Online Banking Security

There's no shortage of online services offered by financial institution websites.  Accessing your accounts, transferring funds, viewing cleared checks and paying bills online is a huge convenience most of us embrace.  However, that convenience also comes with some risk if you're not careful. By simply following a few precautions you can be confident you are doing what is necessary to protect yourself and not compromising sensitive information.

What you can do:

• Avoid clicking web page links sent to you in emails and other online media that appear to come from your financial institution. Your financial institution will provide you with their website address and you should manually type that address into the browser when you wish to connect.
• Before entering your user-id and password as a login, make sure that the connection is encrypted. You verify the connection by ensuring that the website address begins with https:// and not http:// (the "s" means secure) and that the "lock"  appears on the browser. On most common browsers, such as Internet Explorer, Netscape and Firefox, a small yellow padlock will appear on the bottom status bar when the connection has been encrypted. If that lock does not appear, but the address appears correct, contact your financial institution for assistance.
• Do not access a financial institution's website from computers that you do not control. Since you are not the owner of the computer, you may not know how current the anti-virus software is, if the computer has a Trojan backdoor or key logger program installed, or if other problems exist. Also, remember that browsers may keep a cached copy of web transactions. As such, it may be possible that you are inadvertently leaving a copy of your sensitive information on the computer you are using.
• Trust your instincts.  If something seems wrong, it probably is. If you notice the site looks different or see significant spelling and grammar problems stop using it by closing your browser and call the institution.
• If you receive an email that appears to come from your financial institution asking you to login and verify information, DO NOT login to the provided link. Forward a copy of the entire email to your financial institution. 

There are already safeguards in place at your credit union, including:

• Encrypted Data - Our Internet Branch^SM features use Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption, which scrambles your private data as it transmits over the Internet, protecting it from being deciphered and used fraudulently.  We use one of the highest levels of confidentiality protection available: 128-bit encryption. 
• Added Security for Internet Branch^SM - Enhanced Login Security is a free and easy way to help prevent identity theft and other fraud when conducting your credit union business online.  This superior security technology identifies you as the true “owner” of your accounts by recognizing not only your password but your computer as well. In the event we don’t recognize your computer – you’ve logged in from a public computer or one you haven’t used before – we’ll ask you challenge questions to confirm your identity. With Enhanced Login Security, you’ll be protected from whatever computer you're using, whether you're at home or on the go.  If you haven’t already signed up for this free security feature, Internet Branch will prompt your enrollment on a future visit. Learn more about this feature with our Enhanced Login Security FAQs. 

Online banking has quickly evolved into a viable and secure means of performing routine transactions.  With continued care and attention on both the part of the provider and the user, it will continue to offer a safe and convenient way of doing business.