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KeyBank Sets a New Standard in Check Fraud Protection with Check Control for Business

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Solution helps small business clients proactively monitor check activity and prevent check fraud before it impacts their business

CLEVELAND, July 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — KeyBank (NYSE: KEY) today announced that Check Control for Business is fully available to KeyBank Business Online® clients. This service, which is unique to KeyBank as to the size of business it supports paired with its minimal cost, can help small business owners address the growing risk of check fraud with the ability to monitor check activity, quickly spot suspicious check transactions, and mark checks for return.

As fraud practices continue to evolve, small business owners are faced with increasing challenges in protecting their operations. According to the Federal Reserve’s Business Payments Study, 83% of small firms use paper checks for business payments, and more than $1 billion is recovered each year in counterfeit checks and money orders. Check Control for Business helps combat this by alerting clients to check activity so they can review and act if necessary.

“Check fraud continues to be a growing challenge for businesses as tactics evolve, and we know it’s top of the mind for many of our clients, especially small businesses, which are the backbone of our economy,” said Victor Alexander, Head of Key’s Consumer Bank. “At Key, we are committed to delivering for our clients by helping them stay ahead of emerging threats and protect what they’ve worked so hard to build. Check Control for Business is another way we’re empowering our clients with practical, effective tools to help prevent fraud and operate with confidence.”

Check Control for Business is a proactive alert system designed to help business owners monitor check activity from their online or mobile app. In addition to being a fraud mitigation solution, Check Control for Business is also a convenient check reconciliation tool that helps businesses keep track of checks moving through their account.

Check Control for Business empowers small business clients to:

View checks daily from a PC or mobile deviceConfirm check amounts, numbers, and payeesReturn suspicious or duplicate checks in just a few clicksStay in control with customized alerts and notification timing

Clients can self-enroll within digital banking with a few simple steps that can be completed in under one minute. Enrolled users receive alerts when checks are ready for review, allowing clients to detect and address potential check fraud before it impacts their business, stopping fraud before it’s too late. This can save a business from potentially thousands of dollars in losses and the cascade of problems that follow, like bounced vendor payments and disrupted cash flow.

Check Control for Business is available to eligible KeyBank Business Online clientsi (generally, small business clients with $10 million or less in revenue) at a cost of $5 per enrolled account per month. With the addition of this service, KeyBank continues to invest in digital capabilities that empower small businesses to operate more securely and efficiently in an increasingly complex financial environment.

“Check Control for Business is an exciting addition to our suite of digital capabilities and reflects our commitment to helping businesses of all sizes fight fraud, from emerging small businesses to large enterprises,” said Emily Gessner, Head of Commercial Digital for KeyBank. “Providing clients with simple, effective tools to help safeguard their businesses is critical to allowing them to focus on growth.”

ABOUT KEYCORP
KeyCorp’s roots trace back more than 200 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation’s largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $189 billion at March 31, 2026. 

Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of approximately 950 branches and approximately 1,100 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets® trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank Member FDIC. 

CFMA 260706-4691646
©2026 KeyCorp. All rights reserved.

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Check Control for Business is available only to eligible business checking (DDA) subproduct accounts on the Key Business Banking Platform. Accounts enrolled in KeyNavigator® check fraud services (including Positive Pay) are not eligible to enroll.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/keybank-sets-a-new-standard-in-check-fraud-protection-with-check-control-for-business-302821230.html

SOURCE KeyBank

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U.S. Consumers Received Just Over 4.25 Billion Robocalls in June, According to YouMail Robocall Index

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2026 Volume Down Roughly 13% Year Over Year

IRVINE, Calif., July 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — U.S. consumers received just over 4.25 billion robocalls in June 2026, according to the Robocall Index from YouMail, the robocall protection app that tracks U.S. robocalling behavior. This volume increased approximately 3.4% from May, but declined 4.6% compared to June 2025.  

June averaged 141.8 million robocalls/day and 1,642 robocalls/second, compared to May’s 132.8 million robocalls/day and 1,537 robocalls/second.

This was the highest monthly robocall volume since July 2025. Despite that, over the past 12 months, total robocalls reached 48.7 billion, continuing the lowest 12-month total recorded since November 2022.

“Monthly robocall volumes have been slowly creeping upward, and we’re now roughly 15% above the lowest levels we saw last October,” said YouMail CEO Alex Quilici. “While overall robocall activity remains relatively low compared to historical levels, consumers must continue to stay vigilant and protect themselves with robocall-blocking apps like YouMail.”

These latest figures are provided by YouMail, a totally free app that protects consumers from unwanted or dangerous calls, texts, and voicemails. The figures are based on extrapolated data from robocall traffic targeting YouMail’s active user base.

June’s Robocalls Patterns Remained Similar to May

There was little change in the breakdown of robocall activity from May to June, with payment reminders increasing by 6% and unwanted calls rising slightly.

