As The Village Bank continues to adopt new technologies, we realize that many of our customers have concerns about their privacy and security. On this page, we try to answer some of our customers concerns.

• Please click here for the Bank's Privacy Disclosure.

About our information request form and e-mail

Any information provided to us through our web site (i.e. e-mail or information request forms) will be used solely for answering customer questions, or conducting Bank business. Demographic information – including name, age, e-mail or mailing addresses – will not be distributed, or sold, to any outside source. Our request forms ARE NOT SECURE. Please do not send sensitive information through our information request forms or by e-mail.

About our applications

Any information provided through our account opening, loan application or mortgage pre-qualification will be used to complete requested Bank Business. Demographic information – including name, age, e-mail or mailing addresses – will not be distributed, or sold, to any outside source. Our applications use 128-bit encryption to ensure your information will remain secure.

Accessing your accounts through Village Online Banking - Village Online Banking is provided by Intuit Financial Services.

Intuit Financial Services (IFS) uses several layers of technology to prevent unauthorized users from gaining access to our internal network. IFS's security professionals manage a sophisticated networking architecture that includes screening routers, filtering routers, and firewalls. Intuit Financial Services uses software from Netscape Communications that incorporates full RSA data encryption to ensure the security and privacy of transactions. This encryption technology is so secure that it is classified by the U.S. Department of Defense. United States law forbids export of this technology to other countries. As a further security measure, IFS utilizes its Internet server as a firewall, thereby preventing customer data from being directly accessed via the Internet.

Village Online Banking is automatically secured/encrypted. To see at a glance if a session is secure, check the key icon at the lower left corner of Netscape's screen. If it is intact and a blue line appears at the top of the screen, then all messages are secure. If the icon appears as a picture of a broken key, then encryption is not in use and the current session is not secure. Microsoft Internet Explorer uses the image of a lock, but the principle is the same. Another way to determine if the site is secure or not is to see if there is an "s" after the "http" in the URL. A "s" denotes that the page is secure.

To ensure security, we recommend the following:

• Never reveal your password.
• Passwords are case sensitive. You may use a mixture of upper and lower case letters.
• You can change your (IAA) password under User Options at any time. Warning: your Financial Institution (FI) does not have access to your password. If you forget your password you will need to contact your Financial Institution for them to reset your IAA account for Village Online Banking.
• Use the Sign Off icon to end a Home Banking session; this will expire all the cookies that were set in your session. Do not use the Back button.
• The amount of time you can remain inactive before being automatically logged out of Village Online Banking can be set under User Options. For your own security, keep this time setting as short as possible.
• Balance your account at least once a month, so any discrepancies can be reported in a timely manner.

About Cookies

Cookies are bits of information that a Web site sends to a user's PC; the user's computer may then show the information back to the server on subsequent pages, actions or visits. There are two types of cookies: PERSISTENT and SESSION. Persistent cookies expire on a specific future date, Session cookies expire once the session has ended. The use of cookies within Village Online Banking is necessary for security and is therefore required to access the system. Our use of cookies is for user authentication only. As there are a number of cookies within our secured site, you may want to turn off your cookie alert during your Home Banking session. You can always enable it later.

To disable the "Accept Cookies" warning in Netscape Navigator:
1. Click on “Options”, then “Network Preferences.”
2. Click on the “Protocols” tab.
3. Click on the “Accepting a Cookie” check box.

To disable the "Accept Cookies" warning in Microsoft Explorer
1. Click on View, then Options.
2. Click on the Advanced tab.
3. Click on Warn before Accepting Cookies check box.

Bill Payment

To use the Bill Pay feature of Village Online Banking, it may become necessary to use customer information to verify or complete payments or transfers, or to resolve a problem relating to a payment or transfer.

Questions?

If you have any questions about privacy & security, please contact:
Elizabeth MacLellan
The Village Bank
307 Auburn Street
Auburndale, Massachusetts 02466