Hartford Business Journal

22 Hartford Business Journal | April 5, 2021 | HartfordBusiness.com Is Your Banking Healthy? SPONSORED CONTENT Gina Scherbner bankatpeoples.com/businessteam 413-538-9500 A s a business owner, it has been hard to keep your business healthy over the past year. And because business needs change from year to year, your banking needs are probably different than before. Now is the time to have a discussion with your banker to catch up on your evolving needs. The result could give you access to new tools and capital, and provide you with a solid financial foundation for your business. Gina Scherbner, a Commercial and Institutional Banker at PeoplesBank, knows why an annual review is so critical. "Most importantly, an annual financial review gives a business owner peace of mind," says Scherbner. "It can provide access to the tools and resources needed to operate successfully." The yearly review typically includes a series of questions that help in three key areas: 1. Tune Up Your Tools You may benefit from cash management solutions or other banking tools. "Evaluating previous years history will help determine the right business banking solutions for you," Gina explains. "They also will help you know which online tools would work best for your business." Use of online business banking tools has skyrocketed over the past year. While many businesses use them to view account balances and transactions, tools like mobile deposit and payment became critical to many operations as work-from-home or even work- on-the-fly turned into the norm. 2. Finally Freeze Fraud Fraudsters have been busy this past year, and working from home brings on a new level of risk. Is your antivirus and security software robust and up-to- date? Is your staff educated on best practices to safeguard your network? Is your business banking fraud protection at the right level? "Some business owners forget banking options come with varying levels of fraud protection," reminds Gina. "There are a lot of options and some reduce the risk and liability that could fall on the business owner. Setting up account alerts is an easy way to catch suspicious activity and avoid surprises. You can even have the alerts sent to your mobile phone. If something does come up that doesn't look right, your bank can work with you to rectify the issue before it becomes a larger problem." 3. Fuel Up Financial Functionality: Do you pay your employees by check? Does reconciling your account take time? "If you answered yes to any of these questions, electronic payment solutions can make your banking processes more efficient," added Gina. "Electronic payment solutions can make your banking processes more efficient," Gina states. Are you going to the bank to make your deposits? If so, you may want to consider mobile deposit, remote deposit capture or lockbox services to deposit your checks remotely and securely. These reliable and secure processes give you the flexibility to pay your employees or customers electronically, thereby accelerating funds availability, improving cashflow, and reducing operating costs. 4. Create a Cashflow Cushion Building a rainy-day fund is going to help you overcome occasional financial speedbumps. Talk to your banker about creating a separate account that pays interest to hold your cash reserves. "Reviewing your previous year's cashflow might help you identify possibilities to fund this reserve," explains Gina. "Banking technologies continue to become more innovative," concludes Gina. "An annual financial review will help ensure your business banking processes are healthy, efficient, and safe from fraud." PeoplesBank works with businesses, big and small, and believes local businesses are vital to the community. For more information on how PeoplesBank can help your business, contact one of our Business Bankers or Cash Management Officers.

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