Derek Plourde

President & CEO

With news of military activity, political division, climate change and inflation dominating headlines, I hope that you are able to enjoy some cherished time with your family and friends, and experience the beauty and bounty of autumn in New England.

We have good news to share! Charles River Bank (CRB) won medals in 3 categories at the 2023 MyFM 101.3 Quest for the Best Awards. We brought home Gold in Bank, Silver in Wealth Management, and Silver in Mortgage Lending, all thanks to your continued support.

Over the past year, the banking industry has experienced some challenges with a rapid increase in interest rates by the Federal Reserve. In March, some of our nation’s large banks encountered the perfect storm.  These institutions had notable risk factors that made them susceptible to the sudden interest rate changes, along with concentrations of loans and deposits in more volatile industries.  The result was a liquidity crunch that ended in their collapse. In contrast, CRB’s assets include a wide variety of loans to homeowners and business entities throughout our community, and other diversified investments, with no specific concentrations in any one industry. CRB has continued to have strong financial results throughout the year, with above average results vs. our peer group in key metrics including: Net Interest Margin, Return on Assets, Return on Equity, and Efficiency Ratio.

Recently, some mega banks have announced plans to close offices within the communities we serve.  If you or your family, friends or colleagues are impacted by this, the CRB team is here to help.  Our bank was founded in this community 109 years ago, and our success is intrinsically tied to the people and businesses here.  And unlike the big national banks, or many other local banks, every dollar deposited at CRB is insured in full with FDIC covering the first $250,000 and DIF covering all deposit balances in excess of FDIC limits.

CRB’s continuing success is thanks to our customers, dedicated customer care team, and experienced leadership.  Rest assured that CRB will be here with the personalized solutions to meet your financial needs delivered with the highest level of service you deserve and expect, now and into the future.

I thank you for choosing Charles River Bank as your financial service provider.

Derek Plourde

President & CEO

Your Personal Financial Management Tool – Manage My Money (MX) – is Here!

In response to the growing need customers have for real-time financial updates across all financial institutions, Charles River Bank introduces Manage My Money (MX).  This new feature is now available within CRB’s Online and Mobile Banking. With this powerful personal financial management tool, you can:

• View all of your accounts (at CRB or ANY financial institution) including savings accounts, checking, 401k, investments and loans, along with transaction amounts and details.
• Get the most complete picture of your financial health while logged into your CRB online or mobile banking.
• Set budgets and track spending by specific categories across all of your credit cards and deposit accounts.
• Get recommendations to create the most effective, money saving plans for loan pay downs.
• Easy to read charts and graphs give you simple visual summaries of current finances and your progress over time.

Stop in any CRB branch or give us a call and we will happily demonstrate Manage My Money  functions and answer any questions you may have.  Manage My Money can be found at the top right Tab when logged into online banking, or from the upper left function menu in your CRB mobile APP.

Mega-Banks:  Too big to stay?

Recently a number of larger regional and national banks announced that they closing offices in our local communities, leaving their customers with challenges accessing ATMs, Safe Deposit Boxes, and in branch services. Other national banks have stopped offering specific products like retirement account CDs.  It seems that service is secondary to profits with these giants.

Charles River Bank (CRB) was founded locally 109 years ago and is here to stay. As a mutually controlled bank, our priority is our depositors and the communities we serve, not corporate shareholders.  Our continued success is intrinsically tied to the financial success of the individuals, families, businesses and organizations here. We are here for you, today and in the future.

So if you are looking for the convenient services, e-banking solutions, competitive interest rates, with personal connections that the big banks lack, CRB is here for you.  CRB customers have easy access to more than 40,000 surcharge free ATMs at our offices and across the country at SUM or MoneyPass (https://www.sum-atm.com/ https://moneypass.com/ ) ATM locations.  Safe Deposit Boxes are also available in a variety of sizes at all CRB offices.

