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Merchants Bank Privacy Policy Notice

Protecting the privacy of all of our customers is important to Merchants Bank and our employees. We want you to understand what information we collect and how we use it. In order to provide our customers with a broad range of financial products and services as effectively and conveniently as possible, we use technology to manage and maintain customer information. The following policy serves as a standard for all Merchants Bank employees for collection, use, retention, and security of nonpublic personal information about all of our customers, including consumers, businesses, governmental units, and nonprofit organizations.

"Customer" means one who has a continuing relationship with Merchants Bank under which Merchants Bank provides one or more financial products or services to the customer.

WHAT INFORMATION WE COLLECT

We may collect "nonpublic personal information" about you from the following sources:

  • Information we receive from you on applications or other forms;
  • Information about your transactions with us or others;
  • Information we receive from third parties such as consumer and other credit reporting bureaus; and
  • Information we obtain when verifying information you provide to us on applications or other forms; this may be obtained from your current or past employers, for example, or from other institutions where you conduct financial transactions.

"Nonpublic personal information" is nonpublic information about you that we obtain in connection with providing a financial product or service to you. For example, nonpublic personal information includes information regarding your account balance, payment history, and overdraft history.

USE OF COOKIES ON OUR SITE

A cookie is a text-only string of information that a website transfers to the cookie file of the browser on your computer's hard disk so that the website can remember who you are. A cookie will typically contain the name of the domain from which the cookie has come, the "lifetime" of the cookie, and a value, usually a randomly generated unique number.

Two types of cookies may be used on this website, session cookies, which are temporary cookies that remain in the cookie file of your browser until you leave the site, and persistent cookies, which remain in the cookie file of your browser for a stated period of time.

When you visit the Merchants Bank website we send you a cookie. Cookies may be used in the following ways:

  • To help us recognize you as a unique visitor (just a number) when you return to our website.
  • To compile anonymous, aggregated statistics that allow us to understand how users use our site and to help us improve the structure of our website. We cannot identify you personally in this way.
  • The online banking sections of the website use cookies to increase security, both at login and in the automatic logoff function.

If you experience problems logging in to online banking, it could be due to one of the following factors:

  1. Your browser may not support cookies
  2. Your browser may not be setup to accept cookies

Browsers that support cookies include Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, and most other available Internet browsers. If your browser supports this function, you can enable the acceptance of cookies under the Internet Options category in Internet Explorer. In Netscape this option is found under the preferences category.

WHAT INFORMATION WE DISCLOSE

We may, and are permitted under law to, share information about our experiences or transactions with you or your account (such as your account balance and your payment history with us) with companies related to us by common control or ownership ("affiliates"). Merchants Bank's affiliates include our subsidiary, Merchants Trust Company, and our parent corporation, Merchants Bancshares, Inc.

We are permitted under law to disclose nonpublic personal information about you to "nonaffiliated third parties" (i.e., third parties that are not members of our corporate family) in certain circumstances. For example, we may disclose nonpublic personal information about you to government entities in response to subpoenas and to credit bureaus. We may disclose nonpublic personal information about you to third parties to assist us in servicing your loan or account with us. We may also disclose a customer's name and contact and experience information to a nonaffiliated third party financial institution to provide financial services under a joint marketing agreement. It is Merchants Bank's policy to require such nonaffiliated third parties to agree to maintain confidentiality protections and to limit the use of information we provide to authorized purposes. We do not disclose any nonpublic personal information about you to anyone else without your authorization, except as permitted by law.

If you decide to close your account(s) or become an inactive customer, we will continue to adhere to the privacy policies and practices described in this notice.

OUR SECURITY PROCEDURES

We also take steps to safeguard customer information. We maintain policies that require restrictions on access to nonpublic personal information about you to those employees who need to know that information to provide products or services to you. Our policies provide that employees who violate these standards are subject to disciplinary measures. We maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that comply with federal standards to guard your nonpublic personal information.

If you have questions or concerns with this Privacy Notice or your privacy rights, please stop by or call any of our banking offices or call us toll free: Merchants Bank at 800-322-5222

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SAFEGUARDING OF CUSTOMER INFORMATION AND INFORMATION PRIVACY TIPS

  • Don't give your social security number or personal credit information over the phone unless you initiate the call.
  • Tear up receipts, bank statements and unused credit card offers before throwing them away.
  • Keep an eye out for any missing mail.
  • Don’t mail bills from your own mailbox.
  • Review your monthly account statements regularly for any unauthorized charges.
  • Order copies of your credit bureau report once a year to ensure accuracy
    In Vermont, contact Experian (TRW) Consumer Assistance @ 1-888-397-3742
  • Choose to do business with companies you know are reputable, particularly online.
  • When conducting business online make sure your browser’s padlock or key icon is active.
  • Don’t open e-mail from unknown sources and use virus detection software.
  • Protect your PINs (don’t carry them in your wallet!) and passwords – use a combination of letters and numbers for your passwords and change periodically.
  • Report any suspected fraud to your bank and the fraud units of the three credit reporting agencies immediately.  The fraud unit numbers are:
Trans Union (800) 916-8800
Experian (TRW) (888) 397-3742; Option 2, then Option 3
Equifax (800) 525-6285

IS IT POSSIBLE TO PREVENT INFORMATION SHARING WITH THIRD PARTIES?

You may request that the Direct Marketing Association delete your name from telephone, mailing and e-mail lists used by their members in marketing products and services to you. Information on these lists is normally obtained from public sources. Your requests last for five years and include all versions of your name in which you currently receive information, your address and your telephone number.

(rev 04/08)

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