Privacy Principles
Important Privacy Notice
"Your Privacy is our Priority"
Privacy Principles
The internal procedures and programs we have implemented reflect the requirements set forth under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act, as well as other laws and regulations which address the privacy and security of this confidential information.
Expectation of Privacy
BankFinancial Corporation and its subsidiaries, BankFinancial, F.S.B. and Financial Assurance, Inc. (referred to together as "BankFinancial," "we" or "us") are committed to complying with all laws and regulations relating to the privacy and security of customer personal and financial information and the legal restrictions that exist with respect to the collection, use and disclosure of such information.
Use, Collection and Retention of Customer Information
We collect non-public personal information about you from the following sources: information we receive from you on applications and other forms, information about your transactions with us, our affiliates, or others, and information we receive from a consumer reporting agency.
We collect, retain and use information about you when we believe it will be useful (and allowed by law) in administering your records, accounts or funds, complying with applicable laws, administering our business, or creating, offering or providing products, services and other opportunities to you as an existing or former customer.
If you decide to close your account(s) or if you become an inactive customer, we will continue to adhere to the Privacy Principles described herein.
Maintenance of Accurate Information
We have established procedures to further the goal that customer financial information be accurate, current and complete in accordance with reasonable commercial standards. We strive to respond to requests to correct inaccurate information in a timely manner.
Limiting Employee Access to Information
We seek to limit employee access to personally identifiable customer information to those employees who have a business reason for knowing such information. We believe in educating employees so that they will understand the importance of confidentiality and customer privacy and believe in taking appropriate measures to enforce employee privacy responsibilities.
Security Procedures to Protect Information
We maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that comply with federal regulations and security standards to prevent unauthorized access to customer information.
Sharing of Information within BankFinancial Corporation
We offer products and services through BankFinancial, F.S.B. and its subsidiary, Financial Assurance, Inc. These affiliated companies share information about you only to the extent permitted by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, and other applicable laws. These laws generally permit them to share your identification, transactional and experiential information. This includes your name and address; information about your loan, deposit and other transactions with any of our affiliated companies; and information about the experiences any of them has had with you. They share this type of information to better serve your total financial needs and to make you aware of products, programs and special offers that might be of interest to you. Our affiliated companies do not share personal/credit information except in situations where you consent or the law permits them to do so, including to service your accounts or to prevent fraud. Personal/credit information is information that bears on your creditworthiness, personal characteristics, mode of living or the like, such as a consumer credit report.
Limits on Disclosing Information to Outside Parties
We may share all of the information we collect about you, and about your transactions with us, as described in the "Use, Collection and Retention of Customer Information" section of this pamphlet, with companies with which we have contracted to perform marketing services on our behalf. In these circumstances we impose contractual obligations of confidentiality upon the outside parties and expect them to adhere to Privacy Principles similar to those to which we adhere. We do not otherwise reveal specific information about your accounts or other personally identifiable data to parties outside our affiliated companies for their independent use unless: (1) you request or authorize it; (2) the information is provided to help complete a transaction initiated by you; (3) the information is provided to a reputable credit bureau or similar information reporting agency; or (4) the disclosure otherwise is lawfully permitted or required. We do not provide account or personal information to non- BankFinancial companies for the purpose of independent telemarketing or direct mail marketing of any non-financial products or services by non- BankFinancial companies.
Maintaining Customer Privacy in Vendor Relationships
Sometimes it is necessary for us to provide personally identifiable information about you to a non-affiliated party for our own business use, such as to a vendor or service company that we hire to perform data processing work or to provide other administrative and support services, an outside party to whom we are selling loans or loan participations, or an outside party with whom we are contemplating a corporate transaction. In these limited circumstances, we request contractual obligations of confidentiality from the outside parties.
Online Privacy Principles
When Information Is Collected
Some areas of our Internet site require you to provide us with information (such as your e-mail address, account number, Access Number or PIN) to enable you to perform certain tasks, such as to review your accounts or correspond with us. In these cases, we and/or our service provider collect your information as necessary to interact with you. If you do not provide this information, we cannot establish online banking services for you. If you do not interact with us, you will browse our site anonymously, and personal information, such as your e-mail address, is not collected. We gather and analyze data regarding usage of our site, including domain name, number of hits, pages visited, and length of user session, to evaluate the usefulness of our site. We have provided several financial planning tools throughout the site for your convenience. We do not capture any personal information that you provide when using these planning tools.
