Month: July 2021

Second Chance Checking Accounts – A Layman’s Guide To Getting One

Are you currently looking into second chance checking accounts but are not sure what the process is, or how to get things started? In this article, we will be going over the background of these types of accounts, why they are needed and what type of banks offer them. By the end of this, you will get a clear idea about how this works and what you can do.

ChexSystems

If you ever been turned down for a regular checking account, it is likely that you have a negative record in the ChexSystems. Sometimes mis-spelled as the Check System, this is an organization just like a consumer reporting agency.

What Experian is to credit history and credit scores, ChexSystems is to checking account history. Banks that are member organizations of this system will report on to the system if the accounts are closed with fees unpaid and other events that will indicate the quality of the checking account transactions.

Second Chance Banking

All is not lost even if your ChexSystems account has a negative flag. One way is to bypass and go for non ChexSystems checking accounts that are offered by banks that are not a ChexSystems member. This situation is getting less and less common, though.

Most likely, you can still get an account from a bank that is a member of ChexSystems. Banks may see your record and still be willing to offer you a second chance checking account. For example, Joe S, an online forum poster, recently applied to Chase bank for a regular bank account for checking, and was offered the second chance Chase Access account instead.

Banks That Offer Them

Regular national banks, local banks and credit unions offer second chance banking. Some are offered by financial institutions that specialize in bad credit checking accounts.

Amongst the many choices, you can consider nationwide banks like Chase or USBank, or regional banks like Woodbury bank or Bank of the West. These accounts typically have all the benefits of a regular account, including check writing, online banking and a debit card.

Improve Financial Management And Credit History

This is important as it makes it so much easier to participate in mainstream financial activities and to make payments. Over time, a history of good financial management and the ability to pay bills on time could also contribute to a better credit score.

Be Careful About The Fees And Terms

One catch about second chance bank accounts is that they may also include some fees like an application fee, monthly account fee and transactions costs for writing checks. That is why you need to be careful when choosing the right place to open your new account at. Check out several websites and compare all the charges involved.

Moving Ahead With Life

The good news is that as you establish an account history with the bank, and they see that your account is in good standing over time, they will be willing to upgrade your account to a regular checking account.

Second chance checking accounts are available widely across many states and with different banks and credit unions. If you’ve been denied an account before, all it means is that you have not found the right bank. Don’t settle for the first bank that offers you an account. Instead, research and compare the fees and terms of several banks before choosing one.…

How to Nail Your Investment Banking Interviews

Ok, so you’ve got your big interview at that Investment Bank you’ve wanted to work at since you first heard of it. How do you prepare?

The thing is, not all investment banks are the same and you can’t always tell what’s going to happen in every interview.

To be honest though, there is a way to almost guarantee your success and that’s by anticipating what’s going to go down at your interview and preparing for it in advance.

First, let’s be clear. Fit questions will always be more important than the investment banking technical questions. I mean, these people don’t expect you to know it all when it comes to the financial world. They do expect you to have a good knowledge of it, but what they’re looking for the most is whether you’ll be a good addition to their firm.

The way you can tick all their boxes is to come across interested in business and the financial world, and also willing to learn and eager to work hard. Also, when you get asked the requisite questions on what you would do in certain situations, make sure you give examples from your own life. Hint: have 4-5 stories accentuating your relevant strengths – this will set you apart.

But the way to almost guarantee your success with investment banking interview [] questions is to be enthusiastic about what you’re saying. Interviewers cannot resist someone with FIRE, someone who’s positive, great to get along with.

Here’s the key: Make them want to work with someone like you.

Another good thing to do is to be prepared for all the logistics. You should be prepared to speak with a banker in every level of the firm at some point. We’re talking analysts, associates, VP’s and perhaps MD. You should be ready to have a very high-pressured day, full of interviews, tests, group exercises and assessments. Make sure you arrive on time in the morning and socialize with the other candidates. People will be watching you, so you should be at your most social and professional.

