in Richmond and we’ll be following you closely as well here at FVCbank.

Community Banking in the DMV: Relationship-Driven Financial Support

Rick Fowler (6:56): Well, FVCbank is, as I mentioned, a regional bank. I consider that as a local bank in terms of being able to communicate with somebody that’s in my area that knows the needs of this specific area. So as we consider that, what do you say the takeaway is for listeners?

David Pijor (7:15): We believe that sound banking isn’t reactive and that stability when managed well is healthy. We believe that the Fed action represents a measured, considered decision as to what’s happening with the national economy, and I think all that is helpful to local businesses and consumers. We believe community banking, as I’ve told you before on this station, is key to successful and healthy local economies and small business. We’re happy to serve those needs in the DMV, and we think the relationship between banking and the Fed is strong, and we expect that that will continue to be the case in the future.

Rick Fowler (7:57): What’s the website address for FVC Bank?

David Pijor (8:02): FVCbank.com. Again, FVCbank.com.

Rick Fowler (8:06): David Pijor, he is the CEO of FVCbank. David, thank you so much for the update.

David Pijor (8:12): My pleasure.

The post Saturday Morning Update w/ Rick Fowler and David Pijor, CEO of FVCbank appeared first on FVCbank.

Episode 4 | Banks Never Ask That: How to Spot Scams Before It’s Too Late

Overview

In this episode of Beyond the Balance Sheet, hosts Vince Coglianese and Patricia Ferrick speak with Paul Benda, Executive Vice President for Risk, Fraud, and Cybersecurity at the American Bankers Association. Paul explains how rapidly evolving fraud schemes, fueled by artificial intelligence, deepfakes, stolen personal data, and large-scale global scam networks, are making it increasingly difficult for consumers to distinguish legitimate communications from criminal attempts. He highlights the ABA’s national efforts, including the “Banks Never Ask That” campaign, tools for information sharing among banks, and collaboration with government agencies and international partners. Through vivid examples, Paul details today’s most common scams, the psychological tactics criminals use, and the proactive steps banks and consumers can take to reduce risk. The episode emphasizes the importance of vigilance, multi-factor authentication, and rapid reporting, while also looking ahead to future challenges and emerging global cooperation to fight fraud.

Prefer reading over listening? You can read the full transcript of the episode below.

FVC Bank’s Beyond the Balance Sheet Podcast – Episode 4 – ABA

Vince Coglianese (00:03): Welcome to Beyond the Balance Sheet. This is the podcast where we explore how banking connects to people, businesses, and the communities that we serve. I’m Vince Coglianese

Patricia Ferrick (00:14): And I’m Patricia Ferrick. Thank you for joining us.

Vince Coglianese (00:17): Today we are joined by Paul Benda, Executive Vice President for Risk Fraud and Cybersecurity at the American Bankers Association. Paul leads the ABA’s national efforts to protect consumers and banks from cybercrime, and he oversees the popular Banks Never Ask That campaign, which helps people recognize and avoid scams before it’s too late. Paul is also the chair of the International Banking Federation’s Fraud and Scams Task Force, helping banks coordinate and fight fraud and scams all around the world, and will be representing banks at the UN Global Fraud Summit in Vienna in March.

Patricia Ferrick (00:54): Paul, welcome to Beyond the Balance Sheet. It’s great to have you here. Before we dig in, can you give us a quick sense of what your role at the ABA involves?

Paul Benda’s Role and ABA’s Fraud/Cybersecurity Mission

Paul Benda (01:03): Sure, Trish and thanks for having me. So at the ABA, you know, my group focuses on risk fraud and cybersecurity. So it’s kind of all in that title there. And really the two main pillars are fraud and cybersecurity. You know, we know that cyber-enabled fraud is a key piece of how people get lured into these scams. And so we look at how do we protect people’s bank accounts, how do we stop criminals from hacking into them, how do we stop people from being defrauded? And so we have education campaigns out there like our banks never asked that campaign. We build tools to allow our bankers to connect with each other. So if some of one of their customers experiences a fraudulent event, what banker can they contact on the other line to maybe stop the flow of funds? And then we’re building other ways that we can work with the government and the regulators on ways that we can better share information across different sectors, whether it’s with the telecoms or whether it’s social media companies or whether it’s other banks internationally.

The Evolving Fraud Landscape

Vince Coglianese (01:50): My impression is that the fraudsters are uh very nimble, that they’re very sophisticated, and that there’s constantly new and emerging trends that you probably have to be up to speed on. What are you seeing out there?

Paul Benda (02:03): Yeah, I think you know everyone’s heard of AI, right? We’ve all heard of the deep fakes that are out there, and that’s something that we’re seeing our customers experience, our bank customers experience. And so we’re worried about, you know, the grandmother scam. You know, this is one where a criminal will call up someone and pretend to be a loved one in distress, and now they’re even taking it to the next level where they’re spoofing their voice. So it sounds like your sounds like your loved one. We’re worried about impersonation texts that are being sent. We know of one small bank where they blanketed the entire market with fake fraud alerts saying, Did you make this Walmart purchase? And then all of a sudden the bank started getting all these calls. This is a three-branch bank. They got 600 calls in one day. And the the challenge that I don’t think people understand is these criminals now can buy a lot of your data online with all the data breaches that have occurred around the world. Uh so they’ll call you up and they’ll say, Hey, is this John Doe? You live at this address? Is this last four year social? I want to talk to you about this potential purchase. So the people think they’re talking to their bank because not only do they have that information, but the caller ID might even say the name of their bank and the number that the bank uses for their outgoing calls. And so it really is hard for consumers.

Psychology of Scams

Patricia Ferrick (03:07): It absolutely is. You know, we hear about social engineering all the time where criminals trick people, like you said, into giving up personal information or sending money. But why do you think it’s still happening at such a high level with so much information out there about it?

