The Bank Note - August 2020
Connecting with Shareholders of Alliance Bank Central Texas
August 2020
Message from Todd Moore
Our new centrally located headquarters has quickly proven to be a great space for enhanced communication and project collaboration for our team. Prominently located on Waco’s most traveled thoroughfare, the building has also raised our profile in the community dramatically. If you haven’t had a chance to see this new facility, take a look at the exterior footage below for a neat perspective. Give us a call and come by; we would love to show you around!
Be sure to listen to part five in our six month series on Managing Stress in a Crisis, When Life Shakes You Up. Dr. Godfrey offers wise counsel about staying flexible so that we can adapt, learn and build confidence in the midst of change.
2.25% - No, that’s not a CD rate, it's a mortgage rate! I do not know if it has ever been lower. Now is a great time to buy a home or refinance and really save by lowering your payments, or lowering the total number of payments. Contact us and we’ll tell you how. It is easier than you think when we walk you through the process.
The Why I Love My Bank videos produced by the Texas Bankers Association remind us the value of knowing your banker and having someone who cares about your success…and who cares about YOU. If you are engaged in commerce and do not have that type of relationship, we can start one today. Give me a call on my cell at 254-722-2300 to take that first step. I truly believe it could be the best business move you make this year.
Remember, if you need us for anything, email us at AskAlliance. For banking or otherwise, we are here to help.
Todd Moore
President & CEO
Cell Phone: 254.722.2300
Record Low Mortgage Rates - 2.25%
At just 2.25%, mortgage rates are at an all-time low. If you currently have a mortgage, or if you are in the market for a new house, email Caitlin Barber to see if you could benefit from the current rate environment.
Cash Management
We want to make banking easy for you and your business! Our Cash Management (CM) suite of secure internet based products will bring leading technology to your back office functions. Changing your commercial banking relationship can be difficult, and our team is here to help remove obstacles for a seamless transition.
We know that changing your commercial banking relationship can be difficult, but we are here to help. At Alliance Bank Central Texas, we strive to remove the obstacles that make this a challenging process. Our Cash Management suite of products, detailed below, bring leading edge technology to your back-office; however, the key difference in our offering is the dedicated team of professionals that will assist you during the transition.
Alliance Bank Central Texas’ Cash Management (CM) product is a secure Internet based suite of products designed for security, efficiency and ease of use.
RECEIVABLES MANAGEMENT
Managing receivables through CM reduces the float on collected payments which increases your cash flow. Using a combination of Automated Clearing House (ACH) and Wire Transfers as remittance options, as well as, Remote Deposit Capture (RDC) for checks received, CM will reduce back-office burden and add efficiency to accounts receivable processing.
PAYABLES MANAGEMENT
Expenses associated with paying vendors with paper checks continue to increase due to personnel and processing costs. Using CM can eliminate most, if not all, paper checks through a combination of ACH and Wire Transfer payments. Electronic payments are secure, convenient and timely.
INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
The CM products includes Positive Pay and Account Reconciliation for information management and fraud prevention. Positive Pay for both ACH and checks reduces account fraud by providing information for review on items presented for payment. Upon review, the client makes the “pay or return” decision prior to item processing. At month-end, the client can quickly reconcile all accounts by using the built in reconciliation module.
LIQUIDITY MANAGEMENT / CASH CONCENTRATION
CM provides access to all your Alliance Bank Central Texas accounts via a secure Internet connection. With our “at a glance” summary of account balances, you can manage account balances with intra-day transfers. In addition, we can offer nightly “sweeps” between accounts to manage balances and reduce expenses. Through ACH Origination capabilities, you can transfer funds at other banks into your primary account with our bank for cash concentration purposes.
ACCOUNT SERVICES
Alliance Bank Central Texas has additional services to enhance your CM experience and lower your overall administrative costs, including:
- Payroll Processing and Employee Accounts using our “Go Green Campaign”
- Corporate Credit Cards with transaction export features.
- Merchant Processing with a full suite of payment platforms.
OUR COMMITTMENT
We know that change is difficult, so we have resources to assist moving your commercial banking relationship to Alliance Bank Central Texas.
- Review – We have a team of professional bankers that will review your current processes and match those to our products and services. At your option, this can be an on-site process where our teams work side by side.
- Implementation – Our team will come on-site during the conversation process to ensure a seamless transition to our products and services. From system access to file processing, we will guide your team through the CM process.
