CUSTOMER PRIVACY POLICY
The Board of Directors of Hertford Savings Bank, Hertford, North Carolina acknowledge the legal restrictions on the disclosure of nonpublic personal information on its customers who establish relationships for personal, family, and household use. It is the bank’s policy to disclose customer information only if:
- Required by law,
- Specifically allowed by law,
- Requested by the customer, directly or indirectly, or
- The customer has received a written notice of the potential disclosure and has not elected against it (opted out) within 45 days of such notice.
Customers with relationships for personal, family and household use are to receive an initial written disclosure describing this policy prior to establishing a customer relationship and annually thereafter. Distribution of initial disclosures shall be made to all existing consumer customers as of July 1, 2001, no later than July 1, 2001, and all new consumer customer relationships established thereafter, as such relationships are established. The time frame for distributing annual disclosure shall be the calendar year beginning in 2002.
OFFICERS RESPONSIBLE FOR COMPLIANCE
The Compliance Officer is responsible for assuring that appropriate written procedures and internal controls are adopted within each operating area of the Bank to assure the accuracy of customer information and customer financial privacy. Responsibility for developing, implementing, and complying with established procedures rests with the Chief Executive Officer.
INTERNAL CONTROLS
Each department has internal controls to assure that customer information is dispensed only as allowed or required by law or regulation.
The internal controls on all disclosures are to first assure that disclosures are limited to the information required and are delivered in a timely fashion. In addition, internal controls on disclosures are to assure that facts being distributed are accurate. Whenever a customer indicates information distributed on him or her is inaccurate, the mater is to be investigated and resolved promptly.
Hertford Savings Bank maintains appropriate “Know Your Customer” procedures in areas of account documentation and monitoring of customer activity. The information gained here is used only to protect the bank from fraud and prevent use by others for illegal activities.
This policy adopted by the Board of Director February 20, 2001
HERTFORD SAVINGS BANK INFORMATION PRIVACY PRINCIPLES
INTRODUCTION
At Hertford Savings Bank, our mission is to determine the financial needs of our customers and help them achieve their established goals by being an effective partner through our employees, directors, shareholders and community involvement. As financial service professionals entrusted with sensitive financial information, we respect the privacy of our customers and are committed to treating customer information responsibly. Our information Privacy Principles serve as standards for all independent Bank employees for collection, use, retention, and security of individual customer information.
RECOGNITION OF OUR CUSTOMERS’ EXPECTATION OF PRIVACY
At Hertford Savings Bank, we believe the confidentiality and protection of consumer information is one of our fundamental responsibilities. And while information is critical to providing quality service, we recognize that one of our most important assets is our customer’s trust.
CUSTOMER BENEFITS OF OUR INFORMATION MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
We collect, retain, and use information about you only where we reasonably believe that it will help administer our business or provide products, services, and other opportunities to you. We collect and retain information about you only for specific business purposes and we will tell you why we are collecting and retaining it upon your request. We use information to protect and administer your records, accounts, and funds; to comply with certain laws and regulations; to help us design and improve our products and services; and to understand your financial needs so that we can provide you with quality products and superior service.
MAINTENANCE OF ACCURATE INFORMATION
We continually strive to maintain complete and accurate information about you and your accounts. Should you ever believe that our records contain inaccurate or incomplete information about you, please notify us. We will investigate your concerns and correct any inaccuracies.
LIMITATIONS ON EMPLOYEE ACCESS TO INFORMATION
At Hertford Savings Bank, employees’ access to personally identifiable customer information is limited to those with a business reason to know such information. Employees are educated on the importance of maintaining the confidentiality of customer information. Because of the importance of those issues, all Hertford Savings Bank employees are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of customer information.
PROTECTION OF INFORMATION VIA ESTABLISHED SECURITY PROCEDURES
We are committed to the security of your financial and personal information. All of our operational and data processing systems are in a secure environment that protects your account information from being accessed by third parties. We maintain and grant access to customer information only in accordance with our own internal standards.
RESTRICTIONS ON THE DISCLOSURE OF ACCOUNT INFORMATION
We do not reveal specific information about your accounts or other personally identifiable data to unaffiliated third parties for their independent use unless
- you request or authorize it,
- the information is provided to complete a transaction initiated by you:
- the information is provided to a reputable credit bureau or similar information reporting agency; or
- the disclosure otherwise is lawfully permitted or required. We do not provide account or personal information to non-Hertford Savings Bank companies for the purpose of independent telemarketing or direct mail marketing of any non-financial products or services of those companies.
MAINTAINING CUSTOMER PRIVACY IN BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS WITH THIRD PARTIES
When we do provide information to a third party, we will insist, through a written agreement, that the third party adhere to privacy principles similar to those to which Hertford Savings Bank adheres for keeping this information confidential.
In the event Hertford Savings Bank, at any time decides to disclose to unaffiliated third parties any non-public personal information about you except as required by law, specifically allowed by law, or requested directly or indirectly by you, the Bank will first provide you written notice of intent to disclose and provide you the right to elect not to grant such disclosure.
PROVIDING PRIVACY INFORMATION TO CUSTOMERS AND RESPONDING TO INQUIRES
At Hertford Savings Bank, we value our customer relationships. We want you to understand how we use the information you provide and our commitment to ensuring your personal privacy. If you have any questions about how Hertford Savings Bank protects your confidential information, please call 252-426-5403 at your convenience.