Privacy Policy

At 1st Bank & Trust we want our customers to feel confident that their relationships with us are treated with confidentiality. Keeping your financial information secure is one of our most important responsibilities. We value your trust and handle your information with care.

As a bank customer you have a right to financial privacy, and we at 1st Bank & Trust respect this right. Bank Employees necessarily acquire confidential information that customers consider to be extremely sensitive. Our employees have been instructed that this information must not be revealed to unauthorized persons, and that this information is not to be discussed with others within the bank unless others involved require the information to perform their duties. By bank policy customer financial information is released to people outside the bank only when the release is authorized by the customer, by the bank, or when the information has been subpoenaed either by a court or the Internal Revenue Service. Then, we make every effort to ensure that the information released is accurate and within the confines of the authorizing release document. The release of customer information is always based on a written document, and the release is conducted in accordance with the written instructions contained in the document.

Under banking regulation we are required to provide you with a statement regarding the bank's customer privacy policies. This letter contains that information.

Categories of information the bank collects. As you probably realize, we collect information on you when you open an account and through the administration of these accounts. The categories of information the bank collects include: (I) transaction accounts, (2) savings accounts, (3) certificates of deposit, (4) safe deposit boxes, (5) credit applications, (6) loan accounts, and the like. We also obtain credit reports on customers from time to time.

Categories of information the bank may disclose. Except as specifically discussed elsewhere in this letter, this bank does not intend to disclose consumer or customer information to others unless authorized by you. In particular, this bank has no intention of selling customer lists to others so that they can market products directly to you.

Categories of parties to whom the bank may disclose information. There are no such categories. We do not disclose any nonpublic personal information about customers or former customers to anyone, except as permitted by law.

Information about former customers. The bank does not treat information about former customers any differently than it does current customers. Specifically, the bank does not release nonpublic personal information about former customers to outside third parties, except as permitted by law.

Information disclosed to service providers and joint marketers. In the course of routine business, from time to time the bank discloses nonpublic information about its customers to third parties who are under contract to the bank to perform services for the bank. When we do so, the contract contains provisions that require the contractor to use the information only for the purposes intended and that the contractor not divulge the information it receives from the bank to others.

Customer right to "opt out". If at anytime in the future the bank changes its policies and shares nonpublic information about customers with outside third parties, before doing so we will notify you of our intent and the notice will contain a telephone number you can call to opt-out. If you opt-out, no nonpublic information that comes from your relationship with the bank will be shared with the third party, except as permitted by law. Before information is shared, you will be given a reasonable amount of time to make this opt-out decision, and thereafter you may choose to opt-out at anytime.

Disclosures required under Fair Credit Reporting Act. By law, the bank is permitted to share information with sister organizations of which the bank is affiliated. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act you have "opt-out" rights regarding certain information. Before this information is shared with an affiliate we will send you a notification and we will explain to you how to opt-out. Then, if you choose to opt-out, the information will not be shared with the affiliated company.

Disclosures regarding confidentiality and security of information. The bank regards the confidentiality and security of customer information as a serious matter. We restrict access to areas where customer information is kept, access to the information is granted only to employees who need such access in the performance of their duties. In addition, we have internal procedures that are designed specifically to protect this information from outsiders. These procedures will be reviewed annually.

About "Cookies". 1st Bank & Trust's Online Banking program uses "cookies" for administrative purposes only. A 'cookie" is a small text file placed on your hard drive by our Online Banking Server. This is to provide a better service and a more effective web site. We do not use cookies to get data from your hard drive or to get your email address or personal identifying information. Cookies are commonly used on web sites and do not harm your system.

Important Information about Procedures for opening a New Account. To help the government fight the funding of terrorism and money laundering activities, Federal law requires all financial institutions to obtain, verify, and record information that identifies each person who opens an account. What this means for you: when you open an account, we will ask for your name, address, date of birth, and other information that will allow us to identify you. We may also ask to see your driver's license or other identifying documents.

The privacy of children. This financial institution respects the privacy of children. We do not knowingly collect names, email address, or any other personally identifiable information from children on our website. We do not knowingly market to children nor do we knowingly allow children to utilize the website.

Thank you very much for banking with us. If you have any questions about this or other policies of the bank, please call (580) 584-9123. We are proud to have you as a customer. You may rest assured we are doing everything we can to protect the privacy of the financial information which you have entrusted to us.