As winter winds down and the days get longer and warmer, Cape Cod welcomes more visitors on weekends, daffodils starting to pop up and “open for the season” signs begin appearing outside businesses.
But while we and nature may have been enjoying the peace, cybercriminals and scam artists were hard at work scheming about more, and increasingly elaborate, ways to separate us from our hard-earned money. In particular, there has been a concerning trend of check fraud schemes locally, regionally and nationally.
Before the busy summer season, now is the perfect time to assess your readiness to combat fraud. Our expert team works diligently to protect your deposits and offers the following advice to keep your money safe:
- Monitor your accounts and transactions daily through online banking and our banking app to easily and quickly identify any unauthorized charges and suspicious activity.
- Set up real-time account alerts that will notify when specific types of transactions occur or when an account balance reaches a certain threshold. Instructions on how to enroll in alerts can be found here.
- For businesses, please consider adding our complimentary Positive Pay, which provides an added layer of security by verifying the authenticity of checks presented for payment against your issued checks. A powerful fraud prevention solution, Positive Pay covers both check and ACH fraud to protect your business from financial loss, reducing administrative time and expense investigating fraud and safeguard your reputation.
Additional security tips, best practices and resources can be found here.
Make Your Debit Card Work for You
We are always seeking ways to bring added value and benefits to our customers, and we think you’ll like our latest program to maximize debt card rewards.
We have enhanced our recently introduced MyCapeRewards program to include a new series of premium debit cards offering exceptional benefits including cash back for online purchases, prescription savings, coupons, discounts and even emergency roadside assistance. Additional information can be found here.
Congratulations, Shanika!
Please join me in congratulating Shanika Rogowski, Senior Vice President and Chief Residential Loan Officer, who was recently re-elected to the Massachusetts Mortgage Bankers Association (MMBA) Board of Directors.
The MMBA is the largest mortgage association in New England, and Shanika is one of five women serving on the 19-member Board.
We are proud of Shanika’s continued leadership role in this important statewide banking industry association.
The Coop Foundation Awards $35,500 in Grants
I am proud to report that The Coop Foundation has awarded $35,500 in grants to several deserving local nonprofits for the third quarter of the bank’s fiscal year 2024. Grant recipients include:
- $30,000 ($10,000 for three years) to Hyannis Public Library to be used toward the library’s $8.1 million renovation project to transform the more than one century old facility into a modern, versatile and essential public resource for the community.
- $7,500 to Cape Cod Times Needy Fund to support its Basic Needs for Vulnerable Residents (BNVR) program that provides financial assistance for basic human needs and tools and information such as in-depth resource and referral counseling to help households attain future sustainability.
- $5,000 to Champ Homes, a Hyannis-based organization that provides supportive, sober transitional housing to individuals over the age of 18 who are struggling with housing instability due to a variety of reasons, including the region’s severe housing crisis.
- $5,000 to Lower Cape Outreach Council to support its nine emergency food pantries on the Lower and Outer Cape to help mitigate costs of providing clients with fresh produce, proteins and non-perishable products.
- $3,000 to Cape Cod Brite Lights to help alleviate food insecurity and provide basic hygiene and feminine hygiene items to students in the Dennis-Yarmouth School District and Cape Cod Technical High School in Harwich.
The Coop Foundation also issued the final $5,000 installment of five-year $25,000 grant award to Outer Cape Health Services to support the now completed renovation and expansion of its medical center in Harwich.
I commend all of this quarter’s grant recipients and thank them for collectively making our communities better places to live, work and thrive. Keep up the great work!
The Region’s True Community Bank
Seasons come and go, but one thing has remained constant for more than a century – we are the region’s true community bank dedicated to serving the unique financial service needs of the Cape’s residents and businesses.
I thank you, one and all, for choosing us to be your local financial partner. I look forward to providing another update from the Bank in the summer.
All the best,
Chair, President and CEO