The Community, Connections & Commerce Podcast, presented by OUE & St. Clairsville Chamber - Community and Connections Season 2 Episode 9 with the Belmont Savings Bank

Episode Date: December 11, 2025

Hi everyone and welcome back to Community Connections. My name is Wendy Anderson and I'm here with Jason Garcic. Hi Jason. Hey Wendy, how are you? I'm good, how are you? Good, good. I'm glad you're back. Yeah, glad to be here. Okay, we're here also with the BSB crew, the Belmont Savings Bank crew, Todd Kover. What's going on, Wendy? Welcome and Alicia Jordan. Hi, Wendy. Hello. So Todd, we were just talking before we went on air. So give me a little. bit of this information about baseball. What's this baseball thing in you? Yeah, so as my stress reliever, I coach high school baseball. It's something, you know, I've coached baseball since my oldest kid who's 23 was five years old. So, you know, it's been 18, almost 20 years. It's just something I like doing. I like being around the kids. It keeps me young, you know, keeps me involved, and just something I really like doing. So this is my third year of coaching. Second year is a head coach at Wheeling Central and you know we just qualified on Saturday for the state final four which is which is awesome thank you yeah so we're super excited and hopefully we can get down there and

win a couple more games and come in with the trophy yeah well that's awesome I love that little insight to who Todd Kover really is yeah yeah the man behind the bank all right that's right so um let's talk about Belmont Savies Bank so you were here last our last season And you talked about Belmont Savings Bank. So how many years is it that it's been up in Belmont? How many years has it been Belmont Savings Bank? Well, Belmont Savings, we've been around 140 years. So we've been around a long time.

We're still doing the great things. This will be, believe it or not, this will be my 10th year come December of me being there. So, yeah, super exciting. It's a great place to be. It's a great place to bank. You know, we're super involved in a community. You know, we like to give back to the people that help. us, help make us who we are. So, you know, if you're looking for a community bank that,

you know, is low on fees and high on energy and high on life and just excited to help people out, and you come see us, check us out. Okay. All right. So who did you, you brought Alicia here? Lisa, hello. Well, I can't really move because Jason's talking to Mike, but hey, how are you? I am really excited to be here. I think Todd, what Todd said, really sums up who we are. It sums it up, but we are more... News Radio 1170, WVA. Our people

are amazing. Todd is amazing. He allows us to give back to the community in such a big way. And so, the good news is our brand is out there, and our brand is out there as giving back to the community and being a part of the

community. But as Todd also said, we're also a great bank. And I think sometimes that gets lost, because we are so community driven, but I guess me being here is to really say, to second what Todd said and come check us out. I mean, from the products we offer to the folks that we, that work at the bank

and that you get to work with, they know your name. You don't get like a computer generated person that says, please hold, you get a real person when you call our bank and our folks are so knowledgeable. We just have a, I'm not saying it because I work there, We really just have a great team from mortgage to checking, to our managers. Commercial. Commercial lending.

Yeah. Business banking. Yeah. I mean, it's just, it's great. And that's one thing, I think, too, that gets lost, that we provide service to businesses. So, yeah, so I'll quit talking because I could talk forever about the bank. It's so great. And if I weren't for this guy, I wouldn't be here.

So, yeah, so, okay, I'm going to stop talking now. So tell me a little bit more. more about this business? Yeah, so for the past, for the past nine years, my background has been in a credit underwriting and specifically in the commercial lending area. So we have, I think, five people in that department now. So we can handle anything from a small line of credit for an auto up to, we can actually go up to $12 million is how much our bank can lend to you. So if your business fits in that category, which I would think the majority of businesses in the high valley fit in that category come come see us come check us out we're the I guarantee we're the

lowest fees around you know we're going to be very very competitive on the rates and we can help your business be successful more successful so I know so you just don't you just don't give which I know in your your personal and like and like savings accounts and stuff you just don't take people's monies and that's it you walk them through all the process the whole process and you hold their hands even afterwards, right, and make sure that everything is still going well with them. Yeah, you know, my vision, I guess, almost 10 years ago, was to, you know, offer every product that the big banks do.

