Wisconsin Bank & Trust Introduces Security Brief, Aims to Heighten Cyber Security Awareness

Madison, Wisconsin – October 1, 2018 – The ever-changing landscape of cybercrime introduces new threats. Keeping up with cyber security best practices can be a little overwhelming, but the professionals at Wisconsin Bank & Trust created a list of the top three steps businesses and individuals can take to protect themselves. “We thought it would be helpful to cut through the clutter, and establish the most critical steps toward protecting families and businesses against cybercrime,” Curtis Chrystal, President and CEO of Wisconsin Bank & Trust, said.

While the cyber security industry has been making great strides, cyber criminals are becoming more creative and have diversified their attack strategies. For more than a decade, complex and sophisticated cybercrime organizations focused on large organizations. Today, cyber criminals are increasingly attacking small businesses and consumers with greater frequency, which means we all must take steps to safeguard our information.

“We invest in security technology and education 365 days a year,” Curtis Chrystal said. “The first step in protecting your family and/or business is cyber awareness,” Curtis Chrystal said. Wisconsin Bank & Trust introduced “Security Brief” for business and for families.

SECURITY BRIEF FOR BUSINESS

1. Make sure you’re paying an actual vendor. Always verify payment requests submitted to your business. Verify with a second individual or with the requestor, but through a different channel than the one used to submit the request. Always use a phone number on file, not a phone number contained in the request. Never feel pressured to initiate a payment without verification. It is safer to take a little longer and be sure the payment is legitimate, than to be quick and lose thousands of dollars to fraud. Always verify any change to vendor payment instructions (i.e., bank name or account number) and use dual control—establish a dual control requirement for all outgoing ACH or wire payments.

2. Reduce payment fraud risks by separation of Accounts Payable (AP) duties and account segregation. Once your process has the checks and balances you need to avoid duplicate and/or unauthorized payments, talk to your Treasury Management team to evaluate today’s tools and technology that not only help reduce payment fraud, but can also help you automate some of the AP process to save time and money.

3. Require multi-factor authentication when receiving initial payment information or a request to change payment information.

SECURITY BRIEF AT HOME

1. Use strong passwords and change them at least once per quarter. DO NOT use the same password for multiple log ins. Use multi-factor authentication whenever it’s available.

2. Avoid unknown links or attachments in email. When you receive a request for payment via email, review it carefully and if there is any doubt, contact the vendor via the phone number listed on a previous invoice or look up their number online to verify. Fraudsters can change any company’s email address by adding a letter, a period or another character that people may miss if they are not aware of the risk of fraud.

3. Use anti-virus software. Install and maintain current anti-virus software on all devices, including mobile phones and tablets.

For more information about cyber security, visit www.wisconsinbankandtrust.com/stopfraud.

Wisconsin Bank & Trust is also hosting “Recognizing the Danger and Minimizing the Threat,” a fraud seminar that will cover employee theft schemes commonly encountered in the workplace, in Monroe, Wisconsin and Madison, Wisconsin on Thursday, October 18. The fraud seminars will feature guest speaker Tim Tribe, Forensic Accountant, and occur at Turner Hall in Monroe from 7:30 – 9:00 a.m. and Madison Club in Madison from 12:30 – 2:00 p.m. If you wish to attend, please RSVP by Wednesday, October 10, here for Monroe or here for Madison.

About Wisconsin Bank & Trust

Wisconsin Bank & Trust (WBT), a subsidiary of Heartland Financial USA, Inc., (NASDAQ: HTLF), is a business-focused community bank with assets of more than $1 billion. With seventeen banking centers and one loan processing office, WBT serves customers in the Madison, Milwaukee, Green Bay, Sheboygan, Monroe and southwest areas of Wisconsin. WBT offers a wide range of personal and business banking, private client and mortgage lending services. For more information, visit www.wisconsinbankandtrust.com or call 608.203.1214. WBT is a member of the FDIC and an Equal Housing Lender.

For further information please contact:

Curtis Chrystal

President and CEO

608.203.1224

CChrystal@wisconsinbankandtrust.com

Bridget Hughes

Regional Marketing & Sales Support Director

608.203.1211

BHughes@wisconsinbankandtrust.com

Jesse Roberts Promoted to Business Development Executive at M3

Madison, WI – Jesse Roberts has been promoted to the position of Business Development Executive at M3 Insurance. Based in the Madison office, Jesse educates the business community about M3 offerings including insurance and risk management, employee benefits, and employer-sponsored retirement plans. He further assists customers and prospects during the sales process, presenting solutions and matching them with the appropriate service team to address their unique business insurance needs.

Jesse joined M3 as part of the pilot group of the M3YOU program in 2016 and, demonstrating strengths aligning with the business development team, moved into the role of a Business Development Specialist in January of 2017. From that role, Jesse quickly grew into the capacity of his newly appointed position as a Business Development Executive.

M3 Insurance offers insight, advice and strategies to help clients manage risk, purchase insurance and provide employee benefits. We are committed to being experts in both the products we represent and the industries we serve. Our people advance M3’s competitive advantage in the marketplace, and our focus on community builds better places to live and work. M3 is consistently ranked a top 100 broker in America and celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2018.

Wisconsin Union Will Unveil Reinstalled Paul Bunyan Room Murals Oct. 5

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact Information:

Shauna Breneman, Communications Director

Office: (608) 262-8862

Email: sbreneman@wisc.edu

WISCONSIN UNION WILL UNVEIL REINSTALLED PAUL BUNYAN ROOM MURALS OCT. 5

Historic murals depicting Paul Bunyan folklore to return after six years

MADISON – After being stored for six years during Memorial Union construction, the Wisconsin Union team will unveil reinstalled Paul Bunyan murals by artist James Watrous in Memorial Union’s Paul Bunyan Room Oct. 5 at 5:30 p.m. as a part of Gallery Night.

