Banking has been a part of Spur’s history since the year of the city’s founding in 1909, and today Spur–based Spur Security Bank remains the only bank in Dickens County. But these days convenience and speed matter to banking customers wherever they’re situated, and according to Spur Security Bank President and CEO Kevin Bass, the bank is rolling out new products and services this spring and summer for individuals and businesses, to address those needs.
“This is something we’ve worked toward for the last six months in earnest,” Bass said.
A slate of online banking product enhancements have begun phasing in, starting with the mobile banking digital app that’s available now on Google Play and the Apple Store. While Spur Security Bank customers have had access to online banking starting some seven years ago, only now do they have the ability to check balances and make mobile deposits in a process that’s become familiar and comfortable for customers of all generations.
It’s only the first in a series of upgrades, said Executive Vice President Jay House on a conference call with the newspaper last week. House is part of the Spur Security Bank operations team located in Lubbock, working closely with Bass in New Home and Executive Vice President and Cashier Melanie McCormick in Spur.
House said staff delved into the process last June, and with the challenges of assessing each product and undergoing testing for security, compliance, regulatory and other factors, it’s been an ambitious goal — but they’ve ramped up in record time.
“The amount of work behind the scenes is amazing,” said House in complimenting both the Spur and Lubbock teams, which also include Lubbock-based Vice President, Treasury Management and Digital Innovation Kayla Watson and Vice President, Operations Ashley Webb.
House, McCormick, Watson and Webb briefed The Texas Spur last Friday on the bank’s full menu of new products and services. We’ll spend some time on each of them below.
For individual consumers, the mobile app, with deposit capture feature, is by far the most eagerly
anticipated improvement. The mobile app provides consumer and business customers the option of remote deposit capture by phone photo. The app provides for 24/7 banking, for those who need immediate access or want to save a physical trip to the bank.
“You don’t have to be tied to a physical location,” said McCormick. “As cash is becoming less important, for people who would rather not have cash, this is right up their alley. It’s a convenience factor.”
An upgraded website will be phased in around April 15. Also on the improvements roster for consumer and business customers is the availability of banking transaction downloads to interface with QuickBooks and Quicken. On the bank register screen, a Download button in the upper right portion of the screen enables several choices of file type downloads.
For business customers of all sizes, a slate of new capabilities will soon enable a range of secure products that will save them administrative time and speed cash flow.
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Business remote deposit.
Businesses, like consumers, can benefit from the anytime-anywhere digital deposit of checks in the mobile app, said Webb.. But for businesses, it’ll also be possible to scan and deposit checks in bulk.
Webb said that “the biggest factors we focused on are creating efficiencies for business owners, even after their business closes.”
There’s a significant cash flow benefit for depositors, she said, with same-day credit up until 5 p.m. daily even though the physical bank closes at 3 p.m. And the business client gets to retain the paper checks, in case any information needs to be verified. Businesses will need to have an agreement in place for their selected limit of exposure for deposits.
“The scanner connects with a secure system, then deposits just like you had brought them into the bank,” McCormick explained.
Two scanner types — about the size of a shoebox — will be available to business customers as a one-time purchase, depending on check volume, allowing business staff to scan in checks from the office, type in the amount of the deposit, and submit
BANKING BACKGROUND On December 15, 1909, the U.S. treasury Department issued Charter No. 1669-16 to the Spur National Bank in the Town of Spur in the County of Dickens and State of Texas authorizing them to commence banking. The bank continues to operate to this date under the same charter under Spur Security Bank – the only bank in Dickens County. | SPURSECURITYBANK.COM electronically.
While the mobile deposit service is free on the consumer side, fees for businesses involve a onetime purchase of the scanner ($300 or $450) then a monthly fee of $50/month for the service. The feature goes live about mid-April.
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If you want to pay a recipient, or receive payments, via ACH (automated clearing house), “as long as you have their banking info, it can be done” for either debits or credits, said Mc-Cormick. An authorization agreement must be set up,
and there is a fee associated.
• Wire Transfer.
While wire transfers have already been available on-site at Spur Security Bank, the feature will be offered to business customers via online banking (with the exception of international wires). Businesses can even set up templates to send regularly scheduled wires.
“While ACH transfer has a processing time, wires are instant,” said McCormick, and For some transactions customers prefer a wire because they can confirm receipt instantly.
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Positive Pay
is a benefit to business customers that’s been around for the last 10, 15 years in larger markets, McCormick said, but with growing concerns about fakes and frauds, it can be useful for business clients of all sizes that make a large volume of payments. It serves as a double confirmation that deposits are correct as intended.
“When you write paper checks to suppliers, fraudsters can get hold of your checks; positive pay allows you to send a registry file to the bank of checks you’ve authorized, so that checks presented match up to the info you’ve sent,” she said The service helps cut down possible problems with forged or altered checks.
“Once you’ve gotten hit by fraudstsers, it never goes away,” said McCormick. “Positive pay is a means to stop this.”
• Treasury cash management will be last component in the slate of offerings to roll out, with more information to come.
And with in-person retail transactions, said Webb, there’ll be one more feature that many bank card holders like:
contactless card pay
(tap-and-go, such as with Apple Wallet), that will debut in April. “It’s a convenience factor, but also a personal preference, especially since Covid,” she said.
Beginning this summer, Spur Security Bank will be able to print those debit cards on the spot in the Spur bank. If you get a new card, it will be the contactless type. In the meantime, cards that customers are currently using are good until their expiration dates. As now, a choice of four different approved card designs are available.
House noted that the upgrades represent a significant dollar investment by the bank to better serve the community, to offer features on par with those of other regional banking institutions. Still, he said, “we want to keep that small-town relationship” local clients are accustomed to.
“We are excited to offer these innovative products and services they haven’t had access to,” said Mc-Cormick.
CEO Bass agrees. “We’re bringing to Dickens County customers the range of services many larger markets have enjoyed for some time.”
“We can’t solve everything for every customer, but there is at least one service that benefits every customer,” said McCormick.
