In the normal course of business, First Bank and other financial institutions you do business with will request certain personal information - such as your name, Social Security number, address, income, and details about your assets. For example, you may need to provide this information when you fill out a loan application. Federal law provides consumer protections to safeguard your privacy and set standards for information sharing in these situations.

Financial Privacy Basics

Federal law requires banks and other financial companies to provide their customers with privacy notices upon account opening and annually if any changes occur. The notice will contain information like:

• What personal financial information the company collects;
• Whether the company intends to share your personal financial information with other companies;
• What you can do to limit some of that sharing; and
• How the company protects your personal financial information.

In addition, if a financial company does not plan to share your information except as permitted by law, the notice will tell you this. The privacy notice may be included as an insert with your monthly statement or bill or it may be sent to you in a separate mailing. If you agree to electronic delivery from an online financial company, the notice may be sent to you by email or it may be made available to you on the company's website.

If you have more than one account with the same company, the company may send you only one privacy notice for all of your accounts or it may send you separate notices for each of your accounts. If you have a joint account with another person (for example, a joint checking account or a mortgage loan), the financial company may send a notice to one of you or to each person listed on the account. If the company provides an opportunity to opt out, it must let one of the account holders opt out for all joint account holders.

If the company changes its privacy policy, it is required to send you a revised privacy notice. Make sure you read all privacy notices you receive. If you have questions, reach out to the financial company.

To learn more about financial privacy and other financial resources, visit the FDIC’s Consumer Resource Center.