Online banking makes managing your finances easy and convenient. However, there are measures you should take, and best practices you should follow, whenever you go online to access your accounts. Your online security is our priority.

SECURITY GUARANTEE

Our online banking system is safeguarded with the best security available in a commercial environment, ensuring that your information is protected while data is transmitted between your computer and our banking server.

ENCRYPTION

Internet encryption protects your information while it is in transit between your computer and our systems. Encryption ensures that data cannot be read or altered because the information is scrambled. Our online banking website uses a 128-bit SSL, encrypting both request and response transactions, through a secure connection. To establish a secure connection, verify that the prefix of our website address in your browser reads ‘https’ (and not simply ‘http’). All the browsers we support meet this requirement. If yours doesn’t, please download the appropriate encryption support from your browser’s supplier.

CONTROLLED ACCESS TO YOUR ACCOUNTS

Your accounts can only be accessed by providing the correct login credentials and Personal Access Code (PAC), which only you know. Our employees never know these details and will never ask you to provide them with this information.

ENHANCED SECURITY LOGIN PROCESS

The first time you log in to your online banking account, you will be asked to choose from a list of security questions and answers. Be sure to pick questions with answers that are not easy to guess. Use ones that only you know. If you have a joint account, the questions and answers for both users must coincide. You can register your home or personal computer so that you will not have to answer a security question every time you log in. However, when you log in to your account from another machine, we will ask one of the security questions to confirm your identity.

For security reasons, we track the number of login attempts used to access your online banking. After a number of incorrect attempts to provide the correct PAC or answers to security questions, your online access will be immediately disabled. To regain access, please call our customer service representatives.

PERSONAL ACCESS CODES (PAC)

Online credentials can be numerous as they are needed for email accounts, social networking sites, online newspapers and shopping websites. That’s a lot of usernames and passwords – and it can be tempting to use the same combination for everything. But this makes it far too easy for hackers because once they have one password, they can access all your sites. Login credentials are the keys to your accounts so don’t leave those keys around for anyone to find. For online banking, the key is your Personal Access Code (PAC). We recommend you:

• Choose a PAC that is easy for you to remember (alpha, numeric, symbol – maximum 8 characters) but difficult for others to guess. Avoid using current phone numbers, dates of birth, or social insurance numbers.
• Be smart and don’t save a list of your credentials on your PC. If you have to write them down, keep these details locked away somewhere only you can access or consider using password-management software, which secures and encrypts usernames and passwords and allows you to use a single master password.
• Do not share your PAC with anyone, especially online. Employees of our financial institution will never call, email, write or ask you to provide your online banking credentials. Ever.
• Don’t authorize browsers to memorize your credentials. Saving these on your computer allows anyone using your PC to gain access to your login-protected sites.
• Consider changing your PAC every 90 days for optimum security.

PERSONAL DETAILS

When you move, it is important to notify us of your change of address. If your mailing information isn’t up-to-date, statements or letters that contain personal information will continue to be sent to your former address. 

LOGGING IN AND OUT

When you are finished with your banking session, always log out by clicking the “Log Out” button, as opposed to simply closing the browser window. To help protect your information, your online banking session will end automatically if there has been no activity for 20 minutes or if your visit lasts longer than 60 minutes. If your session has timed out, no further transactions can be made until you log in again. This time-out feature helps protect your accounts from unauthorized access if your PC is left unattended or if you have forgotten to log out.