USA Patriot Act
Members Choice WV Federal Credit Union is in compliance with the Federal Law & USA Patriot Act, effective October 1, 2003. This act requires credit unions to take extra security precautions to help the government fight the funding of terrorism & money laundering activities. Federal law requires all financial institutions to obtain, verify, and record information that identifies each person who opens an account. These new procedures are designed to prevent crimes, such as identity theft and account fraud that terrorists commit to finance their operations against the U.S. and its citizens.
When an account is opened or changed, you will be asked for your name, address, date of birth, and other information that will allow us to identify you. We will also ask to see your driver's license or other identifying government issued documents. The definition of an account covers a broad range of regular financial transactions such as deposit, transaction, asset, or credit accounts or other extension of credit. The required verification may be inconvenient for some but a strong deterrent for terrorists and other criminals.
You can rest assured that we will only request the information required by the law...and that we will use the information only for purposes of complying with the law. Your privacy is our top concern, and we will respect and protect it as always, consistent with the law's requirements.
Thanks for your understanding and help in this critical effort. The war on terrorism will be fought on many fronts, and this is one of them.
Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act
Members Choice WV wants to keep its members informed about future regulations that have been federally mandated. Check 21 was passed in October of 2003 and the details are as followed:
The Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act (Check 21) was signed into law on October 28, 2003, and will become effective on October 28, 2004. Check 21 is designed to foster innovation in the payments system and to enhance its efficiency by reducing some of the legal impediments to check truncation. The law facilitates check truncation by creating a new negotiable instrument called a substitute check, which would permit financial institutions to truncate original checks, to process check information electronically, and to deliver substitute checks to financial institutions that want to continue receiving paper checks. A substitute check would be the legal equivalent of the original check and would include all the information contained on the original check. The law does not require financial institutions to accept checks in electronic form nor does it require them to use the new authority granted by the act to create substitute checks.
Member Benefits are as followed:
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Increased access to account information
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Internet access to digital records, including cancelled checks
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Increased ATM services and functionality
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Later deposit cut-off times
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Faster funds availability
Brochures and inserts will be available in July 2004 for members that would like to receive further notice and details about the Check 21 Act.
