The security and privacy of your accounts and personal information is a priority for Republic Bank. We are committed to safeguarding your financial information, transactions and funds by working continuously to provide a secure environment.
We value your trust and commitment and as such, we have developed this brochure which highlights many aspects of safety and security in using the internet and conducting transactions over the internet. This brochure is intended to assist you fighting unwanted threats such as fraud, identity theft and other common internet scams.
It is extremely important that you also take precautions to ensure that your information remains safe and secure. We advise you to read this section and follow the recommended safe computing practices.
Personal information that must be provided to any institution must remain strictly confidential and as customers you are given the assurance that your information will never be disclosed without your consent (except as allowed by law).
At Republic Bank, we have developed a Privacy Policy which must be adhered to be each and every member of staff. This policy identifies how we will treat with any information you provide in the course of your banking with us.
Our concern for safekeeping your personal information goes far beyond this document. It applies to all personally identifiable information about you that is obtained by Republic Bank ("personal information"). At any time you decide to close your account or become an inactive customer, we will continue to adhere to the procedures described in this notice and any proper opt-out requests you make. This Privacy Policy also serves as our Privacy notice. This Privacy Policy contains important information about your choices in relation to certain information sharing and marketing offers within Republic Bank.
You regard your personal information as yours, and so do we. Because we do not sell or share your information with third parties not associated with services or activities of Republic Bank (except as allowed by law), there is no need for you to tell us not to share your personal information with non-affiliated third parties.
We collect and use various types of information to service your accounts, save you time and money and better understand your needs. We collect personal information about you from the following sources:-
We maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to protect the integrity and confidentiality of your information. Republic Bank also limits access to your nonpublic personal information to those employees who need to know that information in order to provide products and services to you. All our employees are trained to understand and comply with these information principles.
Republic Bank has implemented internal controls and procedures designed to maintain accurate records concerning your personal information. Should you ever believe that our records contain inaccurate, incomplete, or non-current information about you, please notify us. We will respond to requests to correct the information in a timely manner.
We do not disclose any nonpublic personal information about our customers or former customers to non-affiliated third parties, except as permitted by law as described below.
We may disclose all of the information we collect, as described under the heading "Collection, Retention, and Use of Customer Information", to companies that perform marketing or other services on our behalf or to other financial institutions with whom we have joint marketing agreements with reciprocal confidentiality obligations.
We recognize that protecting children is important. We do not knowingly market to or solicit information from children under 13 without parental consent.
We may disclose information to nonaffiliated third parties as allowed by law. For example, this may include a disclosure in connection with a subpoena or similar legal process, a fraud investigation, recording of deeds or trust and mortgages in public records, an audit or examination, or the sale of your account to another financial institution. We may also share information: -
If you initiate a request for us to share information with an outside party or
If the information is provided by you to help complete a customer initiated transaction
Our dedicated Information Security, Technology and Communications professionals are constantly re-evaluating our security measures to address evolving Internet and computer security threats.
Republic Bank Ltd adheres to all the applicable regulatory requirements in terms of reporting and processing of transactions. Our network and data centers are protected by multiple layers of physical, procedural and technical controls. We continuously monitor activity to ensure system security and reliability, and to detect and prevent unauthorized entry attempts.
When you sign up for Republic Online you are assigned a User ID and prompted to create your own passwords. This information is encrypted during transmission and will remain a secret as long as you do not disclose it.
Republic Bank's system will automatically log you off from Online Banking after 15 minutes. This reduces the risk of others accessing your information from your unattended computer.
To help protect your money and personal data against any type of intruder or attack, our online applications also uses a system of filtering routers and firewalls, which forms a barrier between the outside Internet and the internal bank network. The firewall is used to shield the bank's network from the Internet.
Security of your personal information and accounts starts with you. You are the first line of defense against fraud and theft and just a few simple steps and you can help keep your computer safe.
A strong password is your first line of defense. There are many systems people use for choosing passwords, and some are better than others. In general, a good password should:-
We recommend that you change your password every 45 days.
There are certain precautions you should take to help ensure that your computer is safe from viruses or hackers. These include:-
Spyware is software that is loaded on our computer without your knowledge. It collects personal information about you and your Internet browsing habits in order to launch pop-up ads or change configuration on your computer.
You should check your system regularly for spyware. There are several 3rd party vendors that provide anti-spyware applications you can download and some are free of charge.
With the introduction of this new technology, it is our responsibility to inform you of the risks associated when you login to any internet based system. These risks are not dissimilar to those you are exposed to when you check your personal emails or do purchases on-line. Your system and you are vulnerable to the same elements of fraud used by social engineers. Some of these elements are:-
Online fraud occurs when someone poses as a legitimate company to obtain sensitive personal data and illegally conducts transactions on your existing accounts. These scams are often called "Phishing" or"Spoofing".
Legitimate companies and financial institutions never request your personal information via e-mail. Republic Bank will not request you to provide any personal data via e-mail or regular mail or SMS or any other form of electronic communication.
Fake emails (phishing) will often:
They may claim that your information has been compromised, your account has been frozen or ask you to confirm the authenticity of your transactions.
Some emails are easy to identify as fraudulent. Others may appear to be from a legitimate address and trusted source. You should not rely on the name or address in the "From" field as this is easily altered.
These are often work-at-home accounting positions.
In exchange for completing a survey or answering questions, some fake emails promise a prize or gift certificate. They require you to give personal information in order to obtain the prize and then that information is illegally used.
Fake emails may direct you to counterfeit websites that closely resemble a legitimate site while they collect personal information for illegal use.
Some fake emails link to legitimate websites. This is done in an attempt to make a fake email appear real.
Never call a number featured on an email you suspect is fraudulent; it can be tied to the fraudsters.
Similar to linking to real websites, real phone numbers may be featured in a fake email in an effort to make the email appear legitimate.
If you receive an e-mail that looks like it is from Republic Bank or another popular sales site requesting financial information or any other personal or sensitive data, please take the following actions:
If you have already provided personal financial information via e-mail and feel that your Republic Bank accounts are in jeopardy, contact our Customer Service as soon as possible to report the suspicious activity. You can reach Customer Care by calling 471-555 or via email at internetbanking@republicbanksr.com
When logging into your account, look closely at your browser.
The address in the location bar should start with "https" - for example, https://www.republiconline.republicbanksr.com/.
Identity theft is a growing crime and we are taking the concern to a higher level. It occurs when someone illegally obtains your personal information and uses it repeatedly to open new accounts or initiate transactions in your name.
While we work continuously to make sure your account and information are safe, there are some simple steps you can take to reduce your susceptibility.
By following the simple checklist below, you can help reduce your susceptibility:-
A. General Precautions
B. Email and Online Security
C. Credit card and bank account security
D. Phone and mail precautions
While Republic Bank believes that these safe computing practices provide reasonable but not absolute protection, the Bank makes no representation or warranty as to their intended use or fitness for purpose.
You can contact Republic Bank's Call Centre to report any suspicious activity or to simply get information or guidance. You can reach our Call Centre at 471-555 or send an e-mail to: internetbanking@republicbanksr.com
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