CCCS of Buffalo NEWS

CCCS of Buffalo NEWS

WINTER 2017

Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Buffalo, Inc.

40 Gardenville Pkwy., Suite 300 West Seneca, NY 14224 716-712-2060 [phone] 800-926-9685 [toll free] 716-712-2079 [fax] cccs@

Twitter:

@CCCSnbuffalo

Community Counseling Centers: Please call

716-712-2060 to schedule an appointment

at any of our locations:

CCCS Main Office 40 Gardenville Parkway West Seneca, NY 14224

Dale Association 33 Ontario Street Lockport, NY 14094

Evans Bank 2800 Niagara Falls Boulevard

Tonawanda, NY 14150

Family & Children's Service of Niagara

1522 Main Street Niagara Falls, NY 14305

Key Bank 306 West Ferry Street

Buffalo, NY 14213

M&T Bank 750 Main Street Niagara Falls, NY 14301

Veteran's One-stop Center 1280 Main Street, 2nd Floor

Buffalo, NY 14209

Veterans Outreach Center 403 Main Street, Suite 320

Buffalo, NY 14203

Financial New Year Resolutions

By Lisa Frankenberger

The beginning of a new year often times brings new beginnings, new resolutions, and plans for the upcoming

months. Many times we think of health and

wellness goals, but the New Year is also a

great time to explore goals related to your fi-

nances to see if you can improve your over-

all financial well-being.

Coming off of the holiday season, many

of us can feel a bit overwhelmed, or possibly

feel like we are behind financially. January is

the perfect time to set a plan for your 2017

finances, specifically working on saving for

periodic expenses.

Periodic expenses are those that occur

throughout the year, but not on a consis-

tent monthly basis. Examples of such ex-

penses are holiday

gifts, clothing, vaca-

tions, taxes, school

supplies, etc. Many

times these expenses

can really throw our

budget plans off if

we haven't saved for

them throughout

Lisa Frankenberger

the year. The best way to

plan for these expenses is to estimate what

you spend yearly on these categories, then

divide that amount by 12 (the number of

months in a year) to figure out how much

you need to set aside monthly to have the

funds available for those expenses.

For example: if you typically spend about $1,500 annually on gifts, $1,500 divided by 12 equals $125. Your monthly budget plan should include $125 going into a savings account, separate account, or place to save toward gifts. When birthdays or other holidays come up throughout the year, you will be able to draw from this fund without incurring large irregular expenses throughout the year that you hadn't planned for.

It is advisable to keep these funds in a separate account as it is difficult to let a large balance accrue in your checking account and have to remember that a certain amount is reserved for other items. Many times we have the tendency to spend what is available; transfers to a savings/separate checking account makes the saving process more automatic and easier to keep track of.

There are many other examples of expenses that don't come up on a monthly basis. Even our quarterly water bills, or auto insurance if not paid monthly, can be saved for using this method. What areas of your budget can you think of that you could apply this savings method to?

As always, if you want assistance working on your financial goals or with your budget, we at CCCS of Buffalo are here to help! Please feel free to reach out if have a question or if you'd like to set up a session with one of our experienced Counselors.

Best wishes for a happy, healthy and debt-free New Year!

This newsletter is a publication of Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Buffalo, Inc., a not-for-profit agency. It is provided as a source of information for clients, sponsors,

representatives of the credit industry and the human service networks supportive of the mission and vision of CCCS.

Or Return an Unwanted One

How to Replace a Lost, Stolen Gift Card

By Melody Warnick and Fred O. Williams,

To replace a card that's been lost or stolen, or return one you don't want, you have to do at least one of these things to demonstrate proof of ownership:

1. Keep the card's activation receipt. 2. Write down the gift card number. 3. Put the card's number in your mobile wallet. "You need one of those three things for the retailer to look up a missing card," says Shelley Hunter, founder of and a spokeswoman for . "And if you don't have those things, you're out of luck." [See "Major retailers' gift card return and replacement policies" chart for details (included in the website article)]. If you held on to your receipt, or the generous soul who gave you the gift card can produce one, or if you know the card number, contact the retailer immediately. Most maintain toll-free numbers, available on the store's website and staffed by customer service representatives. They can cancel the card and work on issuing you a new one. Some retailers, such as Simon Malls, can replace cards over the phone as long as you know the gift card number; others, including Starbucks, replace a lost gift card you registered online. If it's a store card, you may not even have to pay for a replacement fee, but that's less likely with bank-issued gift cards. For example, American Express offers to replace lost or stolen gift cards for free if you have the original card number and security numbers. SunTrust charges $5 to replace a MasterCard gift card. If your bank wants to charge a replacement fee, ask about simply getting your money refunded instead, which may be free. Even if you never wrote down the

number and the receipt is long gone, you're not entirely out of luck. If you already used the gift card to shop online, your data may still be stored in your account--and you can spend it down pronto. Otherwise, consider trying to get reimbursement from PayPal or your credit card company if you ordered a card

online and it never arrived, or replacing a gift card stolen from your home through your homeowner's or renter's insurance coverage. Check your policy for coverage details.

Read the full article at CreditCards. com.

Mobile Wallet Providers

Roll Out Rewards

(Incentives offered to get more consumers to pay by phone)

By Brady Porche,

Credit card perks are plentiful now, but your smartphone may hold the key to an even bigger rewards windfall. A handful of mobile payment providers are rolling out their own rewards programs, allowing credit card users to stack more points on top of what their cards already provide.

For example, Samsung phone users can earn points to buy the tech giant's products and use credit card rewards to buy complementary products, and vice versa. Coffee drinkers can get rewards through the Starbucks mobile payment app and can save even more by using cash back credit cards stored in their mobile wallets.

Paying with your phone is still a relatively new concept, and mobile payments have failed to take off as quickly expected. Experts believe better integration of rewards and loyalty points could spur widespread adoption. Mobile payments? Consumers wary, unmotivated.

Mobile payment providers face an uphill climb in getting consumers to change their habits. Data from consulting firm Accenture show that while consumers are becoming more aware of mobile payment options, they aren't quite ready to ditch their credit cards in favor of paying with their smartphones. The biggest barrier to mobile is that it doesn't offer a strong incentive to switch from tried-and-true payment methods such as cash and cards.

One merchant, however, is proving that consumers can rapidly shift to mobile pay when it offers convenience and provides incentives. In September 2015, Starbucks announced a redesigned mobile app to allow customers to order and pay for their drinks before they get to the store. The coffee chain upgraded the app again in April to allow users to redeem their rewards and other offers using the mobile order-and-pay feature.

The app accounted for 25 percent of the chain's in-store purchases in the third quarter of 2016.The mobile order-and-pay feature alone contributed to 6

Continued on page 4

Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Buffalo, Inc.

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Winter 2017

Free Tax Prep!

Earn It, Keep It, Grow It

By: Noelle Carter & Tracy Diina

Consumer Credit Counseling Service will be offering free State and Federal income tax preparation at two locations in Niagara County through the IRS VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) Program.

Every tax season, unsuspecting lowincome residents fall victim to tax preparation firms that use hidden charges and recommend unnecessary and expensive tax-refund products like Refund Anticipation Loans (RALS) or Refund Anticipation Checks (RACS) to make a profit at the expense of citizens' deserved tax refunds.

Refund anticipation loans are shortterm bank loans secured by tax refunds expected by the borrowers, mostly lowor moderate-income taxpayers. The customer usually gets a check within days, while the bank later collects the actual refund from the account of the customer, who is responsible for any remaining balance, plus fees and substantial interest. (San Francisco Chronicle 2014)

In many cases, victims of these predatory practices are taxpayers eligible for the Earned-Income Tax Credit (EITC), a critical economic support that allows hardworking low-income families to keep more of what they earn. Nearly 70 percent of these families use a commercial tax preparer to claim the EITC. (City of Chicago, 2013) Electronic tax filing and preparation services cluster in neighborhoods where large numbers of families claim the EITC. High-EITC zip codes are home to 50 percent more electronic tax preparation services per filer than low-EITC zip codes.