Paul Benda (03:23): Yeah, so I think it’s it leads with that technical authentication I brought up, that caller ID, the spoofing of the name, that personal information they’ve got. But remember,  you’re dealing with a criminal industrial complex. These are not, you know, the Nigerian princes of yesteryear, right, with the bad email and the bad spellings. The State Department estimated that there are 400,000 people in camps across Southeast Asia that are used to contact and basically scam people out of their money around the world. 400,000 people. So you think of the scale that’s there, and they do this every day. So they’re very good at it. They know the right things to say, and they cause fear and they cause intimidation, and they they they actually take you out of rational state of mind and put you in that fight or flight perspective. And so they keep telling you, you know, if you don’t pay this fine, you know, you’re gonna lose your license. You know, you missed your jury duty summons, you’re gonna get thrown in jail. And so people just like, oh, I need to take care of this, I need to take care of this. You know, and at heart, people want to be friendly, they want to be helpful, they want to do the right thing, and the scammers play on that and they they basically instigate this fear into people and they make decisions that probably if they were thinking rationally, they probably wouldn’t.

Vince Coglianese (04:26): So in other words, like people should be on guard for anybody who’s who’s urging them to do something now. Like you should instinctively think to yourself, wait a second, pause, take a breath, and let me actually call my bank and talk to them first.

Paul Benda (04:39): That’s exactly right. There’s two things, you know, two two of the biggest red flags. One is if someone is is telling you to act quickly, that’s a big red flag. The other one is if it’s a secret, it’s a scam. If they tell you not to tell anyone that this is going on, it’s a scam. So those are the two things that we talk about. Uh but they’re hard to take yourself out of that situation because these guys are really convinced.

AI’s Impact on Fraud

Vince Coglianese (05:01): That’s amazing. Okay. So how is artificial intelligence uh changing all of this? I mean you you mentioned voice cloning, and we’ve seen things about fake videos being used to try and trick people. Are the scammers really diving into this like in a in a big way now? Is this kind of the dominant way that people are being scammed?

Paul Benda (05:18): You know, it’s it’s it’s a leading indicator for is what I would say. So we know the voice cloning is out there. What we’re seeing a lot is a lot of these deep fake videos. It’s really easy to do a deep fake of President Trump and put on there, hey, to get your stimulus check, you know, they’ll put an ad up on Facebook or a meta or other platform. Hey, to get your your stimulus check, you know, contact these people and then they try and get your personal information, your banking account information. So that’s where we’re seeing it is really, you know, people are pretending to be Brad Pitt, and Brad Pitt’s in trouble. He’s in the hospital and needs your help. Uh we know we’ve heard customers, um, banking customers have reported that a man sold his house and sold his truck and because he was going to get married to Miranda Lambert. And he needs you know, she needed the money for the wedding. Literally, this is one of the stories that we’ve heard. And so, you know, people believe these things because you know they don’t understand what AI can do. And then on the even worse side, you know, you might have heard how AI is being used to help people code faster and build better tools. Well, the scammers are adopting this. And so now you might have gotten all these texts that you say, hey, can we talk? Oh, hey, we had this meeting at nine. They’re automating all these now with AI SMS texts that are going out, and they’re doing that initial conversation using AI bots. And so then when they finally get someone who’s responding and engaging, that’s when the scammer comes on.

Vince Coglianese (06:30): You know, uh, if I can, there was a uh scam of this nature because it happened to somebody in my life. My dad’s a Marine, a general, and uh he’s got a long military career, but as he accrued that career, all of his biographical details keep appearing on the internet. Stuff about like family members, ages, where he his duty stations, so enough for a scammer to try and compile like, hey, this is a real biographical story. And so a scammer in some faraway country tricks some random woman in the country into thinking that she’s got a relationship with my father over the internet and that she needs to send all sorts of money to maintain internet connections and all these things. And then I found out this is a super commonplace scam, and it’s happening all the time at scale where just poor women oftentimes are being tricked into believing they have these long-distance relationships with con artists who are just stealing money from them. And it’s happening, it’s just so disgusting to see. And it’s and you’re seeing it all the time.

Paul Benda (07:26): Yeah, it is it is disgusting. I mean, these people are just evil, and and it goes to that she wanted to be helpful. She thought she was helping, you know, your dad, yeah, quote unquote, your dad, you know, maintain his internet, or wanted to help, you know, Brad Pitt, or you wanted to help these other people. And so they really they really do lure these people into a relationship. They’re not thinking rationally about it, and we really want to try and get them, you know. And I guarantee you, he was saying, don’t tell anyone about this. That’s that secret part. Well, you know, as soon as someone tells you to keep something secret, that’s a scam. You got to try and find someone you trust to have a discussion with. And and frankly, a lot of times your banker knows a lot about these. So don’t be afraid to have a conversation with your banker about these types of things.

Banks’ Frontline Defense Against Fraud

Patricia Ferrick (08:02): Well, as a bank president, I see firsthand how much happens behind the scenes to try to protect our customers, constant, vigilant monitoring and software tools, and customer outreach when we see things that look suspicious. So from your national perspective, what are you seeing banks doing to get ahead of it and to prevent fraud before it even reaches our customers?

Paul Benda (08:24): Sure. So this is something, you know, I think banks invest billions of dollars to protect consumers from fraud every year. And frankly, I think banks do a better job than any other industry. You think about it, when was the last time Facebook sent you a fraud alert? You know, banks do this, you know, customers get this every day. You know, banks are even calling up customers when a high dollar check gets written. We’ve had a big rise in check fraud, not as sexy as you know, some of these AI deepfake scams, but it’s been a huge issue with checks being stolen out of the mail. And we know banks regularly call customers and saying, hey, you know, this this big check came through, did you write it? And so I think banks are being a lot more proactive. We understand these impersonation scams that are out there. Uh we’re doing better training for our tellers to try and recognize these. Uh banks routinely look at accounts for transactions that are you know what they would consider out of the norm. Uh they try and put friction into that. What we mean is they try and you know, question the customer. You know, but but in the end, a lot of times it’s that’s the customer’s money, right? We can’t we’re a bank isn’t isn’t our job to tell you how to spend your money or where you can and can’t spend your money. We do our best job to say, is this something you really want to do? Is this you know an appropriate transaction for you? And if it’s legal and it’s appropriate and you know you’re of sound mind and body, we have to let them make that transaction. We do everything we can to try and raise those flags. In the end, it’s up to that customer.

The “Banks Never Ask That” Campaign

Patricia Ferrick (09:36): So  let’s shift to banks never ask that. It’s such a clever campaign. It’s funny, memorable, and effective. So what inspired it and what did you hope to accomplish?