So in summary, prepare for the investment banking interviews in advance, link the fit questions back to your own experiences, be personable and charming and think about the logistics on the day itself. You’ll be getting investment banking job offers in no time!…

How To Find The Best Student Banking Account

Choosing the right student banking account is extremely important if you plan to undertake a higher education course. Many students do not find it easy to manage their finances or have access to funds to cover all expenses. Take a moment to consider the following tips and advice and the task should become easier.

At the outset you should be clear on the type of account that you would like, there are dozens of options available today. Do not rush into the decision, analyze how the terms and conditions differ.

The interest rate you are given on the balance is an important consideration. This is the amount of extra cash that is given on the capital. If you are planning to deposit a large amount of money, it is advantageous if there is a high interest rate.

Many students get into debt while undertaking higher education. For this reason you may find it desirable to choose a bank that offers a suitable overdraft facility. You would not want to face a situation were you are penalized for going into debt. An overdraft facility should be easy to arrange. Also, be aware of how the overdraft will be dealt with after graduation.

It is of extreme importance to locate a bank that has friendly staff and excellent customer service. There should be a number of ways of making contact and discussing your financial situation, this includes email, phone, and in-person visits.

Having debit and credit cards can help you access your money and quickly pay off bills. Be wary of any credit cards that have less than favorable interest rates.

Today, many banks offer internet banking facilities. This is a useful concept and one that can allow you to easily keep track of your finances without spending excessive time phoning the branch up in person.…

Tips on Making Your CV Cover Letter Compelling

There are many good reasons for sending a CV and cover letter. Many prospective job applicants lower their chances uselessly by not including a cover letter with their CV. By putting in one, you can actually enhance your chances of having a shot at the job.

Many job applicants are too lazy to send a cover letter and wrongly presume the CV would do the talking for them. But the CV is a record while a letter is your statement made personally and has more impact.

Direct personal touch like no other

There are more managers these days at HR departments who usually read the cover letter with great interest if it has a unique perspective. The CV is there to vouch for your letter and it has a direct personal touch like no other tool in a job application.

You can easily use the CV cover letter to match the needs of the employer and sail into his line of thoughts. A compelling letter can drive away any misconceptions about you.

The cover letter is supposed be the first impression about you in the absence of the employer having met you. If the CV contains all your educational degrees and details about your research or any other accomplishments, the letter is a message from you and the employer can right away judge the nature of the applicant to a great degree.

By gentle flattery, you can always aim at endearing yourself to the employer and help build a relationship that could help in your recruitment chances.

Half the task is completed in a cover letter

You can complete half the task by putting in a compelling cover letter. The CV and letter is treated by most employers coast to coast as a deciding factor for recruitment.

Your ideas, confidence and abilities come out strongly in a cover letter if it is written carefully after fine tuning several drafts. You can begin by making an initial draft and then check it by reading it aloud.

There could be some mistakes in them even after you spell check. The CV cover letter draft may appear too monotonous and unappealing when you read it aloud. You can immediately change some phrases or rephrase the letter to make it more focused and strong. Many applicants hurry over with the letter, leaving out many important facets on the way.

Your best bet would be to bring in all your hidden facts and traits into the letter to enable the employer know at first glance that you are the best candidate for the job. A well written letter deserves praise and automatically increases your chances of being considered for the post in the company.

Another way is to check out the website of the company you would be applying to for getting a hang of the ethos and the culture before setting about to write your CV and letter.…

Offshore Banking in Nevis

What is an offshore bank?

An offshore bank is a bank located outside the country of residence of the depositor, typically in a low tax jurisdiction that also provides financial and legal advantages to the depositor.

Why use an offshore bank?

Most who take advantage of offshore banking do so for reasons of privacy, reduced regulation and taxation, to protect assets from lawsuits or for protection from local political or financial instability in their home country.

Why Nevis is a popular offshore business and banking choice?