CRB also offers an important benefit that national banks and most local banks can’t – full deposit insurance.  Your deposits are Charles River Bank are insured up to 250 thousand dollars through FDIC and every dollar above FDIC limit is insured by DIF (https://www.difxs.com/DIF/Home.aspx ). So you can rest easy knowing ALL your money deposited at CRB is always safe and secure.

If you or anyone you know is being affected by these big banks leaving or reduced product offerings, call us at (508) 533-8661, email info@charlesriverbank.com or visit any CRB branch! We’re happy to help in any way we can!

What is Person-to-Person Bank Transfer?

Say goodbye to checks, cash, and third party online financial services. With Pay A Person (person-to-person or P2P bank transfer), you can send money to family and friends through Online and Mobile Banking anytime and anywhere. This payment option allows you to simply enter your information and enter the recipient’s email address or mobile phone number to initiate the money transfer directly to their account.

Before we dive into the instructions on ‘how to’, we want to emphasize how secure this payment option is. In addition to multi-level security measures to access your Online and Mobile Banking CRB accounts, Pay A Person requires an extra level of security between you, as the sender, and the receiver. You will be prompted to ask a unique security question only the receiver will know the answer to and it must match 100%. If the answer does not match 100%, the payment will be canceled.

The Pay A Person feature is already set up on your Online and Mobile Banking account. Here are instructions on how to send the payment and how to receive the payment.

When you are sending the payment:

• Log on to your CRB Online Banking or CRB Mobile App.
• On the menu, click “Pay A Person.”
• If this is a new person, click “add,” otherwise, click the name of the person you would like to send the money to.
  • If new, enter their name, email, and their email a second time to confirm.
• After selecting the person, you will be taken to a screen where you input the amount of money you would like to send, the unique security question that only YOU and the RECEIVER know the answer to, and the answer. Click “send.”
• On the Pay A Person page, your screen will display the pending payment to the other individual.
• You will then receive an email confirming the P2P Payment and it will disclose the amount and to whom.

When receiving the payment:

• Lucky you! You’ve been sent money. You will receive an email from the person initiating the payment.
• Click “Deposit now,” and you will be taken to a screen where you need to input your email address and the answer to the security question asked by the payer. If the question is incorrectly answered three times, the payment will be canceled.
• Once this has been filled out, the payer will receive a follow-up email saying the payment was sent from your Charles River Bank X (whichever account you chose to withdrawal from) account on DATE. It will also confirm that the receiving Financial Institution should post the deposit within a day or two.

As always, if you have any questions, call us at 508-533-8661 for assistance.

Signing up for Online and Mobile Banking is quick and easy! Follow these steps to get started:

Step 1. Go to www.charlesriverbank.com and click the Login Button and select register or download the app in your mobile app store to register. Just search Charles River Bank Mobile.

Step 2. Accept the disclosure text.

Step 3. Enter the requested personal authentication information. Click submit.

Step 4. Enter your User ID and Password. Click submit.

Step 5. Enter your email and enter again to confirm. Click change.

Step 6. Sign in to online banking with your User ID and Password.

Step 7. Choose your challenge questions and answers and your authentication image and text, or defer until a later date. NOTE: a maximum of two deferrals are allowed.

Your password must use alphanumeric characters (i.e. letters or numbers) and your password is case sensitive. Also, your password cannot contain leading or trailing spaces. You may set up Biometric Identification on supported devices for extra security (i.e. fingerprint or facial ID).

Note: Your internet banking password ensures that only you can access your confidential information. Please remember this password and keep it secure.

If you have questions, contact our Customer Care Team at 508-533-8661.

Control Your Financials Right from Your Screen with Online and Mobile Banking

We understand that life can get busy and making a trip to the bank takes time – whether it’s to access account information, make a check deposit, or complete a payment on your CRB loan.

Well, what if we told you there was a quick and easy tool that saves you time and effort? With Charles River Bank’s Online and Mobile Banking feature, you are able to do just about everything you can do in a branch with just a few clicks from your computer, smartphone, or tablet. Sounds easy, right? That’s because it is! And best of all, it’s secure and safe, with 24/7 access to your accounts.