Type of

Robocall

Estimate June

Robocalls

Percentage June
Robocalls

Notifications

1.60 billion (flat)

38% (flat)

Payment Reminders

0.64 billion (+6%)

15% (+1%)

Telemarketing + Scams

2.02 billion (+1%)

47% (-1%)

Unfortunately, consumers continue to receive roughly 2 billion unwanted robocalls every month.

June 2026’s Most Annoying Robocalls

June’s most problematic robocall campaigns once again centered around pre-approved debt consolidation loans. One particularly large campaign placed calls using the name “Silver Oak Loans.” The campaign delivered substantially similar messages from tens of thousands of phone numbers,  like this one

This is Brittany with Silver Oak Loans. I’m reaching out because based on your credit profile, it looks like you’ve been pre-approved for a debt consolidation loan. This type of loan can be used to pay off credit cards, personal loans, medical bills, collection accounts, or any other outstanding balances you may have, and roll everything into one single monthly payment at a lower interest rate. We’d love to go over the details and your options with you. If you’d like to speak with a representative, press 3 now, or if you prefer not to receive updates, press 7.

This robocall campaign generated well over 30 million calls in June. Consumers report these calls as spam, saying they get these calls over and over, despite never applying for a loan and never providing consent to be contacted. At best this is illegal telemarketing at scale; at worst this behavior is indicative of a scam.

Consumers who receive these calls should report them to sites like directory.youmail.com or spamreporters.com. Reporting helps reduce harm to others by ensuring these numbers can be immediately blocked not only by the YouMail app, but across a variety of carriers. It also helps aggregate valuable data that can be shared with regulators and law enforcement to support investigative efforts.  

The Source of This Data

These data points are provided by YouMail, a free call protection app for mobile phones. YouMail won the American Business Awards’ Gold Stevie Award for Technical Innovation of the Year, and the YouMail app was named the nation’s best robocall-blocking solution in a competition organized by Geoffrey Fowler formerly of the Washington Post.

YouMail blocks unwanted robocallers by making sure the user’s phone doesn’t ring, and then plays an out-of-service message that leads them to think they dialed an invalid number. YouMail identifies problematic numbers and robocalls using a combination of its recently patented audio fingerprinting technology, call patterns, and consumer feedback.

YouMail provides the YouMail Robocall Index to estimate robocall volume across the country and for specific area codes every month. This estimate is formed by extrapolating from the behavior of the billions of calls YouMail has handled for its users, and these statistics are regularly cited by the FCC as a definitive source for national data trends.  

For a full ranking of cities, states and area codes, as well as details on the behavior of robocallers in each area code, please see http://robocallindex.com. To listen to actual voice messages left by robocallers or report spam calls or texts, please visit the YouMail Directory. To join the YouMail Robocall Index mailing list, please write to RobocallIndex@YouMail.com.

About YouMail, Inc.

YouMail protects consumers, enterprises, and carriers from harmful phone calls. YouMail provides US and UK consumers app-based call protection services through the YouMail, Another Number, and HulloMail apps. These solutions answer over a billion live calls per year from well over 20 million phone numbers, powering America’s most robust telephone sensor network in identifying and providing zero-hour protection against illegal calling campaigns and cyberattacks. YouMail Protective Services leverages this sensor network to protect consumer-facing enterprises by detecting and helping shut down imposter traffic that can lead to financial or brand damage, as well as to protect carriers with robocall mitigation services that detect and help stop bad traffic originating, traversing, or terminating on their networks. This sensor network is also used to provide the YouMail Robocall Index™ is the nation’s definitive source on telephone network activity and attacks. YouMail, Inc. is privately funded and based in Irvine, California. 

Contact:

Gabriella Troiani for YouMail
Lumina Communications
YouMailPR@icrinc.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-consumers-received-just-over-4-25-billion-robocalls-in-june-according-to-youmail-robocall-index-302822123.html

SOURCE YouMail Inc.

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GBS outperforms the higher education sector across all seven themes in National Student Survey 2026

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LONDON, July 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Global Banking School (GBS) has once again outperformed the UK higher education sector across all seven core themes of the 2026 National Student Survey (NSS), highlighting its continued commitment to delivering an outstanding student experience.

Published today by the Office for Students (OfS), the latest NSS results reflect GBS’s continued focus on high-quality teaching, academic support and student success, with consistently high levels of student satisfaction and strong year-on-year performance.

The 2026 results for GBS are based on 6,488 published student responses – an increase of 1,087 responses compared with 2025, providing an even stronger and more representative picture of the student experience at GBS.

The results come at a particularly significant time for GBS, as it celebrates its 2026 graduation ceremonies this month across Leeds, Birmingham, Manchester and London. Six thousand graduates are marking the successful completion of their studies, including in sectors vital to the UK economy, such as construction management, digital technology and health and social care.