Nevis has been a popular offshore banking, incorporation, and investing center for the past 10 years. Nevis is considered a good place to deposit your funds because the country has a stable political and financial environment and its banking laws offer the depositor considerable protection of their privacy and their assets.

Located in the Leeward Islands in the West Indies, St. Kitts and Nevis are two islands that together make up the smallest sovereign nation, in both land and population, in the Americas called The Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Once relying primarily on sugar cane, Nevis’ modern economy is driven by its agriculture, tourism, export-oriented manufacturing, and offshore-banking sectors.

Nevis is popular with private investors looking for safe and stable offshore financial services and products such as asset management and protection, company formation and administration, offshore banking, investment management, and trust services. Nevis has a unique legal and tax climate catering specifically to foreign business and investors.

The Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis is one of eight island governments using the Eastern Caribbean dollar. The EC is pegged to the US dollar at a fixed rate of $1.00US to $2.70EC. This exchange rate has remained constant for over 20 years, and any change requires all eight participating governments to agree.

In1983, Saint Kitts and Nevis achieved full political independence from Britain. The government of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis is a parliamentary system with a unique political structure. Each island has an independent government. Nevis has its own unicameral legislature and its own island administration with the authority to formulate economic policies.

The Nevis Business Corporation Ordinance is a flexible corporate statute featuring a total tax exemption for Nevis corporations and offering strict confidentially with regard to beneficial ownership; requiring no financial or annual report; permitting nonresidents to be corporate directors, officers and shareholders; and, allowing corporate records to be maintained outside of Nevis. The Nevis ordinance is based on British and US legal principles making an easy transition for those used to doing business in Great Britain or the United States. The Nevis Limited Liability Ordinance offers similar benefits and protections for limited liability corporations.

The Nevis Exempt Trust Ordinance contains asset protection laws for those who establish trusts in the country that are considered to be among the best in the world by trust and estate planning advisers.

It is the combination of these favorable laws and the political and economic stability that make Nevis a location many interested in an offshore banking or business local seriously consider.…

The Internet Makes Life Super Easy

With each passing day, the Internet is growing large, encompassing every activity and every task of our day. The uses of the Internet are endless to state, but the following are some of the most important aspects of this technology that makes our lives so much easier.

Knowledge: The Internet is known to be one of the best sources of knowledge and information. Faster than information is updated into books, they are updated online for people to study. Therefore, with just a click of the button, any subject, any information, from any time in history to the present minute, can be found online.

Banking: With Internet, one of the most tiresome tasks has become extremely easy. Now there is no need to go to the bank in person, stand in a long queue and wait for your turn to come. In the comfort of your own home or office, one can make any kind of transaction, since online applications have made banking a lot simpler. One of the best advantages is that most banks have made online transactions possible at any time during the day.

Shopping: One of the many popular tasks people like doing online is shopping. There are a number of stores online selling absolutely everything, including land on the moon. With such variety available, people can now shop online and purchase items from different corners of the world just by “the click of a button” without having to step out of the house.

Communication: This is perhaps the best known and most important reason for the use of the Internet. Being able to communicate with people all around the world, send emails, chat and speak with the help of web cams, has changed the very outlook of life itself. The added advantage here is that partially or fully impaired people can use the Internet for communication.

Paying Utility Bills: Another aspect that proves how easy our lives have become with the use of the Internet is the ease with which we can now pay our Utility bills. Lots of companies are enabling people to pay their bills online rather than posting checks or going to the company personally to pay. This method has largely allowed people to better manage their financial responsibilities and keep track of their money.

Apart from those stated above, there are numerous other applications that have made life so much easier for all people. Saving time, money and energy, this amazing technology has taken life as we know it to an all new level.…

Collateral Management Solution in the Banking Sector

Collateral management is something that is used in banking to help secure against the chances of somebody defaulting on a payment. It has been used for hundreds of years but has only been common and regularized since the 1980s.

The History of Collateral Management Solution

The first time that securities lending were used officially was in the 1980s by the Bankers Trust and the Salomon Brothers. They would take collateral to help protect them against their lenders potentially defaulting on any payments and losing out on the money. However, there are now standards legally on the collateral management solution and this did not happen until 1994.

