Privacy Policy

Panhandle Credit Union Privacy Policy

The protection and privacy of your personal and financial information is a priority for Panhandle Credit Union (PCU). Our Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard your personal financial information.
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We are committed to providing our members with excellent member service, as well as competitive products and services. To do so, we must share information about our members to companies that provide marketing or other services on our behalf or to other companies/financial institutions with whom we have joint marketing agreements. We are very careful to only work with companies that agree to maintain strict confidentiality measures, and we limit the information we provide based on necessity. We do not permit any third party to sell any of the information we provide, and they may only use that information to provide specific products or services.

PCU may also disclose information we collect about members under other circumstances, as permitted or required by law. Such disclosures may include information used to process transactions on a member’s behalf, conduct PCU’s operations, follow instructions as authorized, or protect the security of our financial records. Panhandle uses personal information you have provided, as necessary, to comply with applicable membership, account, and lending documents to which you have agreed, as well as applicable product and service agreements (Mobile Banking, Online Banking, Mobile Deposit, etc.). If a member terminates membership with Panhandle Credit Union, we will not share information we have collected about the member, except as permitted or required by law.

Online Privacy Policy

Panhandle Credit Union’s commitment to protecting personal privacy extends to our website. This Online Privacy Policy supplements our Privacy Policy. This Online Privacy Policy is effective May 1, 2021. When you visit our website to access Online Banking, gather information about our products and services, or complete an application, we gather a variety of information, depending on your activity with the site or app. This information is used to help improve the quality of your website experience. It may also be used for analytic purposes, market research, or for marketing purposes, as allowed by law.

Our website may collect data in the following ways:

• Forms – When you complete a form online (applications, marketing, or a contact form), we may use that information to provide you with a product you request or with member service.
• Cookies – When you visit our site, we may use a ‘cookie’ to track information regarding the pages you visit and to let us know if you are a return visitor to the site. A cookie is a small text file that is downloaded to your computer that stores small amounts of information and allows us to see your preferences and how you use our site. This enables us to determine what content is most important to you and allows us to ensure the site is operating properly. Your browser settings may allow you to send a “Do Not Track” signal to websites and online services you visit. We do not currently alter our practices when we receive a “Do Not Track” signal. Users can control the use of cookies at the individual browser level. If you reject cookies, you may still use our site, but your ability to use some features or areas of our site may be limited.

Cookies also keep you from having to enter the same information each time you visit the site. For example, when you log into Online Banking, a cookie allows us to recognize your computer/mobile device, so you may not have to answer security questions or receive a one-time passcode each time you log in from that particular device.

Cookies may also be used for website personalization, which allows us to develop and deliver applicable promotional information. We use third parties, such as Google Analytics and Google Adwords, to assist us in analyzing how our visitors use our website. Your web browser automatically sends us general statistical information or your usage of our site, such as your Internet Service Provider, the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the computer you are using, the type of browser and operating system you are using, the day/time at which you visited our site, and the address of any referring website. This information may be used to identify individuals for site security or for law enforcement purposes.

• Other Links – Throughout our site, we provide links to third-party sites. Please be advised that these links are only provided as a convenience to you. We do not maintain those sites and we are not responsible for the content, availability, or privacy practices of the linked sites. We encourage you to review the Privacy Policies of any site you visit. If you are linking to a third-party site from ours, you will see a pop-up box advising you that you are leaving PCU’s site, so you may decide whether to continue.
• PCU Apps – PCU’s apps, including our Mobile Banking App and Credit Manager App, periodically collect, transmit, and use geolocation information to enable features that prevent fraudulent card use and send alerts, but only if the End User expressly authorizes collection of such information. Geolocation information can be monitored on a continuous basis in the background only while the PCU App is being used or not at all, depending on the End User's selection. End Users can change their location permissions at any time in their device settings.

Contact Us – If you choose to email us through our website (mail@panhandlecu.org), please be aware that it is not a secure method of communication. Please use this email address only for general inquiries; do not use it to send personal or account information. If you need to communicate with PCU through a secure site, please log into Online Banking and send us an email through there.

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)

Panhandle Credit Union’s website, Online Banking, and Mobile Apps are not directed to children (individuals under the age of thirteen). We do not knowingly collect information online from a child and will not provide an opportunity for them to make their personal information publicly available through a web portal of any kind, including chat rooms or message boards. As mentioned above, however, we are not responsible for the privacy practices of any third-party site linked from PCU’s site. For more information on COPPA, please visit the Federal Trade Commission’s website. Please be aware that this Online Privacy Policy may change from time to time. We will notify you of any material changes to this policy on this page.

Security of Personal Information

We take precautions to protect your Personal Information. When you submit sensitive, personally-identifying information via PCU’s website applications, programs, or forms (loan applications, account applications, Online Banking, etc.), your information is protected. Wherever we collect sensitive information online, that information is encrypted and transmitted to us in a secure manner. Look for a closed lock icon at the top of your web browser or look for "https" at the beginning of the address of the web page to help verify you are on a secure site.While we use encryption to protect sensitive information transmitted online, we also protect your information offline. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job are granted access to personally identifiable information. The computers/servers on which we store personally identifiable information are kept in a secure environment.

Your Consent

By using our website or apps or interacting with any PCU advertisement or page on a third-party site, you consent to this Online Privacy Policy and our collection, use and disclosure of information about you as described in this Online Privacy Policy.

Social Media

PCU maintains a presence on a number of social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Any information you share on those sites is visible to the public, so you should never post any sensitive personal information (such as member number, card number, password, SSN, etc.) on those sites. As stated above regarding third-party sites, the privacy and security practices on each site will be different from ours. We recommend you review the privacy and security policies of any site you visit.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes to our information practices. If we make any material changes, we will notify you by email (sent to the email address specified in your account) or by means of a notice on the website prior to the change becoming effective. We encourage you to periodically review this page for the latest information on our privacy practices.

Notice to Persons Accessing this Site from Outside the United States
If you reside outside of the United States, any information you provide to us on our website will be transferred out of your country and into the United States. If you do not want personally identifiable information to leave your country, do not provide the information to us.

By providing personally identifiable information to us, you explicitly consent to the transfer of your information to the United States.