Cookies
To provide better service and a more effective site, we use standard "cookies" as part of our interaction with your browsers. A "cookie" is a small text file placed on your hard drive by our server. A cookie cannot retrieve any other data from your hard drive, pass on computer viruses, or capture your e-mail address. Cookies are commonly used on Internet sites and do not harm your system. We use cookies in places where you need to register, such as online banking, or where you are able to customize the information you see. Recording a cookie at such points makes your online experience easier and more personalized. These cookies do not collect personally identifiable information and we do not combine information collected through cookies with other personal information to determine who you are or your e-mail address.
Protecting Your Information
When you apply online for a loan, or other accounts or services, you will provide personal information that is necessary for us to process your application. To protect the security of your application, the information is sent to us in a secure session established with Secure Socket Layer technology. This technology encrypts - or scrambles - your application information so it is almost impossible for anyone other than our service provider or us to read it. After you have submitted your application online, you should end your browser session before leaving your computer. You can help maintain the security of your banking information by not sharing your Access Number or PIN with anyone, by changing your password regularly, and by remembering to sign off. We normally keep the information you provide to us, along with information we collect from outside sources, so that we can service your accounts and offer you accounts and services related to your financial needs.
When you send an e-mail to us, we preserve its content, your e-mail address and our response. We do this to meet legal, regulatory and internal requirements and to better serve you. Please note that regular non-encrypted Internet e-mail is not secure. You should not send any confidential information to us by e-mail. If you do, you agree to accept all risks that this information may be intercepted or otherwise obtained by a third party. We will not send account information, PINs or Access Numbers to you by e-mail, but will respond to your inquiries by telephone or in writing pursuant to our standard customer service procedures. If someone purporting to act on our behalf requests that you provide this type of information by e-mail, you should refuse to do so and notify us immediately. If we believe that a particular BankFinancial product or service might apply to your situation, we may occasionally contact you at your e-mail or mailing address to inform you of its potential benefits and availability.
No Expansion of Our Legal Obligations
Except where Illinois law requires otherwise, these Privacy Principles apply only to individuals who obtain or have obtained financial products or services primarily for personal, family, or household purposes in each case as defined under applicable law and regulations, and do not apply to corporate and business entities or purposes. They are not intended to create or expand our legal obligations or our liability to you beyond that imposed by applicable law without regard to these principles. We reserve the right to change them at any time to the extent we are permitted to do so under applicable law.
Please note that since we cannot control information on other Internet sites, we are not responsible for the content of sites linked from www.bankfinancial.com.
Tips from us on protecting your privacy
Protect your account numbers, plastic card numbers and Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) or passwords. Never keep your PIN with your card, which can provide access to your accounts in the event your card is stolen or lost.
Be cautious when disclosing your account numbers, social security numbers, etc. to others. Beware if someone calls you explaining the call is on behalf of BankFinancial and asks for your account number. BankFinancial associates will have access to your information and will not need to ask for it.
Don't provide personal financial information via e-mail. Although many websites, including the BankFinancial website, offer secure technology to protect your information, e-mail transmissions are not 100% secure. Therefore, be cautious with the type of information you send via e-mail. Do not include personal information such as your social security number or provide financial information such as account numbers, account balances or charge card numbers.
Keep your information current. Please advise us if your address or phone number changes. It is important we have current information on file. In order to further protect your privacy, we advise that you do not submit these changes to us via e-mail. In accordance with our Account Agreement, all changes to your account must be submitted in writing and include your signature. This correspondence should be sent to:
BankFinancial
6415 W. 95th Street
Chicago Ridge, Illinois 60415-2600
Thank You
At BankFinancial, we appreciate your business, and will continue to strive to protect your financial assets and personal financial information. If at any time we can be of further assistance, please call us at 800-894-6900, or visit us at any BankFinancial location.
Please note that since we cannot control information on other Internet sites, we are not responsible for the content of sites linked from www.bankfinancial.com.
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