The event, which is open to the public, will begin with the debut of the returned murals followed immediately by remarks by Wisconsin Union Director Mark Guthier.

The murals, painted by Watrous from 1933 to 1936, depict folktales of giant lumberjack Paul Bunyan and his blue ox Babe. Watrous used delicate egg tempera, an oil-based paint, to create the 40-piece mural set.

The Union team in collaboration with the Midwest Art Conservation Center carefully removed and preserved the fragile paintings in June 2012 due to the Memorial Union Reinvestment project, a multi-year effort to restore and enhance the Memorial Union. The Union team stored the murals off-site to prevent damage from building vibrations. This construction effort concluded in fall 2017.

“After being on display for more than 70 years of Memorial Union’s 90-year history, the murals have become an important part of many guests’ visits,” Guthier said. “We are excited that the Paul Bunyan Room murals will once again be part of the immersive art experience at Memorial Union.”

Along with the unveiling of the murals, the Wisconsin Union will hold additional art-related events as part of Gallery Night. Other events in Memorial Union include exhibitions in the Main Gallery and Class of 1925 Gallery and multiple Free Art Friday festivities in Wheelhouse Studios, including Guatemalan worry doll-making, Brazilian samba performance and free mini-dance class, Latinx-inspired appetizers, and a display by the UW Latinx Heritage Month Committee.

Gallery Night is a long-time Madison tradition dedicated to showcasing the city’s arts community each spring and fall. The event offers community members the opportunity to experience art-related exhibitions and special events throughout the city, such as the unveiling of the Paul Bunyan murals.

Those who would like to learn more about Gallery Night events at Memorial Union may visit union.wisc.edu/events-and-activities/event-calendar/event/gallery-night.

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About the Wisconsin Union

The Wisconsin Union enhances the lives of members and visitors through recreational, cultural, educational and social opportunities. Formed in 1907, the Wisconsin Union is a membership organization that blends study and leisure to create unique out-of-classroom opportunities. Learn more about the Union and its tradition of providing experiences for a lifetime: Union.wisc.edu.

MSCR Day Trip – Explore Milwaukee’s African American History and Foods

September 25, 2018

For Immediate Release

Contact: Mary Roth at 608-204-3045 or mcrowley@madison.k12.wi.us or Nicole Graper at 608-204-3017 or ngraper@madison.k12.wi.us

MSCR Day Trip – Explore Milwaukee’s African American History and Foods

Madison School & Community Recreation (MSCR) is offering a day trip to see Milwaukee’s African American History & Food Tour on Saturday, November 10 for ages 18 and older.

Explore Milwaukee’s vibrant African American heritage. Visit two significant churches in the African American community, along with narration while driving about Milwaukee’s African American history. Enjoy a stop for a sit-down lunch at an African American owned restaurant. Visit the Wisconsin African American Women’s Center for a drum and dance presentation. Conclude your day with dessert and shopping at an African American owned bakery.

The fee is $92 for residents and includes motorcoach transportation, tours and lunch. The bus leaves at 8:30 am and returns at 6:30 pm. Register at mscr.org

Starion Bank offers flood assistance

Many property owners, including Starion Bank, experienced damage during the recent flooding. As a community bank, Starion is committed to helping its neighbors in times of trouble and one way the bank can do that is through disaster relief financing assistance.

Starion Bank has implemented two special programs in response to the flooding:

Customers with existing consumer loans can defer payments for up to three consecutive months through the end of the year.1
New consumer loans and home equity loans up to $25,000 are available with no origination charge or application fee, 0.00% APR2 for the first three months and no payments for the first three months. Applications must be submitted by Oct. 31, 2018.
“It is our hope that these programs will help ease the burdens people are experiencing during this difficult time,” said Brian Fisher, Starion Bank market president. “We know how trying flood recovery can be. This is a way to help others as well as thank our customers for their patience with the recovery efforts on our own building.”

Individuals and businesses interested in either program can talk to a Starion banker by calling 608-224-5550 or visit www.starionbank.com/flood for more detailed information.

About Starion Bank

Starion Bank is a $1.25 billion family-owned community bank with a full line of commercial, personal and mortgage banking services. Started in Oakes, N.D., in 1969, Starion opened in the Madison area in 2006 and has three locations: 1651 John Q. Hammons Drive, Middleton; 5900 Gisholt Drive, Monona; and 350 South Grand Avenue, Sun Prairie. The bank has 12 branches in North Dakota.

Online

www.starionbank.com
www.facebook.com/starionbank
Photo attachment: Brian Fisher.jpg

1Consumer loans only, does not include real estate or CD secured loans. Consumer loans must be in good standing. Interest will continue to accrue. Deferring payment will extend the maturity date of the loan. The deferred payment will not be insured by accident/health, GAP or credit life insurance, if applicable. Offer only good in September, October and November.

2Annual Percentage Rate. Offer of credit subject to approval. Offer requires a Starion Bank checking account. Can be combined with other offers. Does not include bridge, construction or adjustable rate mortgage loans. Escrow accounts will not be offered on home equity loans. After the first three months, the annual percentage rate and monthly payments will increase and be based on the rate sheet effective at the time of loan consummation. The annual percentage rate and monthly payments will be applicable for the remaining term of the loan. Applications accepted through 10/31/18. Payment Example: $25,000 loan with a 60 month term and APR of 4.75% would result in a payment of $490.77. For credit secured by a first lien on a dwelling, the payment amount does not include taxes and insurance premiums. Actual payment obligations will be greater.