Paul Benda (09:48): Well, you know, when you talk about you know cyber scams and fraud and things like that, sometimes people’s eyes glaze over, at least my wife’s eyes glaze over when I try and talk about it. So we’re trying to figure out a way that we can educate people and have it be memorable. And so we decided to go with something something more centered on humor. And so the idea is, you know, would a bank ever ask you, do you wear boxers or briefs? You wear blue you know, do you believe in aliens? No. Is a bank going to ask you for that one-time use passcode? No, we’re not gonna ask you for that kind of thing. So, what are the things that banks will and won’t ask? We’ve done it in a funny manner. We tried to make it engaging. We’ve got Banks NeverAskThat.com. You can go play a scam uh quiz and test your knowledge and compare your knowledge with your uh with your friends and with your family. We’ve got some really funny um actors that have participated with some skits with us to try and just you know get people to pause. It’s really Vince is exactly what you said. You know, maybe they this would you know sink in. Hey, this is something I heard about. You know, this is something I remember hearing that you know that video about, and maybe think about it and maybe pull themselves out of that fight or flight syndrome.

Vince Coglianese (10:46): Yes. We all have to be way more cynical, don’t you think? Yeah. No, it’s like we just have to be on guard. It’s a it’s a great it’s a great thing to to train yourself to do. Now, it is, I would admit, pretty rare for a cybersecurity campaign to go viral. I don’t know how you even achieved that. This one did it. As the public responded, what kind of feedback are you receiving from the banks?

Paul Benda (11:05): So we’re getting really good feedback. We have uh we’ve had well over 2,000 banks that participate in this. We sent it across the country, we put in different whether it’s Facebook posts or whether it’s Instagram or whether it’s uh posts that are on X, and so we’re seeing a lot of engagement. One of the best stories that we’ve got is you know, we had one of the banks playing one of these reels in place uh up on their display, and one of the gentlemen that was in line actually saw that and recognized uh some of the items that we’re bringing up in that, and then actually when he went up to the teller, he said, you know, I think I think I might be getting scammed here. And he so he brought exactly what we talked about, he brought up to his banker, they’ve seen these types of things before. He’s like, you know, telling him the information, and actually it stopped the man from being scammed. And so that was really exciting for us to see that kind of feedback. Uh we partner with our ABA foundation that helps with a lot of amplification of these tools, uh, but it’s been really successful at least in in getting some knowledge out there. You know, there’s still a lot more to do.

Common Scams and How Consumers Should Respond

Patricia Ferrick (11:58): Can you give examples of the most common scams you warn about? And what should a customer do or consumer do when they get a suspicious message?

Paul Benda (12:09): Sure. Uh you know, and the and the thing is what we do, you know, Vince, you’re right. We got to all be cynical, frankly. Anyone that reaches out to you, you have no idea who they’re calling from or who they are. So a lot of these things we see coming through text messages. They try and start up a conversation with you. Um we see it coming, you know, it’s still get the phishing emails when it could look exactly like your bank. You know, AI allows them to enable perfect examples of legitimate websites with maybe a slight change that’s in the URL, and so they’ll direct you to try and fill in your credentials in there. Um they drill they really do try and impersonate whether it’s a bank or a U.S. government employee to try and give up um information. We see them try and say things like, Your bank is being investigated. Can you help us with this investigation? Oh, we need to make sure your money’s safe because the bank might try and take your money away, so you need to put it in crypto, or you need to buy gold bars. And so they create these elaborate schemes, and again, people are trying to be helpful. They want to be helpful, and unfortunately, the the scammers prey on that. And so we always try and do, you know, if it’s a secret it’s a scam, everyone’s pressuring you, you know, pause and take a step back. But if for some reason you do make a transaction, the first person you do is call your bank. Because they have the best chance of potentially putting a hold on those funds that are out there. Your bank can help you work with the FBI. The FBI is an Internet Crime Complaint Center, it’s IC3.gov. You can go and file a complaint there. There’s a thing called the financial fraud kill chain that the banks work with the federal government, with different regulators and different law enforcement where they can reach out to other banks, even banks overseas to potentially stop it. But honestly, every hour you wait after that transaction occurred, it means the odds of you getting that money back go down more and more and more and more.

Vince Coglianese (13:42): Yeah. It seems like one of the great technological developments of the last decade or so is two-factor authentication, where you have to like go to a separate device or somehow in order to confirm that you are trying to actively engage in this transaction. It does feel like that’s a good instinct in real life too. Because like I’ve known scams where like people reach out, they’ll they’ll create a fake email address for your boss, and then they’ll email you pretending to be your boss. Well, if you’re suspicious at all, if you see this and you’re like, let me just call them. That’s two-factor authentication. Call your boss separately and verify that this is a real conversation and not a scam.

Paul Benda (14:16): You’re absolutely right. I mean, that’s because someone calling you, like you said, you don’t know who it is that people can’t trust that caller ID. So you can’t trust what’s being presented to you. But if you make that call, if you call the number on the back of your card, and honestly, the best way to engage with your bank or with a large technology company like Amazon, use the app. Go directly through the app. You can go, you’re it’s a very secure login method. Uh, you know exactly the information you’re getting is accurate, and you can see, hey, wait, that transaction’s not there. I don’t have any Amazon you know purchase that’s you know on my account, and then you know right away that someone’s trying to scam you.

Vince Coglianese (14:49): That’s amazing. Uh so the campaign, BanksneverAskThat.com, uh, do you think it’s making a measurable difference? Are you detecting that?

Paul Benda (14:55): We do. We think so. I mean, we we had the example where we’re seeing you know someone that that recognized it. Um you know, the it’s such a broad problem that any awareness that we can bring to it we think is is going to move the needle. Yeah. Uh we know that the scam rates are going up. If you look at it’s really hard to know the scale of the problem we’re dealing with right here. Uh there’s no central point in the U.S. government to report it. But both the Federal Trade Commission and the FBI have said scams are going up 25 to 30 percent a year. Uh FTC estimated losses to scams because of underreporting could be as high as $196 billion. Now, that seems a little high to me, but even it’s let’s say it’s half that, $95 billion. If it’s going up 25% every year, it’s going up a lot. So anything that we can do to educate consumers to make them pause, take a step back, uh, we think is gonna is gonna be helpful.

Small Business Fraud Risks

Patricia Ferrick (15:38): For our small business owners listening, what advice would you give them about protecting their companies from fraud?

