Community & Southern Bank Unveils Alternative Financial Services

Community & Southern Bank (CSB) has announced plans to launch CSB xpress, a pilot program designed to implement Alternative Financial Services (AFS) in five CSB branches, effective last week, Friday, June 1.

Through its division formerly known as El Banco de Nuestra Comunidad, CSB has 12 years of experience providing AFS – including check cashing; reloadable prepaid MasterCard debit cards; money orders; bill payment services; and remittances through international services, such as VIGO, MoneyGram and MaxiTransfer.

CSB’s line of AFS products and services will be offered to both existing bank customers as well as other consumers without a formal relationship with CSB.

“We are fulfilling an important social responsibility by enabling customers to bank on their own terms and by providing the opportunity to migrate to a mainstream financial institution,” says Betty Cowell, chief products and pricing officer for CSB. “The expertise our team has obtained through El Banco will make for a seamless transition.”

These services will meet the needs of a growing financial demographic. Twenty-three percent of U.S. households with a bank account currently use AFS providers for most of their basic transactions, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

CSB xpress represents the AFS product suite – currently available in former El Banco branches in Marietta and Jonesboro – now being introduced in five additional CSB branches:

• Roswell – 900 Woodstock Road, Roswell, Ga. 30070;
• Ellijay-Main – 829 Industrial Blvd., Ellijay, Ga. 30540;
• Ellijay-Highlands – 19 Highland Crossing, East Ellijay, Ga. 30540;
• Athens – 3990 Atlanta Hwy., Bogart, Ga. 30622;
• Carrollton-First Tuesday – 1004 Bankhead Hwy., Carrollton, Ga. 30117.

“The banking industry is becoming more retail-like every day,” says Luz Urrutia, director of AFS for CSB and former president of El Banco. “CSB xpress will blend two unique banking cultures and product offerings, which will create an environment of diversity no different from traditional retail outlets."

“CSB’s AFS division will extend the services, platform and success achieved by El Banco to a broader segment of the population,” Urrutia continues. “As one of the first banks in the nation to offer AFS and traditional banking services under one roof, we will continue providing a positive customer experience in various markets.”

For more information about CSB xpress, visit the website.