GBS outperformed the sector average across all seven NSS themes, with the highest satisfaction scores were achieved in Teaching on my Course and Academic Support, both recording 92.9% student satisfaction.

James Kennedy, CEO of GBS, said: “We are incredibly proud of these results and what they represent. They reflect the dedication of our students, the commitment of our academic and professional services colleagues, and our shared focus on providing an outstanding student experience.

“As we celebrate our graduation ceremonies across Leeds, Birmingham, Manchester and London this month, it is particularly rewarding to see our students recognise the quality of their experience at GBS. While these results are something to celebrate, they also inspire us to keep listening to our students and continually enhancing every aspect of the education and support we provide.”

GBS offers flexible, career-focused higher education programmes designed to meet the needs of today’s learners, many of whom balance their studies alongside jobs, family responsibilities and running their own businesses. Through industry-relevant courses delivered across its campuses in London, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester, GBS continues to widen participation to higher education while equipping students with the knowledge, skills and confidence to succeed in their chosen careers.

The 2026 NSS results underline GBS’s commitment to delivering an outstanding student experience and to continually enhancing teaching, learning and student support.

Notes to Editors

The National Student Survey (NSS) is an annual survey that gathers feedback from eligible students across UK higher education providers on the quality of their academic experience.The 2026 GBS results are based on 6,488 published student responses, with a publication response rate of 81.2%.Global Banking School (GBS) is a higher education provider with campuses in London, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester, delivering career-focused programmes in partnership with respected UK universities.

Infographic – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/3005236/GBS_2026.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/gbs-outperforms-the-higher-education-sector-across-all-seven-themes-in-national-student-survey-2026-302822127.html

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Closed Dollar Volume Increases Across Markets in First Half of 2026, According to New Market Report by William Pitt-Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty

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Strong sales momentum in the second quarter brings markets ahead in volume year to date compared to first half of last year, as inventory improves and median prices continue to rise

STAMFORD, Conn., July 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Sales improvements in single family home sales in the second quarter of 2026 were strong enough that many markets finished the first half of 2026 ahead of the first six months of 2025 in closed dollar volume, according to a new report just released by William Pitt-Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty. The report details annual market results in Fairfield, Litchfield and Hartford Counties and the Shoreline in Connecticut, the Berkshires in Massachusetts, and Westchester, Putnam, Columbia, Dutchess and Ulster Counties, New York.

The report stated that the closed volume increases represented a positive turnaround from the more sluggish performance of the first quarter. While closed volume rose year over year, unit sales were still lower than this time last year in most markets served by the firm.

Virtually every market is seeing a disparity between closed volume and units, with the percentage change for dollar volume always an improvement over the percentage change in units, whether it is increasing year over year at a higher rate than units or decreasing at a lower one. The reason for this spread is that the product mix selling continues to favor higher priced properties, while at the same time median sale prices continue to move ever upward in nearly every market.

In addition, properties are typically trading for higher than their asking prices, the report found. The ratio of list to closing price is especially high in mid-tier price ranges. In Fairfield County, for example, properties overall averaged a sale price 3.2% above their initial asking price, but property sales between $1.5 and $2 million saw a list to ask ratio increase of 7.8%. In Westchester these stats were even higher. County-wide, properties sold for an average of 5.3% over their listing price, but that percentage elevated to 9.7% in the $1 to $2 million price bracket.

Competition is the driving force behind this dynamic as the balance of supply and demand remains heavily weighted toward the benefit of sellers. Housing markets remain challenged by an ongoing lack of inventory amidst a backdrop of heightened buyer demand. In a positive sign for buyers and a reversal of the trend from the first quarter this year, total standing inventory rose in the second quarter over the same time last year in most counties.

“The increase in total inventory gives us reason to feel bullish on strong sales momentum in the coming months,” said Paul Breunich, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of William Pitt-Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty. “Economic factors at the macro level remain points of uncertainty, but we do not expect to see much effect on the pace of our markets any time soon. Demand is continuing at a very consistent pace, and inventory increasing again to meet that demand will further facilitate robust sales activity.

The First Half 2026 Market Watch is available on the firm’s website at williampitt.com.

About William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty and Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty
Founded in 1949, William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty and Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty manages a $5.5 billion portfolio with more than 1,100 sales associates in 29 brokerages spanning Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York. The company is one of the largest Sotheby’s International Realty(R) affiliates globally and the 34th-largest real estate company by sales volume in the United States. For more information, visit the website at williampitt.com.

Sotheby’s International Realty’s worldwide network includes 1,075 offices throughout 81 countries and territories on six continents.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/closed-dollar-volume-increases-across-markets-in-first-half-of-2026-according-to-new-market-report-by-william-pitt-julia-b-fee-sothebys-international-realty-302822023.html

SOURCE William Pitt-Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty

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