Monthly Archives: June 2012

We’re excited to announce a social media/social giving campaign that will support safe, fun summer experiences for area youths. Throughout the month of July, every time somebody clicks “like” on the Cambridge Savings Bank Facebook page, we will donate $5 to Cambridge Camping, which provides summer camp opportunities for children who would otherwise not have the opportunity to attend a camp.

 “The leadership level of charitable giving provided by Cambridge Savings Bank makes a difference in how children in our community experience their summer,” said Amy Stein, Executive Director of Cambridge Camping. “We’re grateful for this opportunity and excited by the potential to serve more children through this unique promotion.”

Cambridge Camping offers day camps and overnight partner-camps to low income children in the community. Summer camp provides an ideal setting for building friendships, interacting with nature, and developing healthy behaviors.

Since 1893, Cambridge Camping has helped narrow the summer opportunity gap for children from low income families in our community.  This year, we’ve donated $7,500 to the organization through the Cambridge Savings Charitable Foundation.  The new Facebook campaign is designed to generate additional funds and awareness for the organization.

During the month, we’re encouraging local residents to “like” the Bank’s page by visiting www.facebook.com/cambridgesavings, in order to generate donations up to $2,000.

Evan Diamond, Cambridge Savings Bank’s Financial Education Program Manager and Teresa Brown, a CLC teacher, pose with students from the ESOL 3 class.

By Evan Diamond, AVP/ Financial Education Program Manager

In the wake of the recent financial crisis, we saw a great need for more reliable money-management education in the communities we serve. We’ve been working hard to expand the outreach of CSBsmart, the Bank’s signature financial education program and are focused on improving the social and economic well-being of people who live and work in our communities by:

• Developing and delivering quality programs on a wide variety of financial topics to community members of all ages and economic backgrounds 
• Helping community members take steps toward reaching their financial goals 
• Empowering individuals by educating them to develop a broad range of money management skills

In the past two years, CSBsmart has presented 342 financial education sessions to 5,228 participants. Additionally, Cambridge Savings Bank has reached 5,000 community members through Town Day Financial Education contests.

Georgiana Chevry, program director of Community Learning Center (CLC) in Cambridge, recently contacted the CSBsmart team to create a financial education plan that would serve the program’s adult immigrant population (CLC offers English for Speakers of Other Languages and Intermediate Adult Basic Education.) More than 1,000 students participate in the program annually, developing English language skills, working toward earning a GED, and reaching goals such as U.S. citizenship and career advancement.

After consulting with the Cambridge Savings Bank staff, Chevry was able to offer five unique, engaging, and creative CSBsmart lessons that taught students the basics of budgeting, checking and savings accounts, credit, and fraud. For two months, Cambridge Savings Bank financial educators presented a total of ten lessons to students. Because Community Learning Center students often work full-time jobs, classes were often held during the evening. Curiosity abounded as students asked questions such as “How do I save money when living is so expensive?” and “How long should I keep my secured credit card before applying for a regular credit card?”

In consideration of the language challenges, instructors frequently asked questions to check for understanding as they introduced new financial terms.  Students became comfortable with the instructors, asking questions about managing money while building confidence to use their English language skills. Working with the ESOL classes was extremely rewarding.

Cambridge Savings Bank is honored to help Cambridge residents with much needed financial education!

WebBank enhancements, inspired by your feedback.

At Cambridge Savings Bank, we’re always striving to improve your online banking experience. On July 10, 2012, we’ll be giving you WebBank tools to help you manage your money quickly and easily from one location. In just a few clicks, you’ll be able to check account balances, view transaction history, transfer funds, and pay bills — all without leaving the WebBank home page.

We’re also redesigning the Account History page to make it easier for you to browse through all of your transactions. You will be able to check your transaction history, or simply verify your balance quickly with the more intuitive user interface.

Curious what the new interface will look like? Get a sneak preview below!

What will the WebBank home page look like?

1. The My Accounts tool puts your current and recent financial history in one place. Accounts are grouped by type (deposit, loans, etc.) and are listed with account names, numbers and balances in one organized, easy to read list. You can also click the “Quick Peek” button to view more details about each account.
2. You can click the Make a Transfer button to move money between CSB accounts in seconds.
3. We’ve found that the Make a Payment feature is the most often used function of Bill Pay. That’s why we’ve integrated it into the home page so that you can pay bills quickly. All the payees already set up in Bill Pay are listed – you simply select one, enter a date and amount, click to schedule, and the bill is paid. Previously scheduled payments are also easily viewable from this spot.

What will the Account History page look like?

1. Quickly set date ranges to reflect the period of time you are interested in seeing or search easily by keyword (such as a specific vendor, check or even a dollar amount).
2. Make transfers, export account data or print your account history with just a few clicks.
3. View a snapshot of your account that includes important pieces of information like current balance, account number, routing number, APY, interest rate, and YTD interest.

We are confident that these enhancements will provide a better WebBank experience, making it easier to access your money. We will continue to refine WebBank and make improvements wherever possible. At CSB, we are always looking for new and better ways to serve our customers. Please click here to send us any comments or questions you have regarding WebBank.

Amira and Lucy, of West Newton, are having a great time running their first small business with the help of a CSB Lemonade Stand Startup Kit. Stop by the Newtonville branch on Saturday to pick up a kit while supplies last! More info: http://newton.patch.com/events/free-lemonade-stand-kits