To ensure that you are the only person accessing your personal financial information, we restrict access to the online banking section of the site by requiring that you enter your Member ID and PAC to login. Only you know your PAC. Our employees do not have access to your PAC, and they will not ask you to reveal it. If someone does ask you to provide your PAC to them, we ask that you refuse to do so and contact us immediately.

By nature, our Internet banking site has many transactional functions such as transfers between accounts and bill payment functions. These transactions are all logged to ensure that your accounts are debited or credited appropriately, and a history of each transaction is available to verify your account information. We store and use your transactional information in the same fashion as if you performed the transaction at a branch or through any other service channel.

We may also use transactional information for servicing your account — for example, billing you for the particular transactions that you perform, or for the services that you use.

We create a secure channel between your browser and our server to protect your information when you use the site. 

To provide you with a convenient method for applying for loans and mortgages, or for purchasing other financial services products such as Registered Savings Plans, we may provide secure online application forms. These forms capture personal information that we use to provide you with the products and services you request. This information is processed in a similar way to application forms received through our other channels .

To continually improve our site, we often collect statistics about how our members are using it. These usage statistics are only viewed in the aggregate and are not associated with you as an individual. We use this information for purposes such as improving the pages where our members are having difficulties.

The information collected may include your IP address, your browser type and your operating system, as well as data such as the number and types of pages visited, and the length of time spent per page and on the site overall.

We also use a key web technology called cookies. A cookie is a small information token that sits on your computer. As you use this site, cookies are passed back and forth between our server and your browser.

Specifically, we use two kinds of cookies — session cookies and persistent cookies. A session cookie exists only for the length of your browsing session and is deleted when you close your browser. A persistent cookie is a cookie that stays on your computer after you close your browser. A persistent cookie may or may not expire on a given date.

We use a session cookie to maintain the integrity of your online banking session. With each page that you visit, the cookie is passed back and forth between our server and your browser. We use the cookie to distinguish your session from the many others that may be happening at the same time. Our session cookies never store any personal information, such as your name, or date of birth, or financial information, such as your accounts and balances.

We may use persistent cookies to (i) provide you with a customized experience by recording your preferences; (ii) gather statistical information such as average time spent on a page; and (iii) to show you targeted marketing information about us when you visit other websites. The data gathered provides us with information on how we can improve the design, content and navigation of our website.

Most recent browser versions allow you to set some level of control over which cookies are accepted and how your browser uses them. For example, it may be set to notify you when it is receiving a cookie so that you accept cookies from only known, reliable sites such as this one. If you are concerned about cookies, we encourage you to upgrade your browser to a recent version and review the Help section of your browser to learn more about its specific control features.

We use a persistent cookie to store information to help you personalize the site and to make it easier to use. For example, we allow you to make the login easier by remembering your login information within our Memorized Accounts feature. Since the Memorized Accounts feature is optional, this cookie only contains information that you have entered into it. We never store your Personal Access Code (PAC) in a cookie.

To ensure that no-one else can access your personal information, always use the logout button to end an online banking session. It is located at the top of every page. When you exit using the logout button, we delete your session cookie so that your session cannot be resumed unless your Member ID and PAC are re-entered.

In the event that you leave your computer without logging out, the online banking feature of this site has been designed to end your session automatically if our system detects that you haven't provided any instructions or used the browser buttons to navigate for several minutes. To restart the session, you will need to provide your PAC again.

To communicate with us electronically, we strongly recommend that you use our Contact Us feature. This feature provides a secure channel for sending us comments, questions or instructions.

General email is not secure since it passes through many points on its route from you to us. If you are using general email to communicate with us, we strongly recommend that you do not include personal financial information (such as account numbers) within the email as we cannot guarantee its confidentiality en route to us.

When you email us your comments, questions or instructions, you provide us your email address and we use it to correspond with you. We then store your email and our replies to you in case we correspond further.

Our site may also contain links to other websites or Internet resources. As an example, from time-to-time we may provide links to Microsoft or Netscape to assist you in upgrading your Internet browser. However, we have no control over these other websites or Internet resources and do not control their collection, use and disclosure of your personal information. Always review the Privacy Statements of the sites that you are viewing.

At the Northern Birch Credit Union Limited we have taken every precaution to preserve the confidentiality and privacy of your relationship with the Credit Union. Respect for preserving the confidentiality of the financial and personal information entrusted to us is an essential part of doing business with our members and will not be compromised.

We have adopted the Credit Union Code for the Protection of Personal Information, developed by Credit Union Central of Canada, that is based on principles entrenched in the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (Canada).

Please note that we do not share or release your personal information to third parties for the purpose of enabling them to promote their products.

Below is a summary of our 10 Privacy Principles of the Code for the Protection of Personal Information:

1. Accountability The Credit Union is responsible for personal information under its control and shall designate a Privacy Officer who is accountable for the Credit Union's compliance with the Principles of the Code.

2. Identifying Purposes The purposes for which personal information is collected shall be identified by the Credit Union at or before the time the information is collected.

3. Consent The knowledge and consent of the member are required for the collection, use and disclosure of personal information, except in specific circumstances as described within this Code.

4. Limiting Collection The collection of personal information shall be limited to that which is necessary for the purposes identified by the Credit Union. Information shall be collected by fair and lawful means.

5. Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention Personal information shall not be used or disclosed for purposes other than those for which it was collected, except with the consent of the member or as required by law. Personal information shall be retained only as long as necessary for the fulfillment of those purposes.

6. Accuracy Personal information shall be as accurate, complete, and up-to-date as is necessary for the purposes for which it is to be used.

7. Safeguards Personal information shall be protected by security safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information. The Credit Union will apply the same standard of care as it applies to safeguard its own confidential information of a similar nature.

8. Openness The Credit Union shall make readily available to members specific, understandable information about its policies and practices relating to the management of personal information.

9. Individual Access Upon request, a member shall be informed of the existence, use, and disclosure of their personal information, and shall be given access to that information. A member is entitled to question the accuracy and completeness of the information and have it amended as appropriate on proof of inaccuracy.

10. Challenging Compliance A member shall be able to question compliance with the above principles to the Privacy Officer accountable for the Credit Union's compliance. The Credit Union shall have policies and procedures to respond to the member's questions and concerns.