Some smaller banks doing just fine

FINANCE

The big national banks may be struggling with asset writedowns and stock-price meltdowns, but some of the smaller banks that do business in the Charleston area not only are holding their own, they're actually expanding.

Mount Pleasant-based Tidelands Bank, for example, plans a grand opening this week for its newest location, a full-service branch at 11915 Plaza Drive in Murrells Inlet. The new office brings the Tidelands total to seven, adding to its existing locations in Summerville, West Ashley, Mount Pleasant, Bluffton and Myrtle Beach.

In honor of the occasion, and in keeping with the company's support of public education, Tidelands said it will contribute $25 for each personal account and $50 for each business account opened in August to St. James Middle School; it guarantees that it will donate at least $1,500 to the school.

Tidelands, chartered in 2003, had 90 employees and $563 million in assets at the end of March, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data — not bad for a 5-year-old.

Meanwhile, a couple of somewhat larger institutions are increasing their Charleston-area presence.

Moultrie, Ga.-based Ameris Bank recently cut the ribbon on its new Summerville branch at 1708-C Old Trolley Road. The new location gives the company four local branches, with two in Charleston and one in Mount Pleasant. The $2.1 billion (in assets) bank has other coastal-area offices in Beaufort, Bluffton, Hilton Head Island and Murrells Inlet.

In a much bigger size category, BB&T Corp. 's new James Island branch is taking shape on Folly Road. The Winston-Salem, N.C.-based company, with $132 billion in assets as of March 31, also has filed a permit application with the state Department of Health and Environmental Control for another new location at 8995 University Boulevard in North Charleston.

Credit check

When I was in college, the only form of credit most students had was an overdrawn checking account. That's no longer the case, as plastic has found its way into large numbers of college students' wallets.

But it's still easy to let spending get ahead of funding, which has led LowCards.com, a card-rate comparison Web site based in Birmingham, Ala., to put together some useful advice for the college-bound:

--Pay off your balance each month. If you can't pay for it with cash right now, then you can't afford to pay for it with a credit card that will add interest payments to your purchase.

--Use your card only for emergencies. Do not charge meals, clothes, gas or groceries. If you carry a balance, you could pay more in interest than you paid for the shoes or the meal.

--Pay attention to the date your payment is due. If your payment is late, you'll have to pay a fee (typically $39), and it can also affect your credit score and raise your interest rate as high as 29 percent.

--Pay attention to any notices you receive about your credit card. Issuers can change your rate, credit limit or other terms at any time.

--Pay attention to your credit limit, which typically is low for college students and may be easy to reach with a big purchase such as an airplane ticket. Exceeding your limit can bring the same penalties as making a late payment.

--Do not use your card for cash advances, which carry a higher interest rate and a one-time fee.

Come to think of it, that's pretty good advice for the rest of us too.