What's New

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Elliott Hall, Chairman of the Board, today announced the long awaited organizational realignment of Independence Federal Savings Bank. The Board of Directors has recruited and elected John A. Hall of Miami, Florida as the new President and CEO. The Board also elected Brenda Watkins Noel, CPA, as the new CFO of the thrift. At the recent stockholders meeting, Douglas Grayson, CPA was elected to the board. He will serve as Chairman of the Audit Committee. Hall and Watkins Noel replace Robert Isard who has been the acting CEO and CFO of the bank since March 2007. Isard will stay on through the transition period. The bank requested immediate approval of these appointments by the OTS, and has been advised by the OTS staff that these individuals can act in their elected capacities pending final approval from the OTS.

"Independence is reaching out to old and new friends alike as we focus on fulfilling the extraordinary mission envisioned by Bill Fitzgerald nearly 39 years ago when Independence was federally chartered," said John Hall. "It is important that we let this community know that Independence Federal Savings Bank continues to be a safe and sound financial institution, that we are well-capitalized and we are the oldest minority savings bank in the District of Columbia. Our excellent team of professionals provides this community with competitive student loans and residential mortgages, competitive CDs, competitive checking and savings accounts and a host of other community banking services."

With the latest actions by the board, the President and CEO, the CFO, the Vice President of Operations, and the Senior Vice President are all African Americans. The bank principally serves an African American clientele and the majority of its board members are minorities, including Elliot Hall, its Chairman. The seven member board now includes three black males, one Hispanic male, one white female and two white males. "We are the urban bank of the future," said Hall. "We believe strongly in diversity and we strive to please all customers seeking excellent banking services. Consistent with our historic heritage and founding principles, we focus much of our efforts on the special needs of the black and Hispanic populations of the Washington metropolitan area."

Morton Bender, the largest stockholder in Independence, recently won regulatory approval to acquire up to 51% of the thrift. Bender is Chairman of the board of Colombo Bank of Rockville, Maryland, but does not hold a seat on the Independence board. Significantly, Bender has used his influence to fulfill his pledge to keep Independence an African American institution.

Before moving to Miami in 1985, John Hall lived in Washington, D.C. for 20 years, including 12 years during which he served as President and CEO of Mark Battle Associates, Inc. In Miami, Hall served in a variety of senior management positions including three and one-half years as the regional president of OneUnited Bank. While there, he managed to more than double regional deposits through organic growth. Hall received a BA degree in accounting from Howard University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is married to Marvelle McIntyre-Hall, Esq. and has three grown children.

Brenda Watkins Noel, CPA, served as the CFO for a non-profit organization for most of her career where she managed its investments and banking relationships. Prior to that role, she held various financial positions in the corporate sector; most notable was her position as an auditor with Ernest & Young (formerly Arthur Young & Co.) where her audit clients included a number of banks and thrifts. She earned a bachelor's degree at Hampton University and an MBA from the University of the District of Columbia.

Douglas Grayson, CPA, is the founder and president of Douglas Grayson, Inc., a business consulting, accounting and tax planning firm. He has served as the CFO and managing director of Connaught Real Estate Finance LLC and also as the senior vice-president and CFO of CIG International, LLC of Washington, D.C. Grayson received a B.S. in Professional Accounting from the University of the State of New York.

Down Payment Assistance
Independence Federal Savings Bank now offers a new "First Time Home Buyers Program" for the Washington, DC, Metropolitan area. Eligible applicants may receive up to $5,000 in downpayment and closing costs. For further information please contact a Loan Specialist at 202-628-5500.

Federal rules for Check21 took effect in October, 2004, and allow banks to replace original checks with “substitute checks.” Here are the details about what this means to you.

To make check processing faster, federal law permits banks to replace original checks with “substitute checks.” These checks are similar in size to original checks with a slightly reduced image of the front and back of the original check. The front of a substitute check states: “This is a legal copy of your check. You can use it the same way you would use the original check.” You may use a substitute check as proof of payment just like the original check. Some or all of the checks that you receive back from us maybe substitute checks. This notice describes rights you have when you receive substitute checks from us. The rights in the notice do not apply to original checks or the electronic debits to your account. However, you have rights under other laws with respect to those transactions.