Paul Benda (15:45): So I would say one of the biggest losses that we see in small businesses is business email compromise. So what happens is you know, you’ve got a vendor that you’ve been working with, all of a sudden that vendor will email you, and it’ll might even come from their account and that says, oh, hey, we’ve we’ve started with a new bank. Can you please change the wiring instructions for your next payment? You know, Trish, you’re shaking your head. You you probably have experienced this at your bank with one of your customers. Vince, it’s exactly what you talked about. Two-factor authentication. Call up your vendor with the number you’ve used in the past. Hey, did you guys change your wiring instructions? And it’s amazing how many businesses forget to take that step. And then all of a sudden they’ll wire the money out. 30 days later, their their vendor will come back and say, Hey, we never got that payment. Well, like we said, hours make a difference reporting these. 30 days, it’s gonna be really hard to get that money back. That money is now gone, probably converted to crypto, probably gone overseas somewhere. So that you know, if I was a small business, that is my number one, you know, there’s all the other things you got to be aware of, but that is the number one thing is making sure that anytime you’re working with a vendor, any change to any payment, you verify with a number you’ve used before and make sure you don’t use any of the details in that email. Uh, I used to work at a small business. This actually happened at my small business. Uh, we actually had a criminal that hacked into our email accounts, was resident, was reading on the emails as they came in and responding in real time just to those emails that dealt with that payment. It was really creepy when you thought about it. So they’re very sophisticated. So, but the one way you can do it finally ended when our business ops guy walked down the hall to the managing partner and said, Why do I need to make this payment so fast? He’s like, What are you talking about?

Vince Coglianese (17:14): Yeah. And then, I mean, just imagine though, you actually get scammed and then money goes out the door, and the sinking feeling when you realize what just happened and your own role in it. So if you get scammed, what’s the first step? Like, so now you you’re going through the panic and you’re like, what do I do first? What do you tell people?

Paul Benda (17:32): So call your bank. So we’ve actually, I was sitting at home, 5:30 p.m. on a Friday. I like to have a  Martini, and you know, because it was a long week, right? Got a call from through our 1-800 bankers. So this is a number we have up for our bankers when they need help for ABA. Came in, I’m like, oh, geez. So I answered the phone. And it’s like one of our call center people says, Hey, there’s a bank that wants to talk about fraud. I’m like, okay. And so the banker was like, oh my gosh, we had one of our people send a $185,000 payment to the wrong address. What do we do? And so we’re talking them through them. Okay, okay, here’s the bank. File the complaint with the FBI’s IC3. Okay, let’s reach out to the receiving bank that got this, let’s send them a hold harmless, let’s make sure we got the affidavits in place that that fraud occurred. And I will tell you, it took some time, but 30 days later, they got all that money back because they acted with it. It was probably about 24 hours earlier. They realized they make that payment. So the the chances of you getting that money back, you know, if you can do it in that first 24 hours, is really good, but it takes a really quick action. It’s a partnership between both the business that you know executed that, the partnership with the bank and law enforcement and others. And you know, there’s a chance you can get that money back, but you gotta be quick.

Everyday Cyber Hygiene

Patricia Ferrick (18:37): Does happen. We’ve had some nice wins. So I appreciate that. We’ve discussed how cybersecurity isn’t just a technology issue, it’s a people issue. What habits can individuals practice to stay safe every day?

Paul Benda (18:49): Sure. So I think you know, Vince, you brought it up multi-factor authentication. You know, a lot of people, it’s basically derigor now on logins for your bank account, um, for all of you know a lot of the big transactions that you have. Make sure it’s on all your emails. I mean, think about it, it’s pretty much standard now. I think Google and Yahoo have required it, but before they didn’t, and we were seeing once they, think about it, once someone hacks into your email, they have access to everything. Your multi-factor authentication sometimes gets to send an email. Um don’t reuse the passwords. So we see this a lot. Uh a lot of retail sites may not have the same level of security as your bank. We see those get hacked, and then they get your username and password, and then they figure out, oh, this username matches the bank username, and then all of a sudden they know your password, and then they might now send you a fake fraud alert because they’ve got your phone number from that account, and then all of a sudden they’ll say, Oh, can you verify your identity with this one-time passcode? Well, what they’ve done is they’ve logged in with your username and password that you reused. They use that one that one time passcode gets sent to you, and then they type that in and they have access to your account. So making sure that you’ve got that enabled on all your different accounts that are out there uh is really important. Make sure you’re not reusing those passwords. Uh and that is really, I mean, I think the the two keys, and frankly, you can’t trust anything incoming. I you know, I I hate to sound cynical. But you can’t trust anyone that reaches out to you because the voices can be fake, the numbers on the ID can be fake, they can fake emails that come in, all of those things can be fake. You only know who you’re talking to unless you reach out to them.

Vince Coglianese (20:11): You’re making me paranoid.

Paul Benda (20:13): Good.

Vince Coglianese (20:13): Everyone is out to get me. They are. That’s what I’m concluding from all of this. If there’s one thing, if you could recommend one thing to everybody who’s listening about their behavior that they could change starting today, what would that be?

Paul Benda (20:25): Uh if you don’t have multi-factor authentication on everything, uh put it in place. Um I think, you know, well, one thing would be make your phone the center of your security. Use pass keys where possible if you’ve heard of those, uh, where you link it to the biometric on your phone, because honestly, the phone then becomes the whole point is it’s a physical token, right? It’s really hard to hack that. If they don’t have that phone, they can’t hack your account. Now, you lose your phone, you’re gonna be in trouble. But you know, you can rebuild that. You just but that’s having one central point for your security is really important.

The Future of Cybersecurity Challenges

Patricia Ferrick (20:55): As you look ahead, what do you see as the next frontier of fraud or cybersecurity challenges?

