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V I E W P O I N T S W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 3 N OV E M B E R 2 7 , 2 0 2 3 From the Editor A checking account seems like a relic of the past, especially with options like automated payments, debit cards and Venmo. But while check use is way down from historic levels, there's been a dramatic increase in check fraud, writes Senior Writer Renee Cordes. e number of checks processed by the Federal Reserve, which handles about a third of the total, plummeted from nearly 19 billion in 1990 to 3.4 billion in 2022, as paying with debit and credit cards and automated transfers became more popu- lar, Renee reports. Consumers have some protections, so it's often community banks that end up shouldering financial responsibility for the scams. Fraudsters are having a field day. One Maine bank expects fraud costs to rob $61,000 from the bottom line, compared to $5,000 only three years ago. See Renee's story, "Keeping fraud in check," which starts on Page 18. Maine has a number of pitch competitions, which offer cash that can often fast-track a startup's progress. Senior Writer Laurie Schreiber asked some winners of pitch competitions what the cash helped pay for. Investment in equipment, competitive wages or improved marketing materials were three common uses. But, interestingly, the enduring "prize" from being part of the pitch competitions is not the money involved. While the money is great, it's often the mentoring, consulting, growth strategies and connec- tions that are the most enduring benefit of the pitch competitions, as Laurie reports. See "Eye on the prize," which starts on Page 28. Peter Van Allen pvanallen@mainebiz.biz Featured @ Mainebiz.biz For a daily digest of Maine's top business news, sign up for the Mainebiz Daily Report at mainebiz.biz/enews Get Maine's top business news daily at mainebiz.biz or by subscribing to the Daily Report and Real Estate Insider newsletters. Here is our most popular online content from Nov. 6–20. 1. Friday Food Insider: Restaurants are opening, closing and changing hands 2. Three Maine restaurants named to OpenTable Top 100 list 3. Boutique boomlet in Biddeford? A second high-end hotel may open in trending Maine city 4. How Maine Plywood salvaged industrial- sized boilers from B&M Baked Beans site 5. Feuding over family leave: Businesses fear bigger staffing headaches under Maine's new law 6. At long last, Maine's first Costco is set to open in Scarborough 7. Maine cyberattack puts 1.3 million people at risk of having information stolen 8. 5-building industrial portfolio sells for $14.6M in off-market deal 9. Three-generation family jewelry business to leave downtown Lewiston for Yarmouth 10. Who's on the A-list? Maine hospitals get mixed grades in national safety study P H O T O / P E T E R VA N A L L E N 1 Often it's the mentoring, consulting, growth strategies and connections that are the most enduring benefit of the pitch competitions. bernsteinshur.com Meet Ian Green. A business attorney with prior experience in banking and lending, Ian understands the value of practical advice and "real world" solutions — from large, multi-national corporations to small family-owned businesses. We're attorneys. But we're people first. Ian C. Green, Attorney Watch your checkbook (Hey, what's a checkbook?)

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