Sunday, April 23, 2006
Not every bank or credit union has the time – about six months – or the money – about $1 million – to build a branch wherever and whenever one would come in handy.
The solution, according to one Fort Wayne-based company, is putting full-service branches on wheels.
Romary Associates, a company that specializes in building modular bank and credit union branches, has spent years pulling together the resources to make mobile branches with the latest security and communications equipment. The result includes a drive-up teller window, an outdoor walk-up ATM and a small but stylish lobby with two teller windows, a sit-down area for filling out loan applications or other paperwork, and a courtesy counter with pens and blank deposit slips.
Ed Romary, company president, unveiled the prototype of the Bankroll to an invitation-only audience Thursday and Friday at the Ohio Credit Union League Annual Convention in Cleveland.
Although the 43-foot-long, 14-foot-wide mobile unit was partly built by another company, Romary hopes to set up full production in Fort Wayne at Romary Associates, 8620 Bluffton Road. How many workers the company would need to hire would depend on how many of the units the staff can sell. The sticker price begins at roughly $550,000 and goes up, depending on the options ordered and the quality of individual features, Romary said.
The prototype includes materials such as a quartz counter, which sits atop cherry walls. The cabinets throughout the lobby area are also made of cherry. Two flat-screen monitors are suspended in opposite corners of the lobby, providing the financial institution a place to play its marketing messages.
The cost of the average brick-and-mortar branch – including land and site preparation – is about $1 million, according to John Hall, a spokesman for the American Bankers Association, a Washington-based industry group.
Romary can barely talk fast enough to keep up with his mental list of all the reasons banks and credit unions would want to buy or lease one of his new mobile branches.
A tornado might destroy an existing branch, for example. Or a financial institution might want to make its services available one day a week at retirement communities or in rural communities. A company employing numerous Amish workers who don’t drive cars might want a mobile branch to visit on payday to cash employees’ checks.
A bank or credit union might want to be the first to set up shop in a fast-growing area months before competitors can construct a traditional branch. A financial institution might want to offer its full range of services to people attending community and sporting events including the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Festival, the Three Rivers Festival and the Indianapolis 500.
“You can just go on and on. The list is kind of endless,” Romary said.
Lisa Wylie, Romary Associates marketing director, is awed by the array of uses for the company’s new product.
“It could really change, and hopefully revolutionize, how people do business,” she said. “This is a bank branch on wheels.”
Wylie, who has 15 years’ experience working in the banking industry, left Chase last year to join Romary Associates.
“One of the biggest struggles I faced in banking was you can only put up so many brick-and-mortar buildings when you’re trying to serve an area, especially a remote area,” she said.
One rural Elkhart County company did, in fact, employ a large number of Amish workers, Wylie said. The factory was too far from a bank for employees to jump in their buggies and cash their paychecks during their lunch break. The company brought in a mobile ATM with limited success, she said. A mobile branch would better address the workers’ needs, Wylie said.
But the concept isn’t exclusive.
Hall, of the American Bankers Association, said he’s heard of mobile branches made from converted recreational vehicles. Some were deployed to the Gulf Coast after it was struck last year by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
“Mobile branches are important in almost every bank’s disaster preparedness plan,” he said.
Federal regulators require banks to have extensive and tested disaster recovery plans. Some banks have a lease agreement in place just in case, Hall said.
Romary said his version of a mobile branch is unique, however. He’s applied for a patent on the drive-up window design. A search of existing patents didn’t reveal another like it.
The company president also doubts that other versions have comparable, cutting-edge technology aboard. Romary’s prototype comes equipped with redundancies for power as well as telephone and data communications. If a landline isn’t available, for example, the phone system switches to cellular service. If cellular access isn’t available, the phone and data signals default to a stand-by satellite feed.
Security is state-of-the-art with 16 cameras, including one that telescopes up to seven feet on top of the mobile unit and turn 360 degrees, providing a view – even in total darkness – for 100 yards. The doors and windows are all wired.
“Any point (on the vehicle) that would look like a potential entry has micro-switches that would trigger an alarm,” said Patrick Romary, the company’s vice president and Ed Romary’s son.
And don’t even think about just driving off with the branch.
Security codes must be entered before the engine will start. The owners can remotely monitor the exact speed and location of the unit. And global positioning systems equipment allows the mobile branch’s owners to enter coordinates that define a boundary of where the vehicle is expected to travel. If the unit leaves that area, the system will alert the owners and law enforcement officials that something is amiss.
Joe Loy, of Gallatin, Tenn.-based Loyalty Mobile Solutions, consulted on the security measures. The company also consults for government agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security.
“The Romarys have taken extra care in safeguarding this prototype,” he said. “I would feel better in this (financial services) unit than any other unit out there.”
A safe – slightly larger than a 3-foot cube – secures the mobile branch’s cash. The safe is the same size and quality found in typical bank branches, Romary said.
Wylie, Romary’s marketing director, is convinced that all safety issues have been addressed.
“For security, this thing’s like Fort Knox on wheels,” she said.
At least one area bank official is enthusiastic about the potential uses of mobile branches.
Jamie Shinabarger, president of Hicksville, Ohio-based HBLS Bank, compares the Bankroll to a bookmobile taking library books to under-served areas.
