Disclosures

Privacy Policy

At The Palm Bank, the basis of each customer relationship is trust. We know that whether you are an existing customer, or considering doing business with us, you have an interest in how we collect, retain and use information about you and your relationship with us. We have an obligation to honor your trust, beginning with protecting your confidential information. Therefore, we have adopted a privacy policy, which ensures the safety of our customer’s nonpublic personal information.

The Palm Bank collects nonpublic information about our customers from the following sources:

• Information we receive from our customers on applications or other forms;
• Information about our customer’s transactions with us;
• Information about our customer’s transactions with nonaffiliated third parties;
• Information about our customers from a consumer reporting agency.

The Palm Bank does not reveal nonpublic personal information about our customers or former customers to parties outside our affiliation unless:

• Our customers requests or authorizes it;
• The information is provided to complete a transaction initiated by our customer (check order, title work, appraisal, surveys, or other as allowed by law);
• The information is provided to a consumer credit reporting agency;
• The disclosure is lawfully permitted or required (subpoena, investigation of fraudulent activity, request by regulator, etc).

Vendors who receive the information in the above-mentioned circumstances will be required to maintain similar standards of conduct regarding the privacy of our customer’s nonpublic personal information provided to them.

Access to nonpublic information is restricted to only those bank employees who need to know the information in order to provide products and services to our customers. Physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards are in place to ensure the protection of our customer’s nonpublic personal information.

The Palm Bank and its staff are committed to ensure the accuracy of our customer’s personal information. If you find that the information in our records is inaccurate, you may write us at P. O. Box 10809, Tampa, FL 33679.

Should you have any questions regarding our Privacy Policy, please call or visit our banking location.

Security Statement

Security
Your transactions are absolutely safe. The Palm Bank works with cutting-edge technology partners to ensure that the most secure environment is made possible for our valued customers. We offer you worry-free Internet banking. You can be completely confident of the following security measures:

Secure Communications
Our system ensures that data-exchanged between your PC and our computers are encrypted with 128-bit encryption – the strongest encryption available. Encryption is accomplished through Secure Sockets Layers (SSL), which utilizes mathematical formulas to ‘encrypt’ or hide information from prying eyes on the Internet. Additionally, if SSL detects that data was added or deleted after you sent it to the bank, the connection will be severed in order to guard against any tampering. The most popular browsers have the SSL security feature included. 

Secure Environment
Our computer system does not connect directly to the Internet. It is isolated from the network via a ‘firewall.’ A firewall is a combination of software and hardware products that designate parameters, and control and limit the access that outside computers have to the banks’ internal networks and databases. You can feel secure knowing that our firewall protects your personal information from unauthorized access.

Secure Login
User IDs and passwords are isolated from the Internet by being stored on The Palm Bank’s computer. This way, the passwords and IDs can never be assessed or downloaded by anyone on the Internet. Additionally, user passwords can vary from six to eight characters, which means the chance of randomly guessing a password is less than one in one billion! The system also checks for invalid logins and automatically disallows a user after three invalid attempts. This prohibits the ‘hacker’ from gaining access to our system, thus protecting your accounts.

Your Password
You will be responsible for maintaining one of the most important security measures: your password. When you receive you’re initial online internet banking password, you will be prompted on your first log in to change your password, so that no banking personnel will have knowledge of your secret password. Memorize it, or write it down and keep it in a safe place. It is not recommended you carry your password in your purse or wallet. Make sure no one watches you enter your password and always close your browser when leaving the computer. Make sure you regularly scan your computer for viruses that could be used to capture password keystrokes. You ultimately hold the key to your password security.”

Protect Your Information

At The Palm Bank, we value the safety and privacy of your personal and financial information. We want to remind you to be constantly vigilant about protecting your personal and financial information.

Identity theft occurs when someone steals your personal information and identification.

Below are some important email and online security tips to keep in mind to guard your identity:

• Emails From The Palm Bank do not ask for your personal information. This includes your Social Security number, account numbers, personal credit information, or other identifying information.
• Act quickly if you suspect fraud. If you believe someone is trying to commit fraud by pretending to be The Palm Bank, please report the fraud immediately by call us at 813-250-3838.
• The Palm Bank does not have e-mail boxes titled “info@thepalmbank” or “customerservice@thepalmbank.” If you receive and email titled in this way, delete it!
• The legitimate address for The Palm Bank is www.thepalmbank.com. You should always type in this URL address or use a bookmarked site in your Favorites setting.
• Don’t reply to any email that requests your personal information. Be very suspicious of any email from a business or person that asks for your password, account numbers, Social Security number, or other highly sensitive information---one that sends you personal information and asks you to update or confirm it.
• Be careful before opening an attachment contained in an email or other message. Even a friend may accidentally send an email with a virus. The Palm Bank does not send e-mails with attachments unless previously discussed with you!
• Be on the alert for counterfeit “look alike” Web sites designed to trick you into submitting personal information. Make sure the Web sites on which you transact business post privacy and security statements, and review them carefully.
• Leave Suspicious Sites. If you suspect that a Web site is not what it purports to be, leave the site immediately. Do not follow any of the instructions it presents.
• If you are enrolled in our Internet Banking and Bill Payment product protect your user ID and password. You will be required to change your password periodically. You may change the password at any time if you feel it has been compromised.
• Keep your operating system and browser up to date. Software updates often include security enhancements that you can usually download free from www.microsoft.com and www.netscape.com.
• Make sure your home computer has the most current anti-virus software. A virus software needs frequent updates to guard against new viruses. Make sure you download the anti-virus updates as soon as you are notified that a download is available.
• Do business with only the companies you know and trust. Save or “bookmark” frequently visited and trusted websites to your list of favorites, then access those sites through your saved links.
• Remember to log out when finished and close your browser before leaving computer.

What can I do if I become a victim of Identity Theft?

• File a police report and call the Federal Trade Commission’s toll free “Idenity Theft Hotline” at 1-877-438-4338
• Notify the three credit bureau’s fraud departments. Request that a “fraud alert” be placed on your file, as well as a victim’s statement asking that creditors call you before opening any new accounts.
• To report a fraud:
        EQUIFAX
       1-800-525-6285
  
       EXPERIAN
       1-800-397-3742
  
       TRANS UNION
       1-800-680-7289
• Request a copy of your credit report. Credit reports are free to fraud victims.
• Contact your creditors for any accounts that have been opened fraudulently. Close
  your accounts and obtain new credit, debit, and ATM cards.
• Report any suspected stolen mail to your local postal inspector and check the post office for any unauthorized change of address requests.