by Beau Blevins | Jul 20, 2021 | Banking Relationship, Banking Trends, Budgets, Cash Management Practices, Data & Technology, Fintech, Liquidity Analysis, News, Pathway to Recovery, Predictions, Time Horizon
To Public Officials Across the Country: cashvest® is Your Program
As public officials, you know better than anyone the importance of maximizing every resource your locality has to offer. This is particularly true when it comes to managing your cash.
But how can you, as a local leader, be absolutely sure that every dollar is being put to use? And how can you know for sure if your entity’s funds are either too liquid or not liquid enough? These are the questions local treasurers, administrators, and chief investment officers have been asking themselves for decades.
Now those questions have an answer: cashvest®. It’s a program created by public officials for public officials.
The co-founders of three+one®, a public treasurer and a school official, saw the public sector’s growing need to take the guesswork out of liquidity management. They also knew that some of the best local solutions came from public servants. That’s why they designed cashvest® to harness the power of liquidity data to provide a single point of reference and give you the knowledge and control you need to put all your entity’s cash to work.
To our public officials across the nation, know this: cashvest® is your program. It’s a best management practice. It’s endorsed by the National Association of Counties (NACo) and ten other state county associations. It’s also a local solution created by local leaders to help protect taxpayers and transform communities.
I hope you’ll take advantage of your program today. Contact us to learn more on why cashvest® is the liquidity-management solution for your public entity or higher Ed institution needs.
by Joe Rulison | Jul 13, 2021 | Banking Relationship, Banking Trends, Budgets, Cash Management Practices, Data & Technology, Fintech, Liquidity Analysis, News, Pathway to Recovery, Predictions, Time Horizon
Seven years ago, the cashvest® platform by three+one® was launched, created by public officials for use by public finance officials. With the support of the National Association of Counties (NACo) and 11 state county associations, the cashvest® platform has continually improved and its features were enhanced by individuals with actual public-service and government-banking experience—with input from those with public finance and administration backgrounds from around the country.
The cashvest® platform provides liquidity analysis and data of the highest quality—just what is needed to best manage all cash that flows through and is held by public entities.
Over the years, the many innovations we’ve brought to the cashvest® platform have had you in mind, to better serve you and to benefit those you serve. By the end of 2021, over $500,000,000 in new sources of revenue will have found its way back to your communities because of the innovative FinTech program you helped create and use.
by Joe Rulison | Jul 6, 2021 | Banking Relationship, Banking Trends, Budgets, Cash Management Practices, Data & Technology, Fintech, Liquidity Analysis, News, Pathway to Recovery, Predictions, Time Horizon
We are all being pushed into digital platforms in almost every area of our lives. At times, these changes seem overwhelming and even annoying.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked, “Can’t we just keep our paper statements and processes that we have had for the last 20+ years!?”
Later in this blog, we will provide benchmark data on how much those processes cost your taxpayers on average. Stay tuned…
As we serve public entities across the nation, we often see one item as non-negotiable: receiving paper statements.
We get it. They come in the mail; you can feel them; you can write on them; you can keep physical records of them if you want to refer to them down the road. Lots of reasons people like them.
But did you know that paper statements could actually be costing your taxpayers money? Did you know there are heightened possibilities of fraud associated with receiving paper statements? Did you know that you can receive your paper statements—yes, PAPER—quicker, easier, less expensively, and more securely using your own online bank portal?
This solution does not require much change at all. It simply changes the delivery method from physical delivery to electronic delivery. From there, you can follow all the same processes, helping you be more efficient with enhanced security and at less cost.
Six reasons to switch to digital delivery:
- Cost savings. Our data shows that the average monthly cost of paper statements to a public entity in bank fees is $67.79. That’s an average of $813.48 a year in unnecessary fees. In today’s market, that could require about $1,000,000 in compensating balances to offset. The highest price of paper statements we have ever recorded was $525 per month in bank fees! Any idea how much your entity is paying?
