Security & Privacy

SCU is recognized as a leader in privacy and security in the credit union industry. We view each member relationship with the utmost of trust, always treat your information in a strictly confidential manner, and we're committed to keeping your personal information secure and private.

We’ve adopted an internal Privacy Code that provides the guidelines we use to protect personal, identifiable information, how we collect it and intend to use it. Our code follows the ten principles of Canada’s privacy legislation as stated in the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).

Our employees are required to sign a confidentiality agreement as a condition of employment. For us, Canada's privacy legislation simply formalizes practices that have always been in place.

You can obtain the full text of the SCU Privacy Code by simply visiting either of our branches, or by calling or emailing us.

We welcome any questions or concerns about our privacy code, our internet privacy policy, or the practices of our staff. Please contact us in writing or by email:

Privacy Officer, Steinbach Credit Union
333 Main Street
Steinbach, Manitoba R5G 1B1
scu@scu.mb.ca

For every product or service we offer, we need basic information such as your name, address, and identification. In all cases, we only collect the information we need and only use it for the purposes explained to you.

• Birth Date Your birth date helps us ensure no one is trying to impersonate you, and helps us determine your eligibility for products and services designed for particular age groups.




• Financial Information We want to give you the best advice possible. That starts with understanding your current financial situation.




• Social Insurance Number (SIN) Your SIN is unique to you, so having this on file means we can keep your information separate from that of other members with a similar name. In addition, we require your SIN for Canada Revenue Agency's income reporting requirements.




• Health Information For some products, such as insurance, we need to collect health information to ensure you are eligible for coverage.

On our website, we only collect personal information required to improve services and site content and, with your permission, to contact you with information about our services. We will not share any personal information obtained on our website with any other organization without your express knowledge and consent.
While making financial transactions from the comfort of your own home, or while you’re on the go is convenient, it's important to take precautions to protect your personal information. This is a responsibility we share with you.

How we protect your privacy

• We always use encrypted email when sending sensitive or confidential information or documents. Encrypted emails are managed through a secure web-based portal and may be initiated by an SCU representative, or you may be provided with a secure link in order to send an email to us. When you receive an encrypted email from SCU, you will be prompted to set up a password and create a web portal account. Once registered, this web portal will function like a regular email inbox, where you will be able to securely view your message, communicate with an SCU representative, and add attachments as necessary. We may store your correspondence and exact email address for future communications directly with you. Under no circumstances do we sell email addresses to any other party. 
  
  Do not use unencrypted email to send sensitive and confidential information or documents. It’s important to remember we will not ask you to share any personal information without using the secure web portal. 
  
  You can find out more about our encrypted email here. 




• We use increased authentication features for SCU Direct^® online banking, providing you with an additional layer of security. When you sign up for online banking, you will be asked to choose three security questions and answers in addition to your password.
  
  As you use SCU Direct, the system will recognize your usual pattern and devices for login. If a login attempt is outside your normal use, you will be prompted to respond to one of your pre‑selected questions.




• In order to offer a higher level of security, we require that 128-bit encryption be used when conducting financial transactions over the internet. Through the use of industry-recognized security standards, every effort is made to continually protect personal information from misuse and alteration; however, SCU and its affiliates do not guarantee the security of your information over the internet. If your browser does not support 128-bit encryption, you will have to download and install a version of your browser that supports this level of security.




• Direct Alerts is an optional feature for SCU Direct that lets you know when important changes have been made to your online banking account information. These alerts add additional protection by allowing you to identify and report potential fraudulent activity as soon as it happens. Direct Alerts can be sent to you as a text message, an email, or both. 
  
  You can learn more about setting up and managing direct alerts here. 

How you can protect your online privacy

• Protect your password. Your passwords are private and absolutely no one has the authority to obtain them from you at any time, including SCU staff. We will never ask you for your passwords or personal information to “update our files”.


• We encourage you to create a strong password. Strong passwords make it more challenging for people or programs to gain access to your accounts. The more challenging the password, the harder it is for people or programs to figure it