Archive for category: Articulon Insights

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Last year, more than 8 million Americans were victims of identity theft, resulting in a loss of $37 billion. In North Carolina alone, nearly 300,000 people are victimized each year. The average person spends about 59 hours and $631 recovering from ID theft. It’s pretty staggering when you stop and think about it.

Although I have not been victimized, I do know someone who is going through the painful process of fixing their credit after someone used their identity unscrupulously. The interesting thing I found when talking to her about this, is that, unlike many common beliefs that ID theft happens with your bank account or credit cards, her pain has been caused by someone setting up phone and cable service using her name.

So what can we do to reduce the risk of identity theft? Thanks to our friends at the Better Business Bureau serving Eastern North Carolina, here are 10 everyday steps you can take to protect yourself:

1. Secure your personal documents at home.
   Securing your personal documents at home is always a good idea, especially if you have roommates, employ outside help or are having work done in your house.
2. Shred any mail that you don’t want to keep.
   This includes credit card applications, insurance forms, financial statements, health forms and billing statements. Also cut up expired credit and debit cards.
3. Monitor your bank and credit card transactions thoroughly.
   Criminals with your account number generally start with small transactions to see if you’ll notice.
4. Protect your Social Security number, all account numbers and passwords.
   Don’t carry these numbers in your wallet. Also, minimize the personal information you print on checks. You don’t need to include your Social Security number, phone number or driver’s license number.
5. Never respond to emails requesting to “verify” your personal information and identifiers.
   Your bank, credit card company, online payment system, the IRS—none of these organizations will call or email asking for your confidential information. They already have it.
6. Don’t create obvious passwords.
   Mix in some numbers with capital and lowercase letters.
7. Never use e-mail to communicate sensitive personal information.
   Examples of such personal information are your user name, passwords, Social Security number or credit card number.
8. Don’t use your PDA or cell phone to store bank information.
   Consumers should never store bank information such as credit card numbers or other financial information on their cellular devices.
9. Keep your computer system and browser software up to date and set the highest security level you can tolerate.
   Back up your data regularly on a separate storage device and never store passwords or financial information on your hard drive.
10. Check your credit report at least once per year.
    There is only one source authorized to give you ONE FREE annual credit file disclosure per year from each of the three consumer reporting companies. Call 877.322.8228 or visit www.AnnualCreditReport.com. Call every four months to receive a report from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Doing so will help you keep an even closer eye on your rating.
    

BBB is also hosting its semi-annual “Secure Your ID” day local shredding event on Saturday, April 16. The organization encourages you to bring up to three bags or boxes of documents (no binders please) and they will shred them for you on the spot for free. The event is rain or shine and takes place from 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the parking lot of Coastal Federal Credit Union on St. Albans Drive in Raleigh. More information is available at www.easternnc.bbb.org/secure-your-id. It’s a great way to clean out your files, especially right as the deadline for filing your taxes approaches. We’ll be there and you should too, so come out and see us.

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Ask the CEO of any community bank what makes his bank different from the others, and you’ll hear over and over again – “customer service”, “personal attention”, “small town values with big city services”.

I did a quick review of the taglines associated with community banks in North Carolina, and found innumerable versions of the same thing:

“Smaller bank, bigger service” – Community Bank of Rowan

“Big Enough to Serve You, Small Enough to Know You” – First Carolina State Bank

“Small enough to know you, large enough to serve you” – Surrey Bank and Trust

“Small enough to care” – Southern Community Bank and Trust

“Hometown service. Big bank services.” – Home Savings Bank

It seems to me that what these banks are touting as a differentiator is actually what makes them all the same. Brand is not created on what makes your company or product the SAME as your competition, but what makes your company impossible to replicate.

One of my favorite definitions of brand – and what breeds brand loyalty – comes from Dr. Jay Barney of Ohio State University. According to his VRIO model, a brand has to possess the following attributes:

• Valuable – Solves a problem or fills a legitimate need for your customer

• Rare – Something that your competition doesn’t have

• Costly to imitate – Almost impossible for your competition to replicate

• Organizationally leveraged – Your company compliments and communicates the brand value on all levels

I’d like to ask those CEO’s the same question again, but in the VRIO context: “What makes your bank different?”

I imagine I would hear more about HOW they service their customers, how their organization is structured that makes them able to do so, what innovative products they have created to better serve their communities, how their business strategy is stronger, and ultimately, why they have STAYING POWER over their competition.

I’ll give a couple of examples of NC community banks that have established brands with staying power, in my opinion.

Live Oak Bank, based in Wilmington, NC, has positioned itself as a resource for Dentists, Veterinarians and Pharmacists. “Lending more than Capital”.

Square 1 Bank touts the “Power of the Entrepreneur”, and promises to provide creative and focused financial services and advice for start-ups and innovators. They go beyond traditional banking to providing consultation on business plan, executive searches and connections to the venture community through their Square Roots program.

 

Now THAT provides value, is rare, costly to imitate and permeates the entire organization.

And that is what we mean when we say, Never Stop Differentiating.