Paul Benda (21:01): I’m really afraid of what AI is gonna do. Um it just from an automation perspective. We’ve already seen the deepfakes, we’ve already seen the the voices and the videos and those kinds of things. Uh I’m afraid that we’re gonna see bots that become very personalized. And so think about this. If I were to, I can, you know, there was a 2.9 billion record public data breach that occurred in 2024. 2.9 billion numbers, you know, face all that personal information that’s out there. I load that all up into a bot, and then I then use that bot to then contact whether it’s businesses or banks, and they’re trying to, you know, reset accounts. And so they’re trying to go through knowledge-based authentication to prove who they are. Well, they’ve got all the access to the information, it happens. Or we start seeing them engage with people in a much more uh conversational method to make the scammers work easier. Uh the US government, to its credit, has focused on crackdown on overseas scams. They started a task force on it, which we love, love the Department of Justice has done that. But we think the criminals are gonna realize, hey, I can replace just like our businesses are replacing people with AI, they’re gonna replace the scammers with AI. And you’re just gonna see people get inundated more and more and more. And it’s it’s I’m afraid it’s gonna create a breakdown in trust. And we’re all I’m you know, I’m already recommending don’t trust things that are incoming. I think it’s gonna get worse and worse and worse, and people aren’t gonna know who to believe. And that’s that’s when it’s gonna be, I think, a really big challenge for us.

Vince Coglianese (22:17): Now, on a hopeful note, after all that. What gives you optimism? What what what makes you think, you know what, we can handle this, all these emerging threats, it can be done.

Paul Benda (22:28): I will say, you know, I’ve been at ABA eight years. Um I’ve never seen such a focus on fighting scams and fraud worldwide as I’ve seen lately. We talked about a UN Global Fraud Summit. Uh, we talked about the DOJ Stat Task Force, um, strike uh Scam Center Strike Force that’s going on. I was on a call with Canadian Bankers Association just this morning talking about how do we share bank contact information in case funds get transferred so that we can reach out to those bankers. We’re gonna build an international database of bankers so that if your funds go overseas, a U.S. banker can reach out to someone in the UK, Australia, Canada, other places to try and get those money back, and they can reach out to us. We’re trying to, the UK government’s leading an effort to try and figure out what are the baseline things that we should do to protect all citizens from fraud. And so I’m seeing a really strong effort here in the U.S. that’s starting to get underway. Seeing a really strong effort internationally to get underway. And AI is a dual-edged sword. We are building those tools into banks. We’re recognizing these changes, these anomalous behaviors faster that will hopefully help us stop. You know, the goal here is a shift to prevent that transaction from happening in the first place versus trying to get the money back after it’s out the door.

Patricia Ferrick (23:33): Paul, this has been a very eye-opening conversation. Thank you for sharing your insights and for all the work the ABA is doing to protect customers, consumers, and businesses in general.

Vince Coglianese (23:43): Absolutely. And for all of our listeners, you can explore so much more at BanksNeveraskThat.com, the super viral campaign. You’re gonna love it. Banksneveraskhat.com. It’s a fun and effective way to learn how to spot scams before they happen. That’s way better. Paul, thank you so much for joining us on Beyond the Balance Sheet.

Paul Benda (24:01): Thanks for having me.

The post Podcast Episode 4 | Banks Never Ask That: How to Spot Scams Before It’s Too Late appeared first on FVCbank.

Deloitte’s 2025 Holiday Retail Survey reports the most negative outlook for this year’s shopping season out of the survey’s 40-year history. The survey reports that 77% of shoppers expect higher prices on holiday goods, and 57% expect the economy to weaken within the next six months. Shoppers across all income groups indicated they’re highly attuned to value, deals, and meaningful experiences. American shoppers overall plan to spend 10% less than they did in 2024. Generation Z, those aged approximately 18 to 28, said they would spend 34% less than they did last year. Millennials, aged 29 to 44, said they would reduce their spending by 13%.

Why Holiday Spending Gets Out of Control

Many people overspend over the holidays because it’s easy to get caught up in the rush of holiday shopping and the search for that perfect gift. Something might be on sale and seem like a really good deal, even if it’s outside your budget.

Online shopping makes it easy to overdo it and to shop impulsively when you can just click your way through your list of presents and put it all on a credit card that you’ll think about paying later. Shopping in person also has an impact, as holiday decorations, scenery, and the rush of a crowd can cause people to get caught up in the moment and overspend, especially when stores offer flash sales and limited-time opportunities

Social media can also make it hard to manage holiday expenses, especially among younger shoppers. The Deloitte survey revealed that 74% of Generation Z rely on influencers on social media to guide their holiday shopping. Seeing a celebrity or an influencer promote a “must-have” gift item can make it hard for many people to refrain from spending.

One of the primary drivers of overspending is not having a budget or engaging in little planning beforehand. After all, it’s easy to ignore a budget if you haven’t created one in the first place.

Set a Realistic Holiday Budget

Our holiday budgeting tips start with how much you spent last year. You may have to turn to your credit card bills to figure this out, but try to get as close an estimate as you can. Of course, the holidays are about more than gifts. You’ll have to include your other holiday expenses, such as travel, food, decorations, and charitable donations.

You should also take a look at your regular budget. You don’t have one. This is a good time to start. You should include your fixed costs and your variable costs. Fixed costs are things that you regularly spend money on and don’t change very much, such as your rent or mortgage, insurance, car loan, etc. Your variable costs may include groceries, utilities, gasoline, car maintenance, and healthcare.

Try to differentiate between your “wants” and your “needs.” For example, groceries, housing, and clothing are all things you need to live. Restaurant meals, food delivery, jewelry, and designer clothes are things you may want but don’t necessarily need. Compare your monthly budget to your income and look for ways you can cut back on your regular budget to make room for your holiday spending. If you’ve signed up for more than one streaming service, consider cutting back to just one at a time to save money.

You can then make a list of all the people you intend to exchange gifts with this year. This may include relatives, coworkers, neighbors, and longtime friends. Consider how much you’ll spend on each person and if there are any people you could cut from your list. Some people, such as neighbors and coworkers, might be relieved if you agree not to exchange gifts this year.

Smart Spending Strategies

One of the best ways to save money on holiday shopping this year is to focus on creating memories instead. If anyone in your household has a talent for cooking or decorating, you might whip up some holiday treats for people, or maybe some seasonal decorations. Of course, you’ll have to consider each person’s tastes and any allergies or diet restrictions they may have. Pinterest and other sites can offer plenty of ideas for do-it-yourself holiday presents.

