Trust has always been the foundation of our relationship with members. To preserve your trust, we pledge to protect your privacy by adhering to the practices described below. By signing any application or agreement with us, or your use or continued use of any of our services after receiving this document, you jointly and severally agree to the terms and conditions set forth in this Policy and Agreement. In this Agreement the terms “we”, “our”, or “us” means Carolina Trust Federal Credit Union; and the terms “you” or “your” means all members, consumers, borrowers and guarantors.
The Types of Information We Collect. We only collect information about our members for lawful business purposes, or as otherwise required by applicable law. We collect information about members from the following sources: (a) Applications for services, verifications, current and past employers, other forms and any communications you send to us including electronic messages from which we collect your name, addresses, phone numbers, social security numbers, financial data, birth date, gender and other information; (b) Transactions involving your accounts or services with us from which we collect information such as your name, account number, balance, payment history, parties to your transactions and credit card usage; (c) Consumer Credit Reports from which we collect information regarding your creditworthiness, credit history and account activity; and (d) Market Research Firms that provide us with a variety of information regarding our members such as the number of individuals in a household, home ownership.
You agree that the telephone numbers, street, and e-mail addresses provided in your Membership Application and Signature Card, or any other application or communication sent to us are publicly available and will be used to provide notices, disclosures, statements, other communications (including but not limited to our responses to your e-mail communications) and offers for certain products or services.
The Credit Union’s Web Site. Use of our web site, or linking to a site we sponsor, requires the use of “cookies”, which are small pieces of information a web site stores on a visitor’s web browser to remind the site about the user the next time the site is visited. We do not store confidential or sensitive information through the use of cookies. Our use of cookies enhances our member’s online transactions and eases navigation through our web site. For certain applications, such as online transactions, cookies are required to help protect the privacy of a member’s transactions by, for example, terminating the session if the member forgets to log out. We collect e-mail addresses from members who request electronic services, and from users of our web site who choose to provide their addresses.
The Types of Information We Disclose. To benefit our members, we share the information described in Paragraph 1, above, within the Credit Union, which includes all employees, directors, agents, volunteers, committee members and field agents, and with certain trusted third parties described in this paragraph, who are obligated to maintain the confidentiality and security of your private information. We use the services of various third parties to assist us in offering financial services to our members. For example, we use the services of third parties for processing transactions using credit cards, checks, debit cards and other access devices; for assistance in making loans, loan underwriting; processing loan applications; appraising collateral and for processing our outgoing mail. We also work with companies that provide financial planning, investment services, extended automotive service contracts, personal and property insurance, credit counseling, retail automobile sales and travel services to members.
We also share information with: Palmetto Cooperative Services, LLC, a credit union service organization serving South Carolina Credit Unions, that provides item processing and collection, bookkeeping and accounting, consulting and business development services; Harland Clarke for statement printing, e-statement storage, and check orders. CUNA Mutual Group (“CMG”), which is a diversified financial services company that serves Credit Unions and their Members providing various insurance, financial service and/or mortgage lending services to our members; Fidelity, which provides credit/debit card processing and other electronic “banking” services; Co-Op Network for ATM transaction processing, and Credit Union Member Access Company, LLC (“CUMAC”), which provides and facilitates financial transactions and services for South Carolina Credit Unions and their Members. We also share information with the Credit Union Service Company of Virginia, LLC, which provides shared branching network services. We may also share information when permitted by applicable law.
Security. We are committed to taking every reasonable precaution to protect individual identifying information that you provide to us. We restrict access to non-public personal information about you to employees who need to know that information to provide products or services to you. We also maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards that comply with federal regulations to guard your non-public personal information.
Notices and “Joint Relationships”. Except where expressly required by applicable law, we will provide all notices to the person (member) listed first on any application, agreement or other relevant document with us. The notice will be mailed to the address noted for said person on the application, agreement or other document. If this person (member) has agreed to receive notices and disclosures electronically, then we can send all such notices and notifications, to the e-mail or Internet address provided by said person. All joint owners, borrowers and guarantors agree to the receipt and sufficiency of any notice or notification sent according to this paragraph.
Modification. The Credit Union reserves the right to modify, change or amend this Privacy Policy and Agreement at any time without notice other than as expressly required by applicable law.