So if you think about the, you know, the big regional banks that we have around here, I don't want to name them and give them any props, but you know who they are. You know who they are? You know, we can do anything they can do. It's just on a more personal level as to Alicia's point, more on a consumer service. We're very, very focused on customer service

and how can we help you today, which is kind of our tagline. You know, yeah, so we'll walk you through the whole process. You know, we can do anything, ACH transfers, payroll, we can handle all that things, all those things for you on the business end, as well as, you know, we can lend you money.

So, you know, the good thing about us is all four of our branches are within Beaumont County right now, you know, but we do service outside. We service West Virginia. We service Pennsylvania. We can service, you know, our kind of target area is anything within a two-hour drive. So if you're within that two-hour market, you know, that you're who we want to come be a business partner with us.

And it's not about us making money. It's about us being a partner. And I think that's what really sets us apart is we try to find solutions to what your problems are and we're not just trying to make a quick buck off you. And I think all those points lead to a great testament and seeing, at least in my line of work, being in a recorder's office, you know, you're the biggest. fileer in our office in terms of local banks yeah actually any banks really yeah so I think that's a testament to that yeah I think I think where's you getting out now you know I think

we're pretty easy to deal with you know our turnaround time on the mortgage side so if you're looking for you know a new house or just refinancing or upgrade or downsize whatever you're looking for you know I think our turnaround time right now is averaging two and a half to three weeks so if you compare it out to the big banks they're they're over a month so you know if you if your time crunched or you just want to have it you have your deal down quicker come see us come check us out you know we'll be we'll be happy to help you okay and go ahead yeah i'm so sorry and i just want to say too that we're we're partnering with a lot of businesses here in wheeling on their large projects so we're really excited about that if you drive

around wheeling you'll see those projects happening i think todd summed it up one day in a meeting and he was like yeah we're helping to build wheeling and he's it's he's right uh we really are helping with those projects here in wheeling so it's not just in belmont county we can service everywhere and we love being part of those big projects that are happening because a lot's happening here in Wheeling and we're happy to be part of that. Right. And I think, and I love that. And I think my personal thing to do is to incorporate the whole Ohio Valley. It is the whole Ohio Valley. It is not just Belmont County or Ohio County or Marshall County or Wetzel County or Jefferson. It's the Ohio Valley and I think people get stuck in, oh, I'm only in Belmont County, so I can only stay in Belmont

County. Oh, I'm in Ohio County. I can only stay in Ohio County. I have so many people that I talk to that are afraid to cross that bridge. I know. And I hate that. Yeah, it seems like more like an ocean than it does the river. But yeah, we're trying to break down those barriers. And again, you know, if you're a business in Wheeling or a business that, you know, can't come to one of our parents, We have all the products that you can, you know, all the digital coverage starts right now. You can do it all on your phone. You can do it all through the computer. So there's really no excuse for not coming to bank with us.

Give us a shot. I promise you guys won't be disappointed. Right. And you guys are always out in the community. You are. You are, your bank is really the only bank that I see that is really invested in the community, the whole Ohio Valley. Yeah, that's been one of our priorities. Again, again, in the past 10 years that I've been.

in there. You know, we wanted, first of all, it was to build the brand, you know, but as Alicia said, I think our brand's built now, but it's still, you know, being part of a, being a community bank is being part of the communities that you serve. So, you know, the people that bank with us, we want to give back to them, you know, and part of that is whatever cause they have, whether it's a, you know, a fundraiser for a school or a fundraiser for something personal, you know, a medical, medical ailment, something like that. We're always willing to help. We, we, do a lot of financial literacy. I am an educator. I'm an aunt. So if there's any school systems out there listening and you need that kind of service from us, come see us. You don't have

to be a customer. We're willing to do that. Wherever. I can't. I don't know. At least you might have a number, but we've been to so many school systems. I can't even count. Many women don't know it's our greatest health threat. We've encouraged three women. You love to learn more about their respective schools and how they can take charge of their health today. So we've Good morning, everyone. Big Dan Wilson here, and this is your in Ohio country today. Morning Ag Report in 7 o'clock hour on a Monday, brought to you by Apple Farm Service. Your family-owned dealership since 1956. Well, it's June.

