On August 19, 2024, it was recklessly reported by the Financial Times, a European publication, that First & Peoples Bank and Trust Company is on the brink of insolvency due to its alleged potential inability to recover the full value of a set of consumer loans. On September 2, 2024, The Daily Independent repeated much of the story, with additional details concerning the legal actions taking place in Greenup County, which have been ongoing since 2023. Contrary to these reports, First & Peoples is taking every action to recover on these loans, and its customers’ assets are not in jeopardy. Over the past few years, First & Peoples has partnered with several third parties to supplement local loan demand, many of which were successful. However, due to a number of concerns, in 2022, we began distancing ourselves from one of these third parties (U.S. Credit, Inc.), and took action to hold them accountable. While U.S. Credit has caused some losses on loans, First & Peoples has not put our depositors at risk. Over a year ago, in the ordinary course of business, the FDIC confirmed the Bank’s concerns that a specific set of loans were potentially at risk. At that time, we took strong, affirmative, and effective action to address and remediate any adverse effects of these loans. We have been working tirelessly, hand in hand with regulators, outside counsel, and others, to minimize potential losses. Over a year ago, in August 2023, First & Peoples filed suit in Greenup Circuit Court to obtain an injunction against U.S. Credit to lock down the monies owed to First & Peoples. That injunction was granted and, ultimately, U.S. Credit was placed in receivership by the Court. In January 2024, U.S. Credit filed bankruptcy. Since that time, we have continued our extensive efforts to maximize our recovery from these assets, while at the same time continuing our century-long record of providing this community with first class service, security, and return on investment. Banks, like all businesses, face periodic adversity, but we are, and always have been, well-equipped to deal with non-performing loans without putting depositors’ investments at risk. To that end, we continue to mitigate potential losses, recoup value from these investments, and continue to aggressively and transparently pursue our claims in local Courts, the Bankruptcy Court, and through our insurance carriers. In fact, in August 2024, the Bankruptcy Court ordered that First & Peoples be paid, and we have since received, nearly a million dollars related to these loan portfolios, with additional funds forthcoming. We have fought to remove U.S. Credit from its position handling these loan proceeds, and now that U. S. Credit is fully removed and a Trustee has replaced U.S. Credit – that Trustee is working to see that the loan proceeds are getting to the rightful owners, including First & Peoples. None of these facts were included in the recent articles. Rather than relying on misleading headlines and reporting designed to generate clicks online, and old news written by someone hundreds of miles away, we encourage you to reach out to us directly to address any concerns or questions that you might have, as our door is always open. As for the article in The Independent, The Independent never contacted us for a comment to allow us an opportunity to set the record straight or correct the inaccuracies in the Financial Times article. Since 1932, First & Peoples has served this region with unfailing honesty and integrity and will continue our tradition of being Greenup County’s locally owned, hometown, full-service bank and we look forward to continuing to be here for our communities and customers for years to come. Thank you for your loyalty.
Wm. Buffin Clarke President First & Peoples Bank and Trust Company
Member FDIC – Equal Housing Lender
A Word of Caution
It seems these days, scammers are everywhere! As hard as you try to be vigilant against being scammed, there seems to be a new and improved scam every day that can blur the lines between legitimacy and fraud. Here are just a few tips to help keep your money safe.
- Use extreme caution when searching the Internet for a customer service phone number. There are fraudulent links that will give you a phone number for whatever business you are looking for, but it could potentially be sending you directly to a scammer. The best place to get a phone number is off your regular billing statement or other written communication directly from the legitimate business.
- Never disclose User IDs or Passwords.
- Never download an app to your phone to allow “your customer service agent” to see what you see on your phone. Once a scammer has control, they can modify your other apps that could potentially cost you thousands of dollars.
- If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!
If you think you’ve been scammed and your money is at risk, please give us a call so that we can help!
Do You Know How To Spot a Scam?
Every year thousands of people like you lose money to phishing. If a hacker were pretending to be your bank, would you be able to tell? Click Here or the button below to take the Banks Never Ask That quiz to see if you can outsmart a scammer and learn what red flags to look for!
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As best stated by Benjamin Franklin, "An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure." This quote rings very true pertaining to the protection of your personal and banking information. Be in-the-know and don't be a victim!
Read about popular scams in this publication by the FDIC Consumer News. The goal of FDIC Consumer News is to deliver timely, reliable and innovative tips and information about financial matters, free of charge. To find current and past issues, visit www.fdic.gov/consumernews.
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