“I’ve not been in it. It sounds pretty cool, though,” he said. “I give Ed (Romary) credit. He’s an innovator, and he’s able to think beyond the constraints of traditional banking.”
HBLS Bank is currently constructing its first branch in Fort Wayne, a modular unit being built by Romary Associates, so Shinabarger isn’t ready to make another large purchase by buying a mobile branch.
“Down the road, it could be a consideration,” he said. “I believe it could add some flexibility to some people’s operations where they couldn’t justify building a branch.”
Sunday, April 16, 2006
(ARA) - It's easy to get distracted by all the things you have to do -- get to and from work or school, business meeting, playdates for the kids, etc., that it's easy to lose things. The digital camera you brought with you to a family gathering gets left on the table at the restaurant; your cell phone gets left in a public restroom; and the report you slaved over the night before gets left who knows where.
"Or you end up leaving your PDA which is filled with personal information on top of your car, and it falls off as you're driving away," says Ivan Lawing, a junior at North Carolina State University. He is enrolled in the Marine Enlisted Commissioning Education Program at the college, and when the loss happened, he was late leaving a meeting to pick up his daughter.
"I thought my PDA was gone forever, but two girls out jogging near the school found it, saw the label on the back that said to call for a reward, and followed through," says Lawing. Less than a week later, he received a phone call from the company that provided the label, Boulder, Colo.-based StuffBak, the nation's largest loss protection service provider; and paid a modest fee to get his item back. (Log on to www.stuffbak.com to view an online report explaining how the service works).
Lawing is among the growing number of Americans who are registering their valuable portable items with services designed to help them get them back if lost or stolen. "As a society, we are increasingly dependent on our laptops, cell phones, PDAs, MP3 players and other digital media to conduct business, keep in touch with friends and family, provide enjoyment and manage our lives. Redoing a lost report would take hours; so would reprogramming your cell phone; and if you lose those irreplaceable photos, you'd be heartbroken," says Karen Edwards of StuffBak. "Replacing and reprogramming these devices if they're lost is a huge hassle. That's why services like ours are becoming so popular."
According to a report that appeared in the Wall Street Journal in November 2003, 140,000 personal items are left annually on Southwest Airlines flights; 50,000 items at Enterprise-Rent-A-Car; and 20 a day at some Avis Rent-A-Car locations; yet because they lack identification, only one percent of the belongings are returned to their owners.
"Common sense tells you that if you have a form of identification and attach a reward to an item's recovery, you're more likely to get it back," says Edwards. Everyone who calls StuffBak after finding an item will receive a $20 StuffBak product reward, plus the owner's optional cash reward.
"I guess I could have just put my name and number on the back of the PDA and hoped for the best, but in this day and age with identity theft running so rampant, I was afraid if I lost it, I'd be giving thieves access to my personal information. Getting a third party involved gave me peace of mind," says Lawing.
"StuffBak boasts a 75 percent recovery rate, so protecting valuable gear with our service has the potential to save significant time and money. When it comes to your important traveling companions, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." says Edwards.
To learn how to get started, log on to www.stuffbak.com or call (800) 800-8257.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Sales Incentives boosts the fundraising efforts of local event organizers with a new fundraising opportunity that offers a 25% recurring profit per sale to the organization while saving donors approximately $6,000 a year. For details, For details, please click here.
ReallyGoodDeal is an innovative approach to fundraising and applies to any type of program or event: local charity campaigns, events and festivals, school fundraisers, church fundraisers, walks, celebrations, etc. This online bargain shopping service makes donors more interested in supporting local events and charitable causes as they receive value in exchange for their donation.
ReallyGoodDeal saves families thousands on products and services they use every day. Members enjoy shopping bargains online and savings of up to 50% at thousands of businesses around the world. Simply by entering the zip code, name of the city, discounts appear on the computer. Members may also take advantage of the guaranteed $1,000 savings on groceries – as well as savings on big expense items like insurance, telephone, internet, and discounts on gifts, magazines and CD-ROMs and more. For example, an organization promotes ReallyGoodDeal and a donor signs up as a member.
The organization immediately receives 25% of the $59.95 per year membership fee—that’s $15.00 each time a member joins or renews their membership through the fundraising link. The donor then receives savings throughout the year. Most families save approximately $6,000 a year. They choose the exact, money saving grocery coupons their family wants and uses on a daily basis and the coupons are delivered to their doorstep through the US Mail.
The donor’s family also saves money at hundreds of businesses and services within a 25 mile radius of home or anywhere their travels take them. There are pizza coupons, restaurant savings, oil changes, discount hotel and discount airfare rates, discount movie tickets, amusement park discounts, plus plenty of free games and other free stuff for kids and adults. Over 100,000 businesses and services participate, offering some of the best deals on the internet today in an easy to use, well organized website.
HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS
Fundraising organizations post a link on their website and in their web based advertising, promoting ReallyGoodDeal. They drive donors to the site through handouts, flyers, notices, inserts and other forms of promotion. The program comes with an extensive eMarketing assistance program providing online banners & support. Flyers are also available for reproduction and distribution. The Family Savings Network also offers participating organizations a free blog to publish their own news and updates and to help promote ReallyGoodDeal. For details, see
http//:www.familysavingsnetwork.21publish.com
RESELLER OPPORTUNITIES
Sales Incentives is looking for resellers, especially in rural areas where successful community events are important to the local economy. For details, please click here.