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I can put money on it. Continue to make it a great day today. Or I can at least monitor what she's doing or her parents can monitor what he's doing. Yes, you can do that. obviously there's certain age restrictions that the government holds down for us but yeah you know especially with you being on the account if you're on the account yeah absolutely we can do as many debit cards as you want okay you know uh be careful with them I give my kids one and sometimes it comes back at what in the world's going on here but um yeah so we can do that yes so that's

my next question and apparently you have you you understand that so I do. What could happen? You know, plastic's easy to use. I think we've all been there. It's super easy. When you have cash in pocket, that cash runs out. You know, when you have that plastic, a plastic never runs out.

So, you know, my kids, and I'm trying to teach them financial literacy, which is why I think it's so near and dear to my heart as I have three sons. And, you know, the financial literacy, I think everybody should have to go through that to just understand how money works. And it's not just growing on trees. business. You know, that plastic, even if it's whether to Democrat or credit cards, the money has to come from somewhere. So there's a, there's not an endless amount of money, so, you know, it's just trying to

teach kids financial responsibilities. And when they become adults, you know, they can pay their bills and, you know, keep good credit score. As you guys know, as everybody knows, the better your credit score, the better deals you're going to get on loans and on car deals and on your mortgage.

You know, so you want to keep a good credit score and it's just teaching financial and fiscal responsibility. He is paralyzed. Have you had any success with anybody that you guys went to their school to enable him a kid that's come to you guys and said, hey, thank you so much. Or a parent that would say, hey, you know what, my kid did this because of your teachings. So the funny thing is, donate $11 a month to tunnels the towers at T2T.org.

That's T.2.org. That's T. The number two T. They actually have said to us, while we didn't know that, and we learned something new, so thank you so much for coming in and teaching us. And some of the teachers have come in and open accounts. So that in itself is a plus, but for them to just say, hey, we learn something to. You might even use things like two-factor authentication and strong passwords. But as much as you try to control how your info is protected, there are other places that also have it.

and they may not be as careful. That's why LifeLog monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second for threats. If your identity is stolen, they'll fix it, guaranteed, or your money back. Say 40% your first year with my name, Clay, as the promo code at Lifelock.com, terms apply. Your story has power, and it can help others feel less alone. This Mental Health Awareness Month, Nami invites you to share your story of hope, resilience, or recovery. In every story, their strength. Every experience helps break down.

stigma and remind someone they're not alone. Visit nami.org slash mham to submit your story and be part of the conversation that's changing mental health. Together we educate, we support, we advocate, we listen, we lead, NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Technology is amazing. That's nice. And we are really on top of that. Our team is really, really good with staying on top of the technology. And yeah, I mean, I can't say more about it. So yeah, open those accounts, Wendy. Belmont Savings Bank. Okay. Okay.

So what do you see in the future with banking? Well, how do you see Belmont Savings Bank continuing what you're doing in the future? Well, I think for us is, you know, the brand, the words out about our brand. So that's been accomplished. That's good. The second part for us is people understand that we are a bank, what we can offer. We can offer anything that the big banks do.

That's, that's, we're kind of in the midst of that. But where we're going to go take it from here, I think AI is going to be super involved in banking, not the only, not the only industry, but I think there's, there's so much AI that's coming into play in the financial, financial world that it's going to be hard to avoid it. And again, one of my big things, and Alicia can tell you, is from day one, I always wanted a human answer in the phone. and that's going to be as long as we can hold off and keep humans answering the phones that's going to be good for us but there's going to be technology

there's going to be chat boxes obviously pop up you know we're getting ready to launch a new website soon so we'll incorporate some of the AI stuff into that but I really see AI becoming more prominent

in the banking industry wow I know that your bank is very and I'm sure all banks are very cautious about fraud and you know in trying to get the word out to their customers about that. Do you have any recommendations to listeners

about how to avoid fraudulent traps? Yeah, you know, fraud happens every single day. I just had one of my credit cards. So, yeah, it's just, the big thing for me is just keep an eye on your accounts. Keep an eye on your accounts. Again, we as the bank and as a financial institution, we're responsible for that.

So we have three people that dedicate, you know, their whole, basically their whole day to watching transactions. And if you call in and tell us it's fraud, then they investigated a little bit further. But yeah, there's part of the, part of the AI, part of the technology is just getting reports that come in and say, hey, you might want to check this situation out. This looks suspicious, you know, because the technology can kind of read what you've done over the past history with us. And then if there's something that looks out of line or suspicious, you know, we'll contact you

as best we can. And again, we're not going to be able to catch it all. But to answer your question, Jay, is just be on a lookout, check your statements. I know it's sometimes it's a pain to get in there and, you know, look over every transaction, especially when your kids are using it. But, yeah, just keep an eye on what's going on. And, you know, be careful of all the phone calls. These people are pretty, the phone calls, the emails, these people are pretty sophisticated, these criminals.