- Statements are available in real time. You can download your statements as soon as they are ready after month-end, without any postal or printing delays (up to 7 days sooner, at least).
- Increased security. You’ll protect your information from being stolen. Digital banking statements are secure and require login credentials and typically multifactor authentication.
- They’re eco-friendly. Replacing your paper statement with an electronic version saves trees and cuts down on mail transportation. When the environment wins, we all win.
- More convenient access. Working remotely? No problem. You can access your bank statements anytime, from anywhere.
- Fewer headaches. You’ll always know the exact location of your documents. Digital statements won’t get misplaced and don’t require physical storage space.
Our recommendation: Talk to your banker about your options and switch to digital delivery of your bank statements.
by Joe Rulison | Jun 29, 2021 | Banking Relationship, Banking Trends, Budgets, Cash Management Practices, Data & Technology, Fintech, Liquidity Analysis, News, Pathway to Recovery, Predictions, Time Horizon
It became very evident last week that the Federal Reserve is sending the signal to the markets that interest rates will be going up. We are all feeling the pressures of higher inflation, whether at the grocery store, the gas station, the lumberyard, or the restaurant. The level of inflation is already above the 2.0% to 3.0% limit the Federal Reserve set last year. When you also consider real estate, energy, and other factors, the inflation rate swells to north of 6.0%.
With this being the case, it is my expectation that short-term rates will be raised before year end or in early 2022. That means that now is the time to start preparing a liquidity analysis and have a firm handle on all cash that will be available to be invested by your financial institutions.
Just as you start planning your FY22 budget, you should prepare for rising interest rates. As we’ve said so many times before, the impact of higher-interest earnings can be significant to your entity’s bottom line.
three+one® has the innovative fintech tools that can help you be better prepared to ride the ups and downs of a marketplace in flux—as our economy roars back from the worst pandemic in our nation’s history.
by Joe Rulison | Jun 22, 2021 | Banking Relationship, Banking Trends, Budgets, Cash Management Practices, Data & Technology, Fintech, Liquidity Analysis, News, Pathway to Recovery, Predictions, Time Horizon
The link between Safety and Yield is Liquidity. That is why you see Safety, Liquidity, and Yield commonly bonded together in federal, state, and local investment guidelines.
Here is a simple, straightforward way to see how each of these supports one another:
Safety is where your financial institutions come in. Your bank provides the necessary services that protect and collateralize deposits, while offering a full array of other financial services and technologies—along with a welcome level of comfort and assurances.
Yield is what one is willing to pay for your dollars in the marketplace, given time and the need for cash.
Liquidity is the link of providing your entity with the timing of when it actually needs the dollars to pay for either expected or unexpected expenses.
Liquidity analysis and data provides you, your financial institutions, and the marketplace the precise information necessary to achieve Safety, Liquidity, and Yield.
three+one® offers public entities a level of liquidity analysis and data expertise that’s unparalleled in today’s fintech space. We’re here to help your entity make the most of every dollar, every day.
by Joe Rulison | Jun 15, 2021 | Banking Relationship, Banking Trends, Budgets, Cash Management Practices, Data & Technology, Fintech, Liquidity Analysis, News, Pathway to Recovery, Predictions, Time Horizon
Imagine you received a large sum of money with certain restrictions on how you could spend it. In addition, substantial input came from public officials and the general public on how they thought these funds should be put to work. I doubt that anyone who was a financial fiduciary would spend a thin dime without having a strategy.
That is what the U.S. Treasury is requesting public entities to do with the recently distributed American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds: Develop a solid spending strategy.
A prime reason Washington arranged for two separate ARP payments over 2021 and 2022, with completion of such spending by the end of 2024, was to give entities sufficient time to plan and strategize around the best way to put these ARP funds to work.
Since time is on your side, please use it wisely.
By carefully planning on best uses of these funds, you’ll not only greatly impact local communities now—you’ll benefit them for generations to come.