What members can do to help. Protect your account numbers, card numbers, PINs (personal identification numbers), and passwords. In particular, never keep your PIN with your ATM card, debit card or credit card, as that makes you vulnerable in the event you lose your card or your card is stolen. Use caution in revealing account numbers, social security numbers, etc. to other persons. In particular, if a caller tells you he/she is calling you on behalf of the credit union and asks for your account number, you should beware. Legitimate credit union staff would already have access to that information. It’s important that the credit union has current information about how to reach you. If we detect potentially fraudulent use of your account, we will attempt to contact you immediately. If your address or phone number changes, please let us know.
Protecting Children. We do not knowingly solicit or collect data from children and we do not knowingly market to children online. We recognize that protecting children’s identities and online privacy is important and that responsibility rests with us and with parents.
Copyright 2001Turner, Padget, Graham & Laney, P.A. Last revised 02/22/08
Carolina Trust Federal Credit Union will be closed to observe the following holidays in 2010:
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Inactivity Account Policy: If you make routine deposits to your savings, pay down a loan, or use your checking account or VISA credit card, then your account is considered active. However, if you have a Carolina Trust savings, checking or loan account that has not received a transfer, withdrawal or transaction within the past 12 months then that account is considered inactive. A $3 inactivity fee will be charged each month the account remains inactive. This fee will continue to be charged until you make a minimum $1 transaction to your account, until your balance is $0 or for five years, whichever comes first. After five years of inactivity, the account is considered dormant and abandoned property by the state of South Carolina. Carolina Trust is required to return any abandoned account over to the State. Carolina Trust’s Inactivity Account Policy applies to all youth and adult accounts, excluding IRAs. You can prevent an inactive status by making at least one deposit, withdrawal or transfer to your account(s) within a 12-month period.
The US Government requires all financial institutions to enforce Federal Regulation D. Reg D limits the number of transactions that can be made from a depository account during a calendar month. A depository account is defined as a savings-only or money market* account. Members may not make more than six (6) transfers or withdrawals from a depository account during a month by the following means:
Carolina Trust is federally required to refuse any transfer or withdrawal from a depository account that exceeds the Fed Reg D limitations. If you should exceed the monthly limitations on your savings or money market account, any transfer or withdrawal attempted from your depository account will be refused, the transaction will be returned for Non Sufficient Funds (NSF), and an NSF fee will be charged to your account. There is no limit to the number of withdrawals you may make from a depository account at a Carolina Trust branch or ATM location**. To avoid exceeding the “Reg D” limitations, consider having your paycheck or social security check directly deposited into your checking account and have any automatic payments deducted from your checking account instead of your savings account. That way, you’ll have the “six free” transfers or withdrawals available for emergencies or accidental checking overdrafts.
*Money market accounts are assessed a fee for each withdrawal over 3 per month. **Savings accounts are assessed a fee for each withdrawal over 4 per month. Back to Top
At all times, members are responsible for knowing their account balances to avoid overdrafts and insufficient fund transactions. It is a good practice to immediately record all transactions as soon as they are authorized, including checks, ATM withdrawals, ATM purchases and cash back amounts given at the register, VISA® debit card purchases (authorized by PIN or signature), and any ACH/electronic debit transaction (by phone or online). It is always better to assume that all authorized transactions have been debited immediately, regardless of when they actually post to the account. Finally, always leave a small cushion in the account to help avoid overdrafts and NSF situations.
The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), a U.S. Government agency, federally insures all deposits in Carolina Trust. The National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund insures deposits to at least $250,000 for each account owner listed on an account. IRA deposits are insured separately up to $250,000 for each account owner listed on an account. It is one of the strongest federal deposit insurance programs in the United States. For more information, please visit www.ncua.gov. Back to Top
Our partner in providing free financial planning and counseling services for our membership is BALANCE™ Financial Fitness. Members may contact a BALANCE representative to receive free and personal financial counseling for home buying, college preparation, debt consolidation, retirement planning, and more. BALANCE will also help members interpret their credit reports, develop a debt repayment strategy, set up reliable payment schedules, negotiate with creditors to reduce payments, and much more. To speak with a BALANCE representative, call 1-888-456-2227 toll free or visit the BALANCE website