In certain cases, federal law provides a special procedure that allows you to request a refund for losses you suffer if a substitute check is posted to your account (for example, if you think that we withdrew the wrong amount from your account or that we withdrew money form your account more than once for the same check). The losses you may attempt to recover under this procedure may include the amount that was withdrawn from your account and fees that were charged as a result of the withdrawal (for example, bounced check fees). The amount of your refund under this procedure is limited to the amount of your loss or the amount of the substitute check, whichever is less. You also are entitled to interest on the amount of your refund if your account is an interest-bearing account. If your loss exceeds the amount of the substitute check, you may be able to recover additional amounts under other laws. If you use this procedure, you may receive up to $2,500 of your refund (plus interest if your account earns interest) within 10 business days after we received your claim and the remainder of your refund (plus interest if your account earns interest) not later than 45 calendar days after we received your claim. We may reverse the refund (including any interest on the refund) if we later are able to demonstrate that the substitute check was correctly posted to your account.

If you believe that you have suffered a loss relating to a substitute check that you received and that was posted to your account, please contact us by mail to 1229 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington DC 20036. Or you may telephone us at 202-628-5500 or 1-888-922-6537. Or you may email us at information@ifsb.com (or you may click Contact Us on this web page). You must contact us within 40 calendar days of the date that we mailed (or otherwise delivered by a means to which you agreed) the substitute check in question or the account statement showing that the substitute was posted to your account, whichever is later, we will extend this time period if you were not able to make a timely claim because of extraordinary circumstances. Your claim must include:

* a description of why you have suffered a loss (for example, you think the amount withdrawn was incorrect);

* an estimate of the amount of your loss;

* an explanation of why the substitute check you received is insufficient to confirm that you suffered a loss, and;

* a copy of the substitute check, and/or the following information to help us identify the substitute check:

- the check number

- the name of the person to whom you wrote the check

- the amount of the check.

The paper check will remain a vital part of the United States’ payments system for the foreseeable future. Consumers will continue to be able to use paper checks because the banking industry is designing a 21st century system that allows paper to work in an electronic world. More and more checks are being processed electronically every day through the use of electronic check conversion and check truncation. Electronic check conversion is the process of changing an original paper check to an electronic payment. Check truncation is the process of removing an original check from the clearing process while sending forward only the information necessary to make your payment. Here are the facts.

News about the new federal Check21 law and the use of “substitute checks” often becomes confused with an alternative method of check processing called “electronic check conversion.” With electronic check conversion, businesses may choose to convert your check into an electronic payment similar to a debit card transaction that is known as an ACH transaction. These transactions appear on your statement with other electronic debits such as ATM withdrawals and automatic direct debit transactions (e.g. health club dues, telephone bills, monthly investment contributions, etc.). The consumer rights associated with an ACH transaction are similar to those provided in Check21.

Most consumers did not receive very many substitute checks with their monthly account statements. It gradually grew. On March 31, 2006, Independence Federal began providing images of checks paid, accessible through online banking.

The faster collection and return of checks made possible by Check21 should reduce overall fraud in the check collection system. Banks will be able to collect and return checks faster and utilize new image analysis fraud tools to help identify fraud and errors more quickly.

Check21 simply allows for the creation and legal equivalency of a substitute check that complies with rigorous industry standards for image quality and completeness.

Losses in check fraud cases are typically borne by the bank or the merchant that dealt with the person who transferred a fraudulent check, not the consumer.

Anyone can become a victim of the fastest growing crime in America, Identity Theft. The Federal Trade Commission has more information and suggestions on what you can do to protect yourself from Identity Theft. To leave the Independence Federal site and go to the FTC's Identity Theft pages, click here.

Many checks are being converted into "electronic" checks and clearing the bank faster than they used to. To learn more about this, you may leave the Independence Federal site and go to the Federal Reserve's page describing electronic check conversion by clicking here.