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United Prairie granted Preferred Lender status with the FSA
ST. PAUL, Minn., March 27, 2007 – Perry Aasness, state executive director, today announced that United Prairie Bank of (Location) has been granted Preferred Lender status for the Farm Service Agency (FSA) guaranteed farm loan programs.
Aasness congratulated United Prairie Bank, for the lender’s performance in making and servicing farm ownership and operating loans. “As a Preferred Lender, United Prairie Bank will have less paperwork to deal with and more time for providing credit to Minnesota farmers,” said Aasness.
The Preferred Lender Program (PLP) is a program for elite agricultural lenders that have experience with FSA guaranteed loans. Under the 5-year PLP, lenders process loans and request guarantees with reduced paperwork and supervision requirements. FSA reviews and approves a lender’s Credit Management System and then the lender originates and services guaranteed loans based on those procedures.
FSA guaranteed loans allow lenders to serve, or continue serving, farmers who cannot be served on a conventional basis. FSA’s guarantee program reimburses a lender for up to 95% of a loan loss, should a farmer be unable to repay the loan. For some guaranteed loans FSA pays 4% of the interest for the farmer. PLP lenders submit only a two page application and a narrative describing the loan applicant’s credit factors. Loan approval with an 80% guarantee is automatic if FSA does not respond within 14 days getting a complete application.
To qualify for the PLP designation, a lender must have made at least 20 FSA guaranteed loans in the past 5 years and have a low historical loss rate. The lender must have a proven record of submitting sound loan proposals and a demonstrated ability to service guaranteed loans. Contact your local FSA office staff for more information.
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United Prairie ranked in nation's Top 20 for ag lending
United Prairie Bank is ranked 20th in the United States and first in Minnesota for agricultural loan volume, according to American Banker weekly magazine.
The ranking included independently-owned community banks and was published in the January 3rd edition of American Banker. The ranking was titled, “Community Banks with Largest Farm Loan Portfolios.”
United Prairie Bank’s management team is proud about the new ranking because it’s a reflection of the hard work that’s gone into working successfully with many ag professionals.
“Any bank can just lend money,” said one United Prairie Bank official. “We help our farmers stay financially healthy.”
With its rural roots, United Prairie Bank “grew up” in lending to farmers and the agri-business community as a whole.
While ag finance continues to be a strong part of United Prairie’s financial support services, we also offer a full compliment of financial services for individuals and non-ag businesses.
Like the motto says – “We’ll help you get there.”
UPDATED 5/21/2007
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Waseca's United Prairie Bank wins company's top customer service award
Waseca's United Prairie Bank team won the company's coveted "Top Customer Service" trophy for the second time in three years.
The award was announced on May 8, following a statistical analysis of the performance of all 16 United Prairie Bank locations during a six-week period in March and April 2007.
Although many locations made goal and acheived high results, the Waseca team went farther over goal than any other location.
"We're extremely pleased at the dedication and performance of Chuck Brenner's bank team," said Stuart J. Sneer, owner and company president. "The Waseca staff is a cut above our high standards."
The award was based on customer contacts and responses, as well as the bank team's performance in communicating United Prairie's new Bill Pay service.
"I'm really proud of my team," said Brenner, market president in Waseca. "They worked hard for this award, and more importantly, they work hard for the bank's customers."
This is the second time the Waseca team has won the award since the program was launched in 2001. And, they are one of only two bank teams to win the award more than once. The Windom team has also won the award twice.
The 4-foot traveling trophy was presented to Brenner and the bank staff on May 8. Marcy Buchele, personal banker on the team, also won the first place individual champion title for the best customer service statistics in the entire company during the six-week trial period.
The award-winning team also includes: Dawn Briggs, personal banker; Mike Budach, ag/commercial lender; Pat Forshee, customer service representative; Rachel Splett, customer service representative; and Linda Hein, customer service representative.
"This is an award we take very seriously," said Sneer. "Our hallmark is superior service."
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Bill Pay now available for United Prairie customers
Online Bill Pay is now available for all United Prairie Bank customers.
What is Bill Pay? Bill Pay allows you to pay anyone – an individual, business or even a utility – from within your online banking program.
It’s simple, fast and convenient. Once you’ve enrolled in Bill Pay (just sign up at your local United Prairie Bank), you will be able to open the Bill Pay program from within your eBanking service. So there is still just one log in procedure.
Once in the program, you can set up payees by entering a few bits of information. In the case of business payees, you usually enter your billing account number so your payment can be identified upon receipt.
You decide the amount and when the bill will be paid. The program tells you how much lead time you need. The payment amount is drawn out of the United Prairie bank account you specify.
Once that payee is set up, the information can be used for subsequent payments. And, you can set up automatic, recurring payments or one-time payments.
“It’s incredible how convenient Bill Pay is,” said one United Prairie Bank customer. “I can pay my bills in just a few minutes a month without stamps or trips to the post office.”
United Prairie Bank Bill Pay is free to all Prairie LifeSTYLE customers. But all customers can try the service for free for three months. Once the free period has expired, there is a charge of $4.95 a month for up to 25 payments a month. After that, each payment is an additional 40 cents.
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