Busy Entrepreneur Manages Personal, Business Accounts Online
Challenge:
Nashville entrepreneur Matt Berman was juggling the finances of several different business accounts in addition to his personal accounts. Monitoring all of his transactions and making sure everything got paid on time was taking too much focus away from running his companies.
Berman was a former SunTrust employee and had all of his accounts with the bank. While he was familiar with SunTrust’s online banking system, he didn’t use it often and found himself spending a lot of time making trips to a branch.
Solution:
When Berman moved his accounts over to Pinnacle, his financial advisor showed him the capabilities of Pinnacle Online Banking. He now banks online several times a week, if not daily.
Berman checks balances, transfers funds and pays bills online. He also uses the system in conjunction with his payroll service, to check loans and pay loan balances and to monitor his Raymond James investment accounts.
Pinnacle’s system allows Berman the flexibility to transfer funds from his personal to his business accounts under one login.
“It’s also great for record-keeping because all of those transactions are right at your fingertips,” Berman said. “I use Quicken, and I can download information right into the program.”
Result:
Immediacy and saving trips to a Pinnacle office are two reasons Berman said he relies on online banking.
“It’s fast, it’s convenient, and it saves travel time,” he said. “I love the fact that there’s no paper involved. I don’t have to pay for postage, and I don’t have to worry about things getting lost in the mail.”
Online banking also has saved Berman from being delinquent on bills, which would have engendered late fees and hurt his credit. Pinnacle’s online transactions are processed in real time, so when Berman transfers funds they are available immediately. He doesn’t have to wait until tomorrow or the next day to access funds.
“Sometimes if I needed to move money into an account to cover a check, I’ve been able to have funds transferred ASAP via online banking,” he said. “That allows me not to be late on payments when I would have had to make a personal visit or overnight a check.”
Berman uses the time he saves to focus on his company, an online service called InstantAmber that helps parents and law enforcement find missing children quickly and safely.