INTRODUCTION
At Community Bank of the South, the basis of each customer relationship is trust. You have chosen to do business with Community Bank of the South and we are obligated to honor that relationship with great care, beginning with the information you have chosen to share with us. We believe that your privacy should not be compromised. At the same time, we want to offer you the array of financial products and services you need to accomplish your financial goals. We believe we can do both through the privacy principles outlined below.
YOUR RIGHT TO PRIVACY
At Community Bank of the South, we believe the confidentiality and protection of customer information is one of our fundamental responsibilities. While information is critical to providing quality service, we recognize that one of our most important assets is our customers’ trust. Thus, the safekeeping of customer information is a priority for us. This includes information we receive from you on applications or other loan and account forms, information about your transactions with us or others and information we receive from third parties such as credit bureaus.
WHY WE REQUEST PERSONAL INFORMATION
We collect, retain, and use information about you only where we reasonably believe that it will help administer our business or provide products, services, and other opportunities to you. We collect and retain information about you only for specific business purposes. We will tell you why we need this information upon your request. We use information to protect and administer your records, accounts, and funds; to comply with certain laws and regulations; to help us design or improve our products and services; and to understand your financial needs so that we can provide you with quality products and superior service.
ACCURACY OF INFORMATION
We strive to maintain complete and accurate information about you and your accounts. Should you ever believe that our records contain inaccurate or incomplete information about you, please notify us. We will investigate your concerns and correct any inaccuracies.
EMPLOYEE ACCESS TO CUSTOMER INFORMATION
At Community Bank of the South, employee access to personally identifiable customer information is limited to those with a business reason to know such information. Employees are educated on the importance of maintaining the confidentiality of customer information and on these Privacy Principles. Because of the importance of these issues, all employees are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of customer information and employees who violate these Privacy Principles are subject to disciplinary measures.
PRIVACY PROTECTION THROUGH SECURITY PROCEDURES
Community Bank of the South is committed to the security of your financial and personal information. Our operational and data processing systems are in secure environments that protect your information from being accessed by third parties. We maintain and grant access to customer information only in accordance with our internal security standards.
RESTRICTIONS ON DISCLOSURE
We do not reveal specific information about your accounts or other personally identifiable data to parties outside our bank unless:
We do not provide account or personal information to other companies for the purpose of independent telemarketing or direct mail marketing.
MAINTAINING CUSTOMER PRIVACY IN THIRD-PARTY BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS
When Community Bank of the South conducts business with third parties, e.g. attorneys, data processors, regulators, and auditors; it requires these service suppliers to maintain similar standards of conduct regarding the privacy of personally identifiable customer information provided to them.
DISCLOSURE OF THE BANK’S PRIVACY POLICIES
Community Bank of the South recognizes and respects the privacy expectations of our customers. We want our customers to understand our commitment to privacy in our use of customer information. We have developed these Privacy Principles that are made readily available to our customers. Customers who have questions about these Privacy Principles or have a question about the privacy of their customer information should call the bank at 321-452-0420.