Lowell Firefighters Credit Union

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Lowell Firefighters Credit Union of Lowell, MA, ~ Est. 1936
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Cyber-Crime Victim

Please read this article about a recent trend in fradulent 'phishing' e-mail messages.

Sell Your Ride

This new program allows you to post personal vehicles, including automobiles, motorcycles, boats, personal watercraft, and RVs through the Credit Union's AutoSMART website, accessed from our home page. This new service is free of charge for our members. Through Sell Your Ride, you are able to upload and post your vehicle's information, data and pictures on our AutoSMART site "Private Party" vehicles section. Posted vehicles will be seen locally by other members through their Credit Union's AutoSMART site, as well as nationally by 27.5 million members at the more than 930 credit unions currently using the AutoSMART program.

Check Imaging

A new service has been added to your checking account. You are now able to print a copy of your checks that have cleared your account as of March 7, 2011. Just go to Virtual Branch - Bank Online and access your account. The check numbers will be in red, double click the number and print.

We May Be Calling You
News & Notes

Below we have listed several announcements of important issues we'd like our members to be aware of, as well as other Credit Union news and events.

Lowell Firefighters Credit Union just became a lot more convenient...
by over 50,000 new ways!

Starting on Wednesday October 3, 2012, we will be part of Allpoint. Allpoint is the largest Surcharge-Free ATM Network, encompasing over 50,000 Surcharge-Free ATMs in all 50 states, Mexico, Puerto Rico, United Kingdom, Canada, & Australia.

No sign-up and no new card issuing is required of our members: you can use your current ATM debit Visa card to access Allpoint's 50,000 "Surcharge-Free" ATMs! Allpoint ATM's are found in convenient retailer locations, like Target, Walgreens, CVS/pharmacy, Costco, and 7-Eleven.

To find the nearest "Surcharge-Free" ATM that is most convenient for you, click on the Allpoint banner on our home page. Or, click here to locate by Zip Code. You can even learn more about Smart Phone Locator Apps that you can download to your phone by clicking here.

Our Online Banking now has an Account Search Feature

In our continued mission to serve our members better, we're glad to introduce these features to our Online Banking service.

Now when you login to your Online Banking, you will notice a new 'History Search' feature under the 'Bank IT' tab. This feature allows you to search through the past 23 months of checks that have cleared, or alternatively, through your account history by selecting any 30 day range of dates. You can then print your results or a copy of any individual check. An added checkbox also allows you to search directly for your last 23 months of deposits only. You can also search and display transactions from within any other accounts that you have linked to your Online Banking account.

We hope that you will find these new features helpful and useful, and we thank you for banking with us. — Ronald Bouchard, Treasurer

Debit Card Limits

Your maximum amount is $600 for cash withdrawals at ATMs and $1,000 for POS (point of sale) transactions, either in person or online. This is for a 24 hour period. If the need should arise where you have to have your POS amount increased to make larger purchases or because you are traveling on vacation, then just give us a call and we will gladly increase your limits to whatever you have available in your account. This increase would go into effect immediately and will last until you decide to reduce the limit back to $1,000.

Urgent Announcement About Compromised Debit/Check Cards:

All members are urged to read the following announcement regarding Credit Union policies relevant to the recent high-profile fraud crimes by which the security of a debit/check card might become compromised. Please read this letter from the Treasurer/Manager (PDF).

Changes to Online Banking Procedures

As you may know by now our online banking login procedure has changed. It is a national credit union wide change. It has been changed for your security. Due to the malicious actions of "hackers" and "Identity thieves" access to accounts has become more stringent. The new process is simple: follow the prompts and make sure you keep a record of the answers that you are asked to provide. Keep your information somewhere safe and secure and do not share it with anyone.

Feel free to call us at the credit union with any questions or e-mail us at .
Karen Couillard
Compliance Officer

The Bank Secrecy Act

You may have heard of this "Act" in the news and have wondered just exactly what it is. I will try and give you a very brief overview of the subject. It is intended to perform the following:

"The Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act,1 also known as the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), and its implementing regulation, 31 CFR 103, is a tool the U.S. government uses to fight drug trafficking, money laundering, and other crimes. Congress enacted the BSA to prevent banks and other financial service providers from being used as intermediaries for, or to hide the transfer or deposit of money derived from, criminal activity."

An institution of our size, which is considered small by today's banking standards generally, does not have the same degree of concern in regarding money laundering or being used as a conduit for terrorist activity that the larger banking concerns have but we none-the-less must remain vigilant. So if you are asked for identification, even though you have been a member for a number of years, we are only adhering to the newer regulations that have been passed by congress. Please as always any questions feel free to contact us at the Credit Union.

Karen Couillard
Compliance Officer


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