Ashvegas reader describes Blue Ridge Savings Bank transaction

Jason Sandford January 2, 2009

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

Loyal reader Eliza says she had an interesting experience on Friday when she went to withdraw money from Blue Ridge Savings Bank, which has had some trouble lately. Here she is:

I withdrew my funds out of a checking account today at Blue Ridge savings Fletcher Branch, Jan. 2, but they said they didn’t have enough cash to cover it so I got a check. I then phoned the Asheville branch to ask if I could bring my check & cash it there…no funds. ???? yet it is MY money and the check is drawn on their bank. ??? SCARY! My main banking institution then put a seven day hold on this check, so time will tell if it bounces or is good. So if you have money there, go get it…NOW!!! and try to get it in CASH!!!! good luck. I also have a CD that doesn’t come due until March which I hope will be available or easily paid by FDIC insurance. ?? Guess this will teach me not to use the little local banks and anything run by a politician!!!

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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1 Comment

Not all local banks the same January 3, 2009

I strongly disagree with the comment about "little local banks."
Go to bauerfinancial.com or Google "bank star ratings" to get Bauer Financial Bank Star Ratings. Enter "North Carolina" but don’t enter an Institution name, then hit Search. Scroll down to see all of the banks based in NC. Be aware that if your bank is based in another state (e.g. SunTrust in GA, Carolina First in SC) you’ll have to search in that state.
All of the rated "little local banks" that I see (except for Blue Ridge Savings) are rated 5 stars ("Superior"). The local 5 star banks are Asheville Savings, Bank of Asheville, Black Mountain Savings, HomeTrust Bank, and maybe others I’ve missed. Some larger regional or statewide banks, for example First Citizens, are also 5 Star.
Blue Ridge Savings ranks 2 Stars, "Problematic" which is just above “Troubled,” the lowest rating. Based on your correspondent’s experience, I’d say 2 Stars is generous or at least dated. The ratings say they are based on Sept 30, 2008 data.
Careful readers have known since 1994, and probably long before, that Blue Ridge Savings was not operating in a businesslike manner. Maggie Lauterer’s 1994 Congressional Campaign against Charles Taylor tried to bring this out. The Asheville Pities and Crimes scratched the surface of this story some years later, but did not dig.
If Asheville had a real newspaper, maybe some depositors and the FDIC (i.e. taxpayers) would not lose the money that they/we are now likely to lose.

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