- Support – We will ensure that you have a dedicated employee assigned to your account for on-going support. Should any issues arise, you will have a direct line for support.
Managing Stress During a Crisis
Change can be challenging, and oftentimes uncomfortable. If you have you been feeling a little shaky and your methods for coping are not working, click below for tips on navigating the challenge of change.
18 Questions in 60 Seconds w/ Travis Louge
Travis Louge is one of the newest additions to our growing team. With nearly 15 years of banking and financial services experience, he knows the importance of building strong customer relationships and he confidently says that incredible people make Alliance Bank Central Texas a great place to work. Click below to learn about what he likes most about being a part of this team, his distaste for Pinterest projects, what profession he might have pursued in a "dream world," and more.
How long have you been in banking and what roles have you held? I’ve been in banking for 13 years. In that time, I’ve served in teller services personal banking, commercial insurance, and commercial lending.
When did you join the Alliance Bank team? July 2020.
What brought you to the team? I enjoy the relationship building aspect of community banking. I wanted to continue working for a community bank and felt that Alliance Bank Central Texas was a good fit for me.
What is your current role/title? I currently serve as vice president on the commercial lending team.
What do you think is the key to customer service? Honesty, timeliness and trustworthiness.
Over the years, what changes have you seen that have most impacted the industry? How quickly technology has impacted banking and turned it to more relational banking rather than location banking.
What would you say is the most important facet of workplace culture? Honesty and respect.
What is your favorite thing about working at Alliance Bank Central Texas? The people who work here are incredible. I enjoy being able to communicate openly and collaborate as a team.
When you have 30 minutes of free time, how do you pass the time? Spend time outside with my kids, Sophia (11) and Colton (7).
If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? Probably take my wife, Ashley, to Italy.
What’s your favorite indoor and/or outdoor activity? Playing golf or camping with my family.
What household chore do you absolutely hate doing? Anything that my wife finds on Pinterest.
Is there a chore you love? Mowing the lawn.
What does a typical Saturday look like? My go-to weekend activity is golf. If I’m not on the course, I’m enjoying kids’ sports or whatever my wife has planned for the day.
All-time favorite movie? Tombstone
What would you say is the most important facet of workplace culture? Honesty and respect.
If you could be any fictional character, who would you choose? Sherlock Holmes
If you had not gone into banking, what profession might you have chosen? In a dream world, something that has to do with professional football or soccer.
Paycheck Protection Program - Resource Center
For many of you, it is time to begin the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) forgiveness application process! In reviewing the qualifying criteria on the instructions, we anticipate that most, if not all, of our PPP borrowers will qualify to use the short form application Form 3508EZ. Please review the instructions to determine if you are able to use Form 3508EZ.
If you included expenses other than cash compensation to employees to maximize your loan amount (i.e. retirement contributions, health insurance premiums, rent, or interest expense) consider selecting the 24 week Covered Period. In doing so, you will likely be able to consider only cash compensation to employees for purposes of forgiveness and limit the amount of supporting documentation you will need to provide with your forgiveness application.
Click here for further updates and resources. We will also e-mail updates as more information becomes available.
Ready to move forward with the forgiveness process? Click here for forgiveness applications and instructions.
Employee Birthday Celebrations
August Celebrations
Mark Lujan (8/26)
Lety Coronado (8/27)
September Celebrations
Lizette Cardenas (9/8)
Scott Rogers (9/9)
Glenice Ashley (9/11)
Riley Conn (9/13)
Alfredo Lopez-Ramirez (9/26)
Ken Turner (9/29)
October Celebrations
Trent Turner (10/15)
Amy Dellinger (10/21)
Karla Cuevas (10/27)
About Alliance Bank Central Texas
Alliance Bank Central Texas is a community bank founded by a local board of directors, owned by a diverse group of over 200 shareholders, and operated by seasoned bankers, most of whom have spent their entire careers in Waco. In less than ten years it has seen assets grow from $35 million to over $350 million. The bank is focused on helping entrepreneurs, professionals and residents, and understands the condition of the local market. It feels real value is created through people connecting personally with their bankers, versus simply having transactions with a bank. Alliance Bank Central Texas provides a full range of financial services including business, personal and mortgage loans. It also provides a variety of deposit products and services including commercial, personal and certificates of deposits along with electronic banking, mobile deposit and cash management services.