Privacy Policy

Advantage Federal Credit Union Privacy Statement

In recognition of our members' expectation of privacy, Advantage Federal Credit Union has adopted the following privacy policy.

Advantage will collect only the personal information that is necessary to conduct our business.  That means just what is necessary to provide the best financial products and services - no more.  We may gather general information about web site visitors' browsing activities.  This enables us to track how a visitor navigates through our web site and the areas in which they show interest.  This is similar to a traffic report: it tracks trends and behaviors of members in general, but does not identify individuals in particular.  We may collect information from the following sources:

• Information provided by a member which may be included on a credit or membership application;
• Information about member's transactions with the credit union or our affiliate;
• Information about the member's transactions with non-affiliated third parties;
• Information from a consumer credit reporting agency.

Advantage will protect your personal information.  We will maintain security controls to ensure that member information stored on our premises and in our files and computers is protected.  Where appropriate, we will use security coding techniques to protect against unauthorized access to personal records, ensure accuracy and integrity of communications and transactions, and protect member confidentiality.

Within Advantage, the credit union requires that confidential information be safeguarded at all times and be used only for legitimate business purposes.

The credit union takes measures to limit employee access to confidential information on a "need-to-know" basis and makes every effort to ensure that financial information is maintained in an accurate and up-to-date manner.  We educate our employees about the importance of confidentiality and member privacy through standard operating procedures, special training programs and Advantage's dedication to operating in an ethical environment.

Restrictions on the Disclosure of Account Information

Advantage Federal Credit Union may disclose any of the confidential member information which we have collected, such as account balances, financial transaction history and debt repayment history, outside the credit union if:

• The member consents to the disclosure;
• The information is provided to help complete a transaction that the member has authorized;
• Legal or regulatory requirements oblige the credit union to supply information;
• It is supplied to a vendor working on behalf of the credit union;
• It is supplied to protect the security of our  financial records;
• It is otherwise permitted or required by law;
• It is a credit reporting agency.

The credit union may disclose non-public personal information, such as your name, address and account number, to other entities including, but not limited to:

• Vendors who print and mail monthly account statements;
• Credit union trade organizations such as Credit Union National Association (CUNA) and National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU);
• Public accounting firms which provide auditing services;
• Regulatory examiners from the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA)

Affiliated third parties

• The credit union may provide information such as account numbers and balances to affiliated third parties for the purpose of providing a service or completing member transaction processing. 
• Advantage Federal Credit Union is 50% owner of a credit union service organization (CUSO) which processes all share drafts (checks) written on Advantage accounts.  The name of this organization is Tandem Service Organization, Inc.  Certain account information as referenced above may be given to Tandem Service Organization, Inc., in an effort to ensure timely and accurate processing of these items.

Member Choice

If you prefer that we do not disclose non-public information about you to non-affiliated third parties, you may opt out of those disclosures, that is you may direct us not to make those disclosures (other than those permitted by law).  If you wish to opt out of these disclosures to non-affiliated third parties, you may contact a member service representative during normal business hours at 716-454-5900 or 888-454-2328 to have your information omitted from such disclosure.

Former Members

If you decide to terminate your membership or become an inactive member, we will continue to adhere to the privacy policies and practices described in this notice.

Maintaining Member Privacy in our Business Relationships

The credit union will not sell or share member personal information with a third party for the third party's own independent use.  However, Advantage occasionally contracts with outside vendors and other business partners to perform specific services for the credit union.  We require these vendors to honor and safeguard the information we provide them and to follow strict confidentiality requirements.

Information such as specific transaction and account data may be disclosed to a third party service provider, such as a corporate credit union, for purposes of completing a member transaction such as a wire transfer to another financial institution.

If you have any reason to believe that your personal information retained at Advantage Federal Credit Union is incorrect, please call us at 585.454.5900 or e-mail us at Operations@advantagefcu.org.  We will investigate the problem and, if applicable, update the credit union's records.