In today’s economy, more and more people are looking for safe ways to invest deposits while maintaining access to every dollar. To that end, many people are finding Money Market accounts as reasonable alternatives to Certificates of Deposit (CDs).

Unlike CDs, that have terms from a few months to a few years, depositors have 24/7 access to their Money Market accounts.  The account can be accessed through online banking or telephone transfers or by simply writing a check from the Money Market account.  There is no need to tie-up deposits.

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Money Market Accounts Allow

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Money Markets are insured by
the FDIC for at least $100,000. 
They are a safe way to put
money aside.

For more information on whether a Money Market Investment Account is right for you,
call Citizens Bank at 1-888-645-4121 or
to learn more, Click HERE.


Money Market Accounts, a Great
Source of Available Assets
Bank Merger Focused on Shareholders, Not
Necessarily Customers

PNC to Buy National City

Under a recently announced deal, Pittsburgh-based PNC (NYSE: PNC) will buy Cleveland-based National City (NYSE: NCC) for $2.23 per share, or about $5.2 billion in PNC stock. Another $384 million in cash will be payable to certain warrant holders, PNC officials said in a news release.

"Upon closing the transaction, we will implement our successful business model and execute our strategies for managing risk, achieving cost efficiencies and growing high-quality revenue streams," said James E. Rohr, chairman and chief executive officer of PNC. "We believe this strategic combination will continue PNC's efforts to build capital strength and shareholder value."

The community awaits decisions on local branch changes and modifications to products, services and staff.
Citizens Bank...A Strong Community Pillar
While many large, regional banks like National City, Fifth Third, Huntington and Key Bank are suffering financial hardships; locally owned Citizens Bank
is proving to be a strong foundation in
the community.

Citizens Bank has been serving local communities for more than 130 years. As a well capitalized financial institution, the bank’s continued success helps Citizens employ more than 350 local residents.


“We are proud to have a staff that is so closely tied to their communities,” said James Miller, President & CEO, Citizens Bank. “It is not uncommon to walk into a Citizens location and be served by someone you know from your child’s activities or from other community organizations.”

Citizen’s dedication to the local community extends beyond the employees as the bank has donated more than $100,000 to the communities that they serve.

When is a Bank Healthy?
With two of the nation’s largest bank collapses occurring within four months of each other, and with the recent news of larger regional banks having financial hardships, it stands to reason that the community may be taking a second look at their personal bank.

The capital idea
Just as you should have a “rainy day” fund for unexpected financial needs like new tires or repairing a furnace, a bank also has a rainy day fund called capital. The better a bank’s capital, the better its financial health. In fact, banks are required to report their capital as a ratio
What happened to all these failing banks?
In an effort to improve their bottom line, some larger banks relaxed their standards for lending … meaning that they were taking larger risks on the money that they lent.
When the economy took a down-turn, payments on those risky loans stopped coming into the bank and they had to account for the reduction in income and for the potential that the entire loan balance had to be taken as a loss. These actions occurred very quickly and started eating into the bank’s capital (rainy day fund) in large amounts.

The result, reduced earnings, larger loan losses, fewer loans being issued, and a weaker
bank overall. The bottom-line for the failed banks is that their capital was insufficient to
meet the funding needs for continued operation of the bank.

Playing it safe
In contrast to larger banks, most local banks, like Citizens, have always maintained disciplined lending standards. Our goal is to locally loan money to those that need it, without putting the borrower in financial hardship.

Because our loans have always been more secure, Citizens has not been as affected by the down-turn in the economy. In fact, thanks to a healthy capital ratio (size of the rainy day fund compared to earnings), Citizens Bank has more money to lend and higher lending limits than ever before.