So be on the lookout. Always question something. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. So, yeah, just keep an eye out, again, on your statements, on your transactions that happen. And also, if it comes through an email or it comes through a phone call, just think about it before you make any actions. And just that's a great question because fraud is very heightened, as Todd has said. But if you receive a call, please know that we will never ask you for your account number or your PIN number. The bank will never ask you that.

And I had a call last night and Todd said he just got hacked. I just got hacked last night. And they called and said, someone changed your pin. We're sending you a new pin. Please type it in. I did not type it in. I actually called the phone number and it was not a legitimate phone number.

So just be very, very careful because they're getting very smart. Because people are getting, they're scared. You know, because I get these, I get emails all the time. Your cloud storage needs upgraded. You need to do this. You need to send us this information about, you know, on your credit, your credit card. The last four digits is really all we need. And so I've been, like, it's been happening a lot.

Yeah. So, Todd, say you get into the situation, and I think inevitably it's going to happen to everyone at some point. But how can Belmont Savings Bank help us through that? Yeah. So, you know, obviously we don't want it to happen to anyone, but it does. every day. So you call us and we'll kind of walk through your transaction history. So we'll kind of hold your hand through this. You know, it depends on how deep it is, I guess, Jason. If it gets into like your credit report and starts affecting things like that, we'll help you get a hold of the

Credit Bureau, help that get that straightened out. You know, we'll file all the forms on your behalf if it becomes a criminal activity. So we can help you walk through that. But yeah, just give us a call if it happens with one of our accounts. We'll hold your hand through the process and tell you what you need to do that's wonderful wow okay so what's next for Belmont Savings Bank what's next okay oh we're excited so wait I'm really excited to say this part because I think it's important to highlight again that we're celebrating 140 years with no name change I mean we were Belmont Federal Savings Bank but then we just switched that to Belmont Savings Bank but

no acquisitions, no mergers. This bank has been around for 140 years. We are planning so many things, a huge celebration in September. We just want to celebrate with the community. I probably shouldn't have put that out there because Todd's going to have to pay a lot of money. But we are really excited because it is a big deal. It is a big deal. And we're one of the only banks around this community, this area, the Ohio Valley, I should say,

that has been around that long. So we're super excited to be celebrating that. So in my mind, when you say what's next, I'm like, Todd, plan something for another 140 years. So I will let him move on with the next phase of that question. Yeah. So it is, it is. You know, my goal is to be around the next 140 years. You know, truly, our board of directors is in line with that vision.

We want to be around. We want to remain independent. So, you know, our goal, I guess, for the next four or five years is to probably open another branch or two. So, you know, that being said, the construction costs have skyrocketed. So, you know, we had some projects. We had to put on hold simply for that reason. You know, the price is almost one and a half time. So, yeah, but if we can find a great location that's going to make sense for us,

our goal is going to be to expand the next couple years. Oh, that's great. All right. Do you guys have anything else you want to add? No, just come check us out. And thank you guys so much for giving us this opportunity because I feel like everything that we touched on, all the questions that you asked are important for the community to hear. So, yeah, but I, yeah, say it again, Todd.

Yeah, no, come check us out. If you're a customer, we thank you. If you're not a customer, I promise you, come give us a chance and you won't be disappointed. I can actually say I have my personal accounts there and my business has an account there. I have been 100% happy, so thank you guys. I can attest this while. You can't do? Okay.

I didn't even know that, Jason. All my adult life I've been. Okay, well, there you go. All right. He looks so much smarter, right? Yeah. All right. Well, thank you, Todd, and thank you, Alicia.

We really appreciate you guys coming in. Thank you, Jason, for being my co-host today. So if you out there would like, like to have a question for Belmont Savings Bank, Todd, or Alicia, just send us an email at OUEE Podcast at Ohio.edu. That's OUEEPodcast at Ohio EDU. So for Wendy Anderson and Jason Garsick. Hey, we're out. And we're out. Thank you. Thank you.