Privacy

Federal regulations impose strict rules on how financial institutions protect personal and private information provided to them, and require notices of such practices be given to their customers and consumers. The commitment to diligently protect your personal privacy is not new to us at Charter. Charter has always recognized that the confidentiality of your information is important to you, and has been committed to properly safeguarding your financial information and will continue to do so, as evidenced by the following policies.

Information we collect: We collect and maintain information about you from sources such as your loan, deposit account, and insurance applications and account transactions, which includes your name, address, account number, etc. We may also collect information about you from consumer credit reporting agencies, including your credit history, loan balances, and so on. We only collect the information we need to best service your accounts or to provide you with the opportunity to obtain other services or products which appear appropriate to your needs.

Information we share: We may disclose selected non-public personal information about you, as described above, with members of the Charter corporate family, and other non-affiliated third parties under limited circumstances in order to better service your accounts, report to credit bureaus, manage risk, or perform other financial services related activities. We do not disclose any non-public personal information about our customers or former customers except as permitted by law.

Service Providers and Joint Marketing Partners: We may disclose the information listed above to companies that perform marketing services on our behalf or to other financial institutions with whom we have joint marketing agreements. These companies include financial institutions providing credit card, insurance, or financial products that may serve your financial needs.

Information Security and Confidentiality: Please be assured that we are committed to protecting your privacy and the confidentiality of your personal information. To do so, we restrict access to non-public personal information about you only to those employees that need to know to provide you with the service that you expect, and we train those employees in the importance of confidentiality. We maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards that comply with federal standards to guard your privacy and the confidentiality of all information about you.

Security

Our website is designed to provide valuable information to you about how we may serve you as well as provide a convenient way to apply for some of our products. Any information you provide while applying online will be protected and kept confidential. Whether you are a valued existing customer or someone shopping for new financial or insurance services, we hope our site answers your questions about our products and services.

Our website may require you to disclose some personally identifying information when using some of our secure forms; this information is encrypted. If you choose to contact us via e-mail, however, please keep in mind that your e-mail address and any other information your e-mail header shows about you, such as your name or organization, will be revealed to us in the e-mail.

We pledge that when you communicate with us by submitting one of our website forms or via e-mail, we will use your information only for the specific purpose of responding to your request, comments or questions. Your e-mail address will not be sold, nor will it be shared with others outside the Charter Companies unless we are compelled to do so by law.

In the event you apply for a loan or deposit product from our website, you may be linked to a secure third party site where all information is encrypted and additional security is in place.

We reserve the right to change this notice at any time by posting a new notice.

USA Patriot Act

Section 326
Customer Notification
On October 26, 2001, President Bush signed into law the USA Patriot Act. This new law was enacted to facilitate the prevention, detection, and prosecution of international money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

Important Information About Procedures for Opening a New Account
To help the government fight the funding of terrorism and money laundering activities, Federal law requires all financial institutions to obtain, verify, and record information that identifies each person who opens an account.

What this means for you: When you open an account, we will ask for your name, address, date of birth, and other information that will allow us to identify you. We may also ask to see your driver's license or other identifying documents.

Charter Bank is committed to protecting your identity and the confidentiality of your personal information.