Since then, technology has advanced and banking software is now widely available to help with determining the collateral based on the amount of loan required. There is also much more scrutiny over the solution and it has become something that is rather complex.

Lowering the Credit Risk

There are many people who are looking to borrow money, whether it is to buy a home, a car or even just to pay off the debts. When the amount gets to a certain amount, there is much more risk on the banks as there is no guarantee that the borrower will be able to pay back the money, this is when the securities lending comes in.

The collateral will be used to help reduce the risk and is something that has become extremely popular since 2008, when the economic crisis hit. It is also commonly used on those who have defaulted on loans in the past but need to borrow money to stay afloat.

The Types of Collateral

When it comes to using banking software, there are different types of collateral on offer. They each have their own risks and their own benefits but it is up to the bank as to the type of collateral management solution used.

Letters of credit and guarantors are used commonly for those who have very bad credit. This offers the chance for someone else to shoulder the debt if the original borrow is not able to pay off the debt. Of course, this form of securities lending has many risks to the guarantor since the debt will fall onto them and they will need to ensure they can pay it off – or make arrangements with the original borrower.

Real estate and equity are other common options for collateral. When someone wants to borrow a large amount of money, they will usually put their home up as equity or the home will automatically be used as security in the banking software when taking out a mortgage. The pros to this is, that the borrower does not usually have to put up any money beforehand but there are risks in losing the house if defaults are made.

Cash is another option and has been noted to be one of the most popular. Surprisingly, cash is used in 82% of times, claims the ISDA.

What Is Collateral Management?

A collateral management solution is the full process of granting the loan, verifying details and the collateral and then giving advice on the types of collaterals that will help to reduce the risk to credit. However, there are other functions to this management. Securities lending also makes it possible for a borrower to gain more money than one would without the collateral in place.…

Banking With ABSA Bank

ABSA Bank is one of the leading financial services organizations in South Africa. The bank is responsible for serving personal, corporate and commercial customers in the country. The bank interacts with its customers through physical as well as electronic channel. The Barclays PLC is the major shareholder of this bank. The financial products offered by this bank include the following:

Basic products and services for low-income personal market

Customized products for the corporate and commercial markets

Bancassurance

Wealth management products and servicesABSA Bank Overview

The ABSA Bank is headquartered in Johannesburg. It has its operations in many other cities located in South Africa such as Cape Town, Durban, Bryanston, Midrand and Gauteng. It has also opened branches in Asia, Europe, UK, USA, Australia and Africa.

The swift code of this South African bank is ABSAZAJJ. This eight character code is employed to distinguish this bank from the other banks operating in the country. The swift is very useful in case of international transaction of money.

Services Offered by ABSA Bank

It offers a bouquet of financial products to the customers. Below here we give you a description about few financial services offered by the ABSA Bank.

Home Loans

Home loans are available to the customers buying a first house. The application can be filled online. The interest rates generally charged for the home loans are generally affordable to the customers. It offers different interest rates to the customers so that it becomes easy for the customers to the best option for him.

Internet Banking

Aside from the physical transaction, It has offered internet banking facility. You can avail a lot of banking services through on line banking services. You need a user id and password to avail the internet banking. The high-tech internet banking facility is a safe and smart way of doing banking transactions.

Credit Card

This division is responsible for everything related to credit cards. The various kinds of credit cards offered by the bank are private, classic, electronic, silver, platinum and gold.…

A Brief Introduction to the Automated Teller Machine

ATMs are now a routine part of banking transactions but when they were introduced in the 1960s, they were the height of technology.

The Automated Teller Machine (ATM) is now such a normal part of daily life that it’s strange to think it was ever cutting-edge technology. But in the 1960s, when the first cash-dispensing ATM was installed at a branch of Barclays Bank in London, it was revolutionary. What’s more, over the decades, ATMs have become much more than just cash dispensers. They also allow customers to carry out a range of banking activities, including deposits and mobile phone top-ups.