The National Society of Accountants in their 2014 fee study reports the following average prices charged by Franchised Tax Offices:

n H&R Block: $147 per return (average, 2014 data)

n Liberty Tax Service: $191 per return (net average fee, 2014 data)

If your income in 2016 was $54,000 or less, you could be eligible to have your taxes prepared for FREE. CCCS will host two sites in Niagara County: one in Lockport and one in Niagara Falls.

Call CCCS at 712-2060 to schedule an appointment.

Additionally, if your income in 2016 was $64,000 or less, you could be eligible to prepare your own taxes for free with the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program at myfreetaxes. org using the helpful software!

Mike Kubala: Retired After 30 Years!

By Paul Atkinson

Mike Kubala, a member of our Board of Directors, retired December 31, 2016, from our Board.

Mike has served our Agency not only as a member of our Board for more than 30 years, but also served as Board Treasurer for many years.

Mike was a passionate member of our Board, and his dedication and contributions will be missed.

Mike Kubala and Paul Atkinson

Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Buffalo, Inc.

? 3 ?

Winter 2017

"It has been said that good governance makes for good organization. COA Accreditation confirms that organizations you're working with have a Board of Directors and leadership that accepts responsibility for organizational and management oversight and ensures that the organization remains missiondriven and true to its values."

President & CEO

Paul C. Atkinson

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Mark J. Mendel ? Chairman Senior Vice President, M&T Bank Customer Asset Management

Kevin McNamara ? Vice Chairman Chairman, Millington Lockwood, Inc.

John Eagleton ? Treasurer Executive Vice President, Commercial Lending, Evans Bank

Nancy A. Palumbo ? Secretary Chief Administrative Officer, People, Inc.

Nancy M. Blaschak CEO, American Red Cross, Finger Lakes/WNY Regions (retired)

Phillip C. Hagadorn Regional Manager, Experian (retired)

Kathy M. Herod Vice President, CMB Support Manager, HSBC Bank USA

Jason Houseman Vice President, Corporate Banking, Citizen's Bank N.A.

Nancy LaTulip Vice President, Retail Banking Officer, Lake Shore Savings Bank (retired)

Dolores McCarley President, Resource Planning Associates, Inc.

CCCS is a member of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Services for Families & Children (COA), Inc., a member of the Better Business Bureau and is a certified HUD counseling agency.

Mobile Wallet Providers Roll Out Rewards

Continued from page 2

percent of Starbucks' quarterly U.S. sales. "It's phenomenally well done," Magder

said of Starbucks' app. "You don't have to carry a separate Starbucks card because you know no matter what store you go to, it's going to work on your phone." Double-dip for points

Tech firms and big banks are making strides in the mobile rewards game as well. Payments provider Blackhawk Network announced in December 2016 it would integrate rewards programs and loyalty points from participating merchants into Apple Pay. Samsung Pay in November 2016 unveiled a new rewards program that allows Samsung smartphone users to earn points with every mobile purchase they make. Users can redeem points for Samsung products, vouchers for the company's website and retail gift cards. Rewards also can be redeemed toward a Samsung-branded Visa prepaid card.

In a news release, Samsung touted the fact that its rewards system allows credit card users to "double dip" ? earning rewards on top of the points or cash back they already get from the cards they store and pay with in their mobile wallets.

Meanwhile, Chase announced in September 2016 that Best Buy signed on to accept the bank's new mobile payment system at the retailer's 1,400 U.S. stores. Chase said in a press release it would integrate "offers and rewards into the payment experience to de-

liver a seamless experience at the point of sale." Chase has not yet specified whether that refers to its own credit card rewards, Best Buy's long-standing customer rewards program or some combination of both. The bank officially rolled out its new Chase Pay app, which can be used at Starbucks and Best Buy, in late November.

It's clear that we already have an abundance of choices when it comes to mobile payment solutions. While confusion and redundancy could be short-term stumbling blocks, healthy competition among payment providers will benefit shoppers. "Eventually consumers will align around one or a few of these mobile schemes, but right now it's the wild, wild West," Vanderhoof said. "Everyone's experimenting, and we'll see which of them rises to the best of class. It's too early to put any bets on one provider."

You can read the full article at wallet.

Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Buffalo, Inc.

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Winter 2017

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