Blogs

Summer travel is around the corner – here are some tips from Citywide Banks, a division of HTLF Bank to keep your accounts safe so you can enjoy the sun and focus on family fun. Don’t bring anything you don’t need: Leave checkbooks and checks at home, in a locked safe. Use cash or credit cards for purchases. Also, go through your purse or wallet and remove any cards you won’t be using, as well as receipts. Put deliveries on hold: Put your mail on “postal hold” stating you wish to have your mail held at the post office for a period of time. This also goes for regular deliveries, like meal services or coffee delivery...

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently released a report of the top reported consumer frauds of 2022. The most frequently reported frauds involved imposter scams, with the vast majority of the fraudsters having contacted their victim by phone call or text message. Imposter scams can take many forms, including posing as government agencies, well-known companies, your bank, and even a family member or friend. These scammers impersonate someone else to gain access to personal information or trick victims into making cash payments. The FTC received reports on over 5.2 million cases of fraud...

Ways to prep your home before you leave for an extended time away. Embarking on an extended getaway can be exciting. It can be overwhelming, too, especially when you need to be away from your home and personal property for a long time. You want to make sure your home is secure before you leave so you can concentrate on new experiences. If you are headed out on a long-term trip, use these tips to prep your home before you go. Outside chores to complete How your home looks on the outside can signal unwanted attention from thieves. Overgrown shrubbery, a snow-covered driveway, a stack of...

Good health and well-being aren’t things we only want for our physical bodies; we also want them for our bank accounts. There’s no better time to start building financial wellness than the present. Here are some actionable steps to begin your journey to greater gains. Financial wellness means being financially secure enough to meet all your needs and cover emergency expenses. It also means being confident in achieving long-term financial goals, such as buying property or saving for retirement. While your earnings play a significant role in achieving financial wellness, other decisive factors...

If you get an SMS message supposedly from your bank about a fraud alert, be wary. The scheme tries to scare you into believing the scammers are representatives of your bank. An automated SMS message will appear on your phone, claiming to be a fraud alert from a banking institution. It’ll then ask if you recently made an instant payment in the thousands of dollars. How it happens: Scammers will first research your online history to learn your past addresses, Social Security numbers, the last four digits of your bank accounts or any other identifiable information about you. You will receive a...