Given that the ATM is such a prominent feature in people’s lives, it’s important to understand its background, technical development and its capabilities. Here’s a quick introduction to the ATM and its global significance.

While the first card-accepting ATM was introduced by Barclays in London in 1968, this was not in fact the very first incarnation of the automated teller. CitiBank, then known as First National City Bank, launched a version of the ATM called the Bankograph in American branches in 1960. This machine did not let customers withdraw money but instead allowed them to pay bills without the assistance of bank staff. Moreover, Barclays’ 1968 addition was not foolproof and cards were regularly swallowed by these early ATMs.

Following these early developments, growth in North America and Western Europe was rapid. In 1969, the first machine to use magnetically encoded plastic was installed at Chemical Bank in New York, although initial take-up was slow as the running costs for these machines, known as Docutellers, outstripped the cost of hiring a human teller. However, as the modified Total Teller was introduced in the early 1970s, ATMs began spreading in banks across the two continents.

Today, ATMs have been popularised across the globe. Experts estimate that developed countries like the USA, Canada, the UK and Japan have a high concentration of ATMs per capita, while steady economic growth in India and China has meant that the number of bank machines in these countries has been growing in the last decade. However, it’s not just the number of ATMs throughout the world that has increased but also its functions. As well as withdrawing and depositing cash, modern ATMs also allow you to put credit on a mobile phone just by entering your phone number of the keypad. What’s more, some machines will let you pay money into a beneficiary’s account, while others will print mini bank statements of your last few transactions.

Though ATMs are ubiquitous in wealthier countries, their relative scarcity in some regions – like the Middle East and Africa – means that the industry still has the potential to grow. As a result, ATM software and ATM applications are in constant development, as companies investigate the benefits and drawbacks of different platforms in varying environments.

However, as software changes, so too does concern over ATM security. Today’s biggest worry for ATM industry professionals is how to maintain the security of global systems beyond the traditional advice to consumers to keep their PIN secret. The development of chip cards and Chip and Pin technology has helped to combat ATM fraud but there are still advances to be made.…

Outsourcing Your Mailing Needs

Several companies have a lot of mail coming through their doors, whether they happen to be sending direct marketing mailers or delivering invoices to clients. Producing, folding, and mailing these types of letters and statements could be costly and time consuming, and all all those resources might very easily be put toward more profitable endeavors. The right print mail services, though, can really help businesses work more efficiently and make sure they make contact with almost all their consumers and potential clients.

In the modern business environment, companies need to do anything they can to reduce infrastructure costs yet still have access to reliable mailing resources. That is why print and mail services have become so widespread these days. The businesses that provide this service make it possible to outsource both printing and mailing tasks so companies can refocus their endeavors on some other areas.

All these letters and statements ought to be sent at minimum monthly, and in some instances they need to be delivered every week. An organization can potentially devote too much effort trying to keep up with the demand if they don’t make use of a reputable service. By outsourcing to a print and mail service, though, the company will be able to transfer these regular tasks to a company that is an expert with sending mailers every day.

Whenever a business makes use of print mail services, it can eliminate many of the costs and problems that have a tendency to burden businesses that send marketing or billing correspondence on a continuous basis. A print and mail service makes it possible to delegate the publishing, folding, and stuffing phases to other people. In addition, it ensures that the company will never need to deal with its own printer maintenance or pay mailroom personnel.

One of the more well-known uses for outsourcing print mail services is in direct marketing. As a way to reach its prospective clients, a company should have the means to deliver its information in an economical way. If it squanders all its funds on the marketing end of the business, it will not have enough to keep everything else running smoothly.

A print and mail service is an effective method to manage all your mailing needs and slice numerous costs out of the business. It is vital that you make an effort to find the service that will cover your needs, though, and is effective at delivering letters or statements whenever they are needed. The best services can, in the long run, make it feasible to run the company as efficiently as is possible.…