BusinessAdvantage Is Not Just the Name of Our Newsletter:
What’s the BusinessAdvantage?
Running a business is already difficult; why should your banking be, too? BusinessAdvantage is our powerful checking product that works just as hard as you do to keep your business a step ahead. The core fundamentals of any successful business are managing company finances, streamlining spending, and improving cash flow. This account makes it easy! The Features: • FREE 1,000 transactions per month1 • No minimum balance requirements2 • .25% (.0025) cash back on the total amount of eligible signature-based, point-of-sale Provident Debit MasterCard® transactions • Unlimited cash back • FREE ProvidentConnect for Business Online Banking and Bill Payment3 • FREE Provident Business Debit MasterCard • FREE eStatement • FREE 24-Hour Telephone Banking
The BusinessAdvantage is Provident Bank’s three-pronged approach to help your business thrive. With us, commitment you can count on means: Loans: From lines of credit to commercial mortgages and term loans, we are uniquely qualified to handle any small business loan. Provident provides competitive rates and quick, local lending decisions. You’ll deal directly with key decision makers who can provide prompt custom solutions. Cash Management: Our innovative cash management services help enhance your company’s cash flow so you can concentrate on what you do best: running and scaling your business. Strategy: Provident acts as your strategic partner, invested in your growth and prosperity. We collaborate with you to customize products and services that meet your individual business needs.
Get Yours: No matter what stage of the business life cycle you’re in, BusinessAdvantage Checking can help you thrive. So whether you need to maximize every hard-earned penny, leverage excess capital, or identify new profit centers…don’t go it alone. Give your business the Advantage it deserves! To open a FREE BusinessAdvantage Checking account or learn more, simply visit your local Provident Bank branch or call us at 866.4NJBIZZ. Free BusinessAdvantage Checking account includes 1,000 free transactions per statement period, with 12 statement periods per year. Free transactions include checks paid, deposited items, debits and credits. Fees will apply if the transaction limit is exceeded. 2No minimum account balance required; however, you must deposit a minimum of $50 to open this account. 3Does not include Cash Management accounts and services. Ask for details. 1
Inside This Issue: Social Media for Business
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It’s Borrowing Season
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Remote Deposit Capture
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21st Century Banking
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Social Media for Business Isn’t a Novelty; It’s a Necessity By now you’ve probably heard that social media is good for business. It’s more than that; it’s imperative. You’ll have to get serious about social this year and take the plunge—or risk sinking into obsolescence. It may take some getting used to, but social media is entirely doable. Here are 4 easy tips to get started—or grow your efforts! 1.Be Choosy–You’re probably exhausted by the sheer number of social media sites. The good news is that you shouldn’t be on all of them. Find out where your customers are—and go there. Devote your time and resources to the platforms that work best for your business. Do you have constant news? Twitter is your venue. Does your business lend itself well to instructional videos? You need a YouTube channel. Do you have great visuals? Try out Instagram. Whichever route you go, ensure that you engage with your pages consistently. An inactive page will do you more harm than good. 2.Get Real–The fastest way to engender your customers’ trust and loyalty is to talk to them, not at them. Start a real conversation that’s not about product pushes and hard sells. Inform, entertain, and engage with creative content that resolves their problems, answers their questions, speaks to their fears, and makes them feel. And if customers reach out to you, let them know you’re listening by responding! 3.Curate and Automate–Few businesses have the resources to create 100% original content. And you don’t have to. You should curate content that’s relevant to your audience from reputable sources around the web. Sites like Automated Insights, Curation Soft, Paper.Li, and Skyword can help you automate the curation process. 4.Monitor–Know how you’re doing and measure progress. You can monitor and understand the results of your efforts across platforms (e.g. who’s following and retweeting you on Twitter) with Simply Measured or Sproutsocial. You may also want to identify and assess what people and other companies are saying about you, your competitors, or your brand keywords from around the web. Diverse tools ranging from free Google Alerts to Salesforce’s Radian6 can help accomplish that. While you’re busy developing your own social media initiatives, make sure to stop by and see us on our big four!
Business Owner vs. Storm Storm season is nearly here. And it’s imperative that your business is prepared for adverse weather. Minimize the consequences of crisis with this Essential Business Continuity Guide.
• Conduct a business impact
analysis: Identify the systems that are critical to your business’ core operations, then assess the potential impact on these functions in a state of emergency.
• Identify key people:
Assemble a critical recovery team and equip them with the tools they need to carry out their jobs remotely.
• Have a back-up plan:
Develop alternate methods for moving funds and paying suppliers. Consider tools like online/mobile banking and Remote Deposit Capture.