Here are some of the benefits of Online and Mobile Banking:

Convenience 24/7

Wondering what your account balance might be prior to making a purchase? No problem. With Online and Mobile Banking, you can log in at any time to check the details of your bank accounts.

Our smartphones and computers are typically readily available, allowing 24/7 account access to complete many banking tasks quickly. Having access to your accounts right at your fingertips enables you to view your account balances, banking statements, or transaction history in real-time, as well as set up account alerts to your mobile number or email to notify you of specific account activity. There are many alert options, so be sure to sign up today to keep your accounts extra secure and keep you up-to-date on your account information.

Other tasks that can be done on your Online Banking or Mobile app just like in a physical branch includes transferring money between your CRB accounts, setting up transfers to your deposit accounts at other banks, pay bills online from your CRB checking account, make a payment to your CRB loan, deposit a check using your smartphone, deactivate or reactivate your CRB Debit MasterCard or ATM card if it’s ever lost or stolen, utilize wire and ACH services if you have a business account, or pay a friend or family member with person-to-person transfer using funds from your CRB checking, savings, or Money Market account.

Transfer Funds Fast and Effortlessly

You’ve most likely heard of mobile payment services like CashApp and Venmo, but did you know you can avoid the third party and do it directly from your CRB account with Online and Mobile Banking? If you need to send money to someone you know and trust, instead of writing a check or paying them in cash, you can do it digitally. After you log on to your mobile or online account, click on “pay a person,” add recipient, add either their email or mobile device number, and send your payment! For a more detailed step-by-step process, check out our blog on person-to-person transfers.

Additionally, you can transfer funds between your CRB accounts and your deposit accounts at other banks. This is particularly useful if you notice an account balance is low and have an upcoming automatic payment or a recent purchase that could overdraw your account.

Mobile Check Deposit – Deposit checks from anywhere

On your Mobile App, there’s a feature to deposit your checks, virtually. The process is simple: endorse the check as instructed and use the CRB app and your mobile phone’s camera to capture an image of the front and back. You’ll have to fill in key check data, as you would on a deposit slip, then wait for it to process. Remember to hold on to the check until it has been officially processed in case there are any issues.

If the majority of your trips to the bank are to deposit checks, you’ll be able to witness how much of a time saver this feature truly is.

Yes – it is secure!

Keeping your financial information secure is a top priority at Charles River Bank. Our Online and Mobile Banking functions automatically encrypt all transactions. When setting up your online and mobile account, you will need to create a login and password. Be sure to use a strong password that is hard to guess by others – even close friends and family.

Here are some other tips to make sure your online and mobile account is as secure as possible:

• Create passwords for your phone, tablet, and computer Any device that has access to your accounts should have a password. If you have the mobile app on your phone or tablet, make sure you set up auto-lock, which will engage after a set amount of time has passed. This is a smart way to protect sensitive financial information if you accidentally leave your phone somewhere, if it’s stolen, or left unlocked.
• Always access your online and mobile banking accounts with secure networks. When you’re out in public places and need to access your financial information and you’re using public Wi-Fi, make sure you use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) or stick to using your cellular data. Public Wi-Fi is often unsecured and taking these steps ensures your data is kept safe.
• Use Strong Passwords. When creating your accounts, make sure your password is strong which consists of X amount of characters, which are a combination of letters (capitalized and lower case), numbers, and symbols.
• Use Biometric Authentication. Our mobile banking app allows you to use biometric authentication to log in. Enrolling in this feature on your mobile app will enable the biometric authentication technique your phone uses (for example fingerprint, facial recognition, etc.). In addition, CRB scans for certain risks automatically, including if it does not recognize the device you are logging in on. It will ask for additional verification to solidify the individual logging in is the account owner.

Online and Mobile Banking is easy, quick, and secure. It allows you to bank on your schedule, right from your mobile device or computer.

You can sign up for Online Banking here or download the app in your smartphone’s Mobile App Store. If you have any questions, you can reach us at 508-533-8661.