The directors, management, and staff of the Bank are concerned about and respect the privacy of customers'/consumers' personal financial information. We understand that our customers furnish sensitive information to the bank in the course of daily business, and the bank is committed to treating such information responsibly. We know that our customers expect privacy and security for their personal and financial affairs.
The bank will take all the necessary steps to safeguard sensitive information that has been entrusted to us by our customers. The following privacy policy and disclosure outlines our bank's practice regarding personally identifiable financial information for consumers and those consumers who become our customers. We will provide a privacy notice to each person who opens an account or applies for credit at our bank. We will use the model form published by the agencies to enjoy the safe harbor for notice contents.
Types of Information the Bank Collects
The Bank collects nonpublic, personal information about you from many sources, including the following:
· Information we receive from you on applications or other forms
· Information about your transactions with us, our affiliates, or others
· Information we receive from a consumer reporting agency
Nonpublic, personal information does not include that which is available from government records, widely distributed media, or government-mandated disclosures.
Types of Information the Bank Discloses
The bank does not now, nor does it intend in the future, to disclose any personal financial information to any nonaffiliated or affiliated third party. By law the bank may disclose certain personally identifiable information without allowing consumers the right to opt out of the bank's sharing agreements in the following circumstances:
· To companies who perform transaction processing for the bank in the following circumstances. If the transaction, service, or product is requested or authorized by the consumer. To Maintain or service a consumer’s account as part of a private label credit card or other loan extension program. In connection with a securitization, secondary market sale (including servicing rights), or similar transaction related to a consumer.
· To disclose information necessary to enforce the bank’s legal or contractual rights or the rights of any other person who is engaged in the financial transaction.
· To disclose information required in the ordinary course of banking business, such as the settlement of claims or benefits, the confirmation of information to the consumer or the consumer’s agent, and the billing, processing, or clearing of items in the normal course of business.
· To provide information to insurance rate advisory organizations, guaranty funds or agencies, agencies that are rating the bank, persons who are assessing the bank’s compliance with industry standards, and the bank’s attorneys, accountants, and auditors.
· To the extent permissible under the Right to Financial Privacy Act.
· To a consumer reporting agency under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
· To comply with federal, state, or local laws, rules, and other applicable legal requirements.
Safeguarding Customer Information
The Bank will protect consumer privacy by ensuring that only employees who have a business reason for knowing information have access to it. For example, information in loan files can only be accessed by employees who work in the loan origination or loan operations departments.
All employees have a copy of this policy and are trained at least annually regarding the importance of safeguarding customer information. Management will take disciplinary action against any employee who violates the bank's privacy policy and procedures.
The bank is required to notify customers annually of its privacy practices and provide a privacy notice annually during the continuation of the customer relationship, unless:
1. No opt-out rights are triggered by the bank’s information-sharing practices under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) or the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and opt-out notices have previously been provided,
2. The information in the privacy notice has not changed since the customer received the prior notice, and
3. The bank uses the model form provided in Regulation P.
Annual Privacy Policy Notice
On October 20, 2014, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized an amendment to Regulation P regarding the requirement for a financial institution to deliver its privacy notice to consumers annually. Effective October 28, 2014, the new rule provides that a qualifying financial institution may satisfy the obligation to deliver its privacy notice to its consumer customers annually if it posts its privacy policy notice on its website and informs its consumer customers annually that it is there and how to access it. For financial institutions that qualify, it will eliminate the cost of printing and distributing the annual notices. The Bank qualifies for the alternative delivery method.
Requirements of the alternate notice.
If a financial institution wishes to use the alternate delivery method for its privacy notices, it must post its privacy notice on its website on a page that has no other content and access to the page must not require any condition, such as a user ID or password.
Next, it must disclose annually on an account statement, coupon book or on any other notice or disclosure it is required to provide to the customer under any other law or regulation that:
- the privacy notice is available on the institution's website,
- that a written privacy notice will be mailed to the customer upon request,
- the web address of the page that contains the privacy notice and a telephone number for the institution that the customer may call, and
- a statement that the institutions privacy notice has not changed since the last privacy notice delivered to the customer.
The final rule also contains example language for this notice, which must be prefaced with ''Privacy Policy Notice'' in boldface or otherwise emphasized. The example language provided is:
Privacy Policy Notice - Federal law requires us to tell you how we collect, share, and protect your personal information. Our privacy policy has not changed, and you may review our policy and practices with respect to your personal information at www.swnbk.com
by clicking “Privacy Policy Notice” or California customers click “California Consumer Privacy Act” at the bottom of the page, or we will mail you a free copy upon request if you call us at 713-771-9700.
The institution must also mail a paper copy of its privacy policy notice to any consumer who requests it within ten days of receiving the consumer's request.
If we change our policy or practice by, for example, adding a category of information that we will disclose to a third party, we will notify existing customers and give them appropriate time to opt out of the disclosure.
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