The USA PATRIOT Act requires credit unions to take extra security
precautions 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.
These new procedures are designed to prevent crimes, such as identity theft
and account fraud that terrorists commit to finance their operations against
the U.S. and its citizens.
When an account is opened or changed, you will be asked 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
government issued documents. The definition of an account covers a broad range
of regular financial transactions such as deposit, transaction, asset, or credit
accounts or other extension of credit. The required verification may be inconvenient
for some but a strong deterrent for terrorists and other criminals. You can rest assured that we will only request the information required by the
law…and that we will use the information only for purposes of complying
with the law. Your privacy is our top concern, and we will respect and protect
it as always (see our Privacy Policy), consistent
with the law’s requirements.
Thanks for your understanding and help in this critical effort. The war on terrorism will be fought on many fronts, and this is one of them.