• Communicate:
Know how you will communicate internally and externally. Ensure that your employees are coordinated and understand their roles in a crisis.
It’s Borrowing Season… And We’re the Lender You Need! Provident Bank’s lenders are experienced, skilled, and in tune with your needs. No matter if your financing requirements are large or small, we offer a high level of personal service, competitive rates, and a prompt response— because we know you have to get right back to what’s important: doing business.
Commercial Loans
Cash flow, working capital, wiggle room… the thorn in every business owner’s side. Inevitably, you will have short- or long-term borrowing needs. And when you do, we’ll be there to cover the gap with: • Lines of Credit: Every business experiences interruptions in cash flow. A line of credit gives you access to cash—to maintain operations, compensate for short falls and seasonal changes, and to expand into new markets.
• Term Loans: Flexible, individually-tailored term loans can help finance capital expenditures— like new or used equipment, vehicles, real estate, or leasehold improvements— and consolidate debt without cinching cash flow. • Owner-Occupied Commercial Mortgages: Build equity, improve your bottom line, and solidify your reputation by buying the building.
Small Business Loans
An SBA loan can help you start, buy, or grow a business. It offers flexible qualification requirements, long repayment terms up to 25 years, and high borrowing limits—from $200,000 to $5 million. As an SBA Preferred Lender, we can directly approve your loan application without waiting for the Small Business Administration’s decision, getting you the money you need faster!
Commercial Mortgages
Rental income can prove to be a highly valuable alternative revenue stream. So when you’ve found the perfect commercial site, don’t wait. We’ll help you purchase or refinance office space, retail buildings, industrial facilities, or warehouses and make property expansions or renovations.
Construction Loans
Expanding your real estate
is always an effective way to take your business to the next level. So whether you’re building from the ground up or adding onto an existing property, let Provident be the foundation under your feet. From tract developments with multiple homes to condominium complexes, retail centers, and office buildings, we can take your project from concept to completion with commitment and flexible rates and terms.
Investment Real Estate Lending
At Provident, we make things easy with flexible and affordable financing to purchase or refinance multi-family housing developments, industrial buildings, office spaces, mixed-used buildings, and more. We offer loan amounts ranging from $100,000 to $1 million. And with competitive rates, various repayment options, terms up to 25 years, and an auto-debit feature linked to your Provident checking account, we’re sure our savvy lenders can devise a solution that works for you.
Remote Deposit Capture: The New Normal
Welcome to the 21st Century of Banking!
Remote Deposit Capture (RDC) is a small, portable check scanner that allows you to deposit checks right from your home or office—any day, every day. Simply run the check through, review the highresolution images of both sides of the check on your computer, and send the images to us for processing.
With your days so busy and life so full, you need a bank that can keep up with the lightning pace of change. Our digital banking technology is fast, secure, and best yet, convenient. Because you need to be able to bank whenever, wherever.
That’s it. RDC is innovative, simple, effective, and quickly transforming the way businesses bank. What You Get Convenience: Enjoy the 24/7 convenience of depositing checks the same day you receive them, accessing funds more quickly, and instantly viewing check images, deposits, and reports online. Streamlined Processing: RDC streamlines check processing and account management, allowing you to deposit checks and post payments to accounts receivable at the same time. You can deposit an unlimited number of checks to multiple accounts. Remote deposits are consolidated into a single file that you can use to update your accounts receivable. Efficiency: RDC conserves your resources, reducing the cost and risk of traveling to the bank. It eliminates the need for a courier service, accounts at multiple banks, and paper. (You no longer have to photocopy checks: RDC archives images for 2 years.)
ProvidentConnect Online Banking for Business Monitor your daily cash position, project cash flow, analyze trends, and make borrowing and investing decisions confidently and quickly from the convenience of your home or office. Go on, get the big-picture insights you need to be the chess master of your business. Telephone Banking Telephone Banking is FREE and easy! Just dial 800.448.PROV (7768), enter a 4-digit Personal Identification Number (PIN), and navigate through the menus to manage your account(s). If you don’t have a PIN or have forgotten your PIN, you can ask a Customer Service Representative for assistance. To enter the world of digital banking in the 21st century, please visit your local branch, call us at 800.448.PROV (7768), or enroll in ProvidentConnect for Business right on our website: www.ProvidentNJ.com or www.ProvidentPA.com.
Heightened Security: Remote Deposit Capture helps mitigate fraud by: • Using unique login protection • Transmitting deposits via a secure website • Decreasing the chance of a lost or stolen check • Storing transaction history • Reducing the risk of check fraud Member FDIC