Of course, there are also holiday shopping deals to be had. Black Friday (Nov. 28), Small Business Saturday (Nov. 29), and Cyber Monday (Dec. 1) may offer opportunities to save money on holiday shopping. You can also use websites like Coupons.com and RetailMeNot.com to look for sales and coupons. You might also consider customer rewards programs by checking Newsweek’s ranking of the best retailer loyalty programs,

Credit cards offer convenience, even when shopping in person. They can also be more secure than using cash. If one of your purchases doesn’t work right, or you need to exchange it, your credit card can offer proof of purchase if you failed to keep track of the receipt.

Your credit card company might also be able to help you rectify any problems with the retailer—and you’ll have a list of all your purchases to make sure your holiday budget remains on target.

If you have more than one credit card to use for your holiday shopping, one of them might also offer a rewards program. If you’ll be financing some of your purchases with a credit card, you might focus on using one that has the lowest interest rate.

The Deloitte survey revealed that 26% of shoppers plan on using loyalty points this season, compared to 20% in 2024. Putting your regular monthly expenses on a rewards credit card can be a great way to earn some shopping points or travel rewards, as long as you manage to pay off the balance in full each month. Using a rewards card for your holiday shopping can help you stretch your dollars a little farther by getting something back in return. It can also help you keep track of your holiday spending or if you need a proof of purchase to return something.

As with all your holiday shopping and your spending through the rest of the year, it’s important to make sure that you can pay off your credit card balance each month, so you don’t wind up paying enormous interest costs. If you have more than one credit card, and you might not be able to pay them off at the end of the month, you might consider using whichever card has the lowest interest rate.

Use Banking Tools to Stay on Track

With our mobile banking and online banking platforms, we make it easy for you to check your balances, make transfers, schedule bill payments, and find your nearest bank branch or ATM. Our FVCBank Mobile app is available for both Android phones and Apple devices.

You might also use a budgeting app on your phone to keep track of your regular monthly expenses and your holiday spending budget. This makes it convenient to keep track of your spending and remind yourself to stay on target, through the holidays and the rest of the year.

After-the-Season Check-In

Part of the reason that many people overdo it on their holiday spending is that they don’t take the time to review their budget and whether they are sticking with it. They might be more focused on getting back to school, work, and perhaps worrying about what happens when their credit card bill comes due. Part of the reason for creating a holiday budget, as well as a monthly budget for the rest of the year, is to track your progress and look for ways to improve. If you managed to stay within your budget this year, that’s great. If you haven’t, take a close look at and think about why it happened. Some items may have been more expensive than you expected. You may have been caught up in the spirit of the season and forgot to keep track of your budget and spending.

If you’re feeling like you’re in a bit of a financial hangover, you’re not alone. Many people overdo it with their holiday budgets. What’s important is to add up your holiday bills and figure out whether you need to cut back on your regular spending for a while. Carrying a credit card balance into the new year can add up to significant interest costs unless you make a real effort to pay that off as soon as possible.

How FVC Bank Supports Your Holiday Financial Wellness

As a community bank, we offer personalized service in a range of banking products to help you get through life and the holidays. This includes three options for personal credit cards, each with no annual fee, fraud monitoring, zero fraud liability, travel accident insurance, and SecurLOCK™ Email and Text Fraud Alerts. We also offer consumer loans such as automobile loans, personal loans, mortgages, and home equity lines of credit.

Contact Us to Learn More

We’re here to help you with your banking needs through the holidays and throughout the year. For more information, contact one of our representatives by calling 703.436.3800. You can also contact us online or visit one of our locations in Maryland, Northern Virginia, or Washington, DC.

The post Holiday Spending: How to Stay on Budget This Season appeared first on FVCbank.

For many people, the winter holidays are a time to forget about their personal budget and to focus on celebrations with family and friends, until they wake up on New Year’s Day with a financial hangover and a credit card bill much larger than they expected. With that in mind, we’d like to offer some year-end money tips to help you prepare for new year finances and end-of-year tax planning, so you can get through the season and make next year as prosperous as possible.

What’s so Important about a Personal Budget?

Numerous surveys reveal that many Americans lack sufficient cash or savings to cover an emergency. A poll by U.S. News & World Report this year indicated that 40% of Americans couldn’t cover a $1,000 emergency expense with either cash or savings, while 60% said they had an unexpected expense within the past year.

When you fail to budget for the unexpected, it can lead to all kinds of problems such as cutting back on essential living expenses, borrowing from friends, or creating debt that puts you further behind. That’s why we offer this financial review checklist to help you plan ahead and make the most of what you earn.

Create a Budget and Review Your Spending

If you’ve never created a budget before, now is the time to do so. If you already have a budget, it’s a good idea to review it periodically throughout the year to see how you’re doing, especially as the new year approaches. Start by looking at your household income, plus where you spend your money. You could do this on a sheet of paper, a computer spreadsheet, or a budgeting app on your phone. Try to review your budget every month.

A general rule of thumb for household budgeting is called the 50-30-20 rule. This means that 50% of your income (after taxes) should be spent on your needs, 30% on your wants, and 20% towards savings or paying off debts.

Your needs are things you have to spend money on, such as:

• Housing: Rent or mortgage, plus property insurance and flood insurance (if required).
• Utilities: Water, sewer, electricity, trash collection, and phone bills. This might also include Internet service, especially if you need it for work or school.
• Food: Whatever you buy to prepare at home. Some people include lunches and dinners out in their food budget, although these are more of a “want” rather than a “need.”
• Your wants are things you like to spend money on but don’t necessarily need to. This includes:
• Entertainment, subscriptions, gym memberships, and vacations.
• Luxuries: Restaurant meals, designer clothing, jewelry, and expensive food items.

Your savings include anything you’re setting aside for the future, such as retirement, an education fund, an emergency fund, or a major purchase. It also includes any payments that reduce your debt load, such as making more than the minimum payment on a credit card.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that food, housing, and transportation costs accounted for 59.9% of household expenditures in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, including Arlington and Alexandria, Virginia, and parts of Maryland and West Virginia. This compares to 62.9% nationwide. Additional cost of living statistics for the DC Metro area are:

• Healthcare: 7.7%
• Entertainment: 4.4%
• Education: 3.0%
• Personal care, products, and services: 1.6%

Of course, all of these expenses are bound to change over time, from inflation and market forces that are beyond your control. That’s why it’s important to review your budget and spending habits to see how you’re doing and if you need to make adjustments.

Look for Ways to Reduce Your Expenses

Part of the reason for a year-end financial checklist is to look for ways you can reduce or eliminate unnecessary expenses. You might start by considering your recurring payments or subscriptions. Many people sign up for a streaming service to watch a particular series or a movie and then forget about it. Consider canceling one or more of your subscriptions or limiting yourself to just one streaming service at a time.

One of the reasons for keeping track of every expense, down to the last dollar, is to analyze your spending habits. If every barista at your local coffeehouse knows exactly what you’re going to order, that could be something you could cut back on. A thermos full of homebrew might not seem as fancy as a coffeehouse, but it could save you a substantial sum over time. The same is true with bringing your lunch to work versus eating out, or cooking at home instead of take-out or food delivery. Keeping track of these expenses throughout the year and analyzing them from time to time can help you hit your financial goals.

Don’t be afraid to shop around for things like your Internet service provider, your car, and property insurance. These are things you need to spend money on, but if you’ve been habitually renewing a policy or haven’t considered your options in a while, it could be worth looking for alternatives, just to make sure you’re getting your money’s worth and aren’t being overcharged. It doesn’t hurt to ask for a discount if you’ve been a customer for a long time.

Maximize Your Retirement Contributions

A general rule of thumb for retirement planning is to have a certain amount of your income saved based on your age, such as having a year’s worth of your annual income saved by age 30. We can further break this down to:

• Three times your income by age 40.
• Four times your income by age 45.
• Six times your income by age 50.
• Seven times your income by age 55.
• Eight times your income by age 60.

According to the Federal Reserve, retirees who receive income from other sources, such as employment, pensions, or investments, were substantially better off than those who relied solely on Social Security and other public income sources. Among non-retirees, most Americans did not feel that their retirement savings were on track. According to the Fed’s data, 46% of retirees had to retire because of health problems, taking care of family members, or a lack of work. That’s why retirement planning is so important, because many people don’t have a choice as to when they retire.

The maximum annual 401(k) contribution for 2025 is $23,500 according to the IRS. Those aged 50 or more can make 401(k) catch-up contributions of up to $31,000 per year. The maximum contribution to an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) is $7,000. Those aged 50 and older can contribute an additional $1,000 per year to an IRA.

If your employer offers a 401(k) plan, try to contribute as much as possible. Your contributions are made on a pretax basis, so the more you set aside for retirement the less you’ll pay in federal income taxes while you’re working. If your employer matches your contributions, try to contribute so that you at least make the most of that benefit.

Get Ready for Tax Season

Just like the winter holidays, tax season often comes around before you realize it—and it isn’t nearly as fun. If your employer withholds your income taxes, you’ve got a head start on this. If you’re a freelancer, part of the gig economy, or run your own business, you’ll have a lot more to consider, such as whether you’ve been making quarterly payments on your estimated income taxes. The IRS has a tax withholding estimator on its website that can help with this. Of course, you may need to consult with an accountant or tax preparer to make sure you’ll be ready before April 15 rolls around.

Check Your Emergency Fund

As mentioned above, many Americans don’t have an emergency fund and would struggle to cover an unexpected expense of $1,000 or more. Financial experts recommend having three to six months’ worth of living expenses set aside as an emergency fund that you could quickly access, such as in a savings account. If you don’t have an emergency fund, make building one a goal for the coming year.

Make the Most of Your Savings

This one ties in with building an emergency fund. If you don’t have a savings account, then opening a savings account can really help you manage your funds. You could set up automatic transfers from your checking account to your savings account, such as once a month or once every paycheck. Many people do this because it makes it easy to save money. They use their checking account for paying bills and covering their expenses, and depositing some of their funds into a savings account makes it less likely for them to spend whatever they set aside. This also has a bonus of earning interest. You might also consider an interest checking account.

Look for ways to maximize your savings. If you’re saving up for something such as a vacation, the holidays, or a major purchase, you could put some of your funds into a certificate of deposit (CD) and earn more interest than you would with a regular savings account.

You could also use what’s known as a CD ladder, where you keep some of your savings in CDs at different terms, such as one-month, three-month, six-month, etc. This way, you could earn more interest with a longer-term CD, and when each CD comes to term, you could re-enroll the funds or use them if needed. A CD ladder lets you maximize the interest on your savings, while making sure you wouldn’t have to wait too long for one of your CDs to come to term, and you can access your funds.

Take a Close Look at Your Debts

Many Americans have some kind of debt, such as student loans, mortgages, car loans, and credit card balances. Part of the budget review process is to help you look for ways to reduce your debts and your interest costs. Put together a list of your debts, how much you owe on each of them, and the interest you’re being charged.

There are a couple of ways to tackle your debt load. You might focus on the smallest balances first, as they could be easier to pay off. You could also target whichever debt has the highest interest rate to reduce the cost of financing your debt. You might also consolidate your debts with a home equity line of credit (HELOC) or a personal loan. Many people choose this option because it gives them just one debt payment to make, and it can often result in a lower interest rate.

Check Your Credit Score

You can get a free credit report every week from AnnualCreditReport.com. This service used to be available once a year, but you can now check your score weekly. It’s a good idea to do this at least once a year to see how you’re doing and to look for any errors or signs of fraud. If you see any mistakes or suspicious activities, you can contact whichever credit reporting bureau lists the information: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

Contact Us for All Your Banking and Lending Needs

We’re here to help you with your banking and lending needs through the end of the year and beyond. For more information, contact one of our representatives by calling 703.436.4740. You can also contact us online or visit one of our locations in Fairfax County, Loudoun County, Arlington County, Virginia, and Washington, DC.

The post Year-End Financial Checklist: Prepare for a Strong New Year appeared first on FVCbank.

With Escrow Direct, you can open, fund, manage, and close escrow accounts and subaccounts—quickly, easily, and securely.

This robust, complimentary tool is now available to FVCbank customers, offering a seamless way to oversee your financial responsibilities while meeting regulatory requirements.

Flex Your Escrow Management Muscle

Escrow Direct is designed for businesses and organizations that rely on precise escrow account management, including:

• 1031 Exchange Intermediaries
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Whether you’re safeguarding client funds, managing transactions, or distributing payments, Escrow Direct ensures compliance is integrated into every step of the process.

Features to Streamline Your Operations

With Escrow Direct, managing your accounts is easier than ever. Here’s what you can expect:

• Regulatory Compliance Built-In: Simplify compliance with pre-integrated features for secure W-9 document uploads and automatic digital signatures.
• Custom Reports and Statements: Generate and download tailored reports and statements for better visibility into your escrow activities.
• Flexible User Management: Add multiple administrators and assign varying levels of access to match your organizational needs.
• Account Customization: Adapt Escrow Direct to handle unique account requirements and preferences.
• Online Beneficiary Documentation: Allow beneficiaries to complete and submit account documentation entirely online for faster processing.
• Bulk Subaccount Transitioning: Transitioning or adding new subaccounts? Escrow Direct enables bulk uploads to save time and effort.
• Data Distribution Across Accounts: Effortlessly calculate, split, and distribute critical data across accounts and subaccounts, all within the platform.

Why Choose Escrow Direct?

Managing escrow accounts shouldn’t feel like a burden. Escrow Direct eliminates inefficiencies and streamlines your operations, empowering your team to focus on what they do best. Whether you’re a real estate professional, attorney, or nonprofit, Escrow Direct is tailored to meet your unique needs—compliance and all.

Ready to Get Started?

If you’re already an FVCbank customer, contact your account manager today to activate Escrow Direct and start simplifying your escrow account management.

Not a customer yet? You can contact us, visit one of our branches in the Washington, DC and Baltimore area, or open an account through our online banking portal.

Simplify. Streamline. Succeed with Escrow Direct.

The post Introducing Escrow Direct: Simplify Your Escrow Account Management appeared first on FVCbank.

Given that HELOCs are asset-backed securities, they typically carry more favorable interest rates and higher credit limits than other types of loans or credit cards. HELOCs also generally have variable interest rates. If you can’t repay your HELOC loan, your home can go into foreclosure, which means you can lose it. One of the most common reasons homeowners take out HELOCs is to perform home improvements such as bathroom or kitchen remodels or renovations of exterior structures such as patios. However, HELOCs can also be used to finance things such as cars, trips, or weddings.

How Do HELOC Loans Work?

Much like a credit card, a HELOC allows you to borrow money up to a defined maximum. Most HELOCs have a withdrawal period between 5 and 10 years and the repayment period lasts between 10 and 20 years. After the loan has closed, your lender can offer you a credit card or special checks. Lenders often have minimum or maximum withdrawal amounts.

To determine your credit limit, most lenders will typically take a percentage of your property’s appraised value and subtract the balance you owe on your mortgage. Many lenders require a DTI ratio of 50% or lower or a FICO credit score of 675 or higher.

With some HELOCs, you can make fixed monthly payments during the reimbursement period. In this case, you may be obligated to make a “balloon” payment once this period ends if you can’t cover the entire principal plus interest with this fixed monthly amount.

It’s important to note that the risk of debt reloading associated with HELOCs is substantially high. Debt reloading occurs when you take out a new loan to repay an existing one as a means to benefit from a lower interest rate (or as a debt consolidation tactic). If you have a large amount of credit card debt with interest that is accruing rapidly, reloading may be a sound financial option to pursue.

Interest Rates On HELOCs

Variable interest rates on HELOCs are in part determined by public indexes such as the U.S. prime rate. This is a rate that banks and other major lending institutions across the country use as a benchmark for pricing several short and medium-term loans and other debt instruments. The federal funds rate (which is the rate banks charge each other for short-term loans) influences the prime rate.

Certain lenders offer you the option of having a HELOC with a fixed interest rate, which means part of this line of credit becomes a home equity loan. Locking in part of your HELOC can ultimately benefit you financially during times of economic uncertainty such as the current market, which is marked by high volatility for many equities coupled with inflation (especially high gas and food prices). One notable benefit of a fixed interest rate is a lower borrowing cost. Many HELOCs also have introductory rates (adjustable rates during the initial withdrawal period) and rate limits, so be sure to understand these before making your final decision. If you have previously taken out loans with a given bank or credit institution, you may also qualify for special discounts, so be sure to take advantage of these as well when applying for a HELOC.

Speak To The HELOC Experts

Contact the professionals at FVCbank in Fairfax, Virginia to learn more about HELOCs and how they work. Since 2007, we have been dedicated to helping customers make sound financial decisions by offering high-quality products and solutions. Our team believes that every individual deserves to be financially secure, regardless of their income or overall life situation. A HELOC allows you to borrow up to 80% of your home’s value at an interest rate equal to the Wall Street Journal prime rate plus 1.50%. Call FVCbank today at (703) 436-4740 or email us at consumerloans@fvcbank.com for more information.

The post What Are HELOC Loans & How Do They Work? appeared first on FVCbank.

One of the key benefits of mobile payments is the ability to leave your card or even your entire wallet at home. With the convenience of having multiple cards in your digital or mobile wallet, you always have everything you need.

Another huge benefit of your mobile wallet is having all of your loyalty program information right on your phone, meaning no more digging through your wallet or bag looking for that coupon you thought you had!

For more information about Mobile Payments and how you can set your FVCbank Debit card up through Apple, Google, Samsung Pay and more, please contact your FVCbank representative or visit your local branch today.

Common Questions Regarding Mobile Payments

Q1. What is a Mobile Payment and how does it work?
A. A Mobile Payment is a safe and regulated transaction that takes place entirely through your smartphone using NFC (Near-Field Communication) technology.

Q2. Are Mobile Payments here to stay?
A. Mobile Payments provide all the features, convenience and security protocols necessary to serve a true function. Due to the ease and practicality of the method, adoption is not expected to slow down anytime soon.

Q3. What is NFC?
A. NFC or Near-Field Communication is an almost instant form of a wireless data transfer. The innovation allows an NFC-enabled device to communicate with another wirelessly if they are within an inch or two of each other. Some of the most common uses of NFC technology are products and services such as Mobile Payments and Virtual Business Cards.

Q4. Are Mobile Payments safe?
A. The safety and security of our customers is our number one priority. Your card number as well as your personal details will always be hidden when using this method of payment. In addition, all transactions performed through Mobile Payments with your FVCbank Debit Card are protected through our 24/7 Fraud-Monitoring System.

Q5. I want to return something that I purchased using Mobile Payments, can I?
A. Yes, using your device account number the cashier will be able to find the transaction and process the return.

The post Mobile Payments With Your FVCbank Debit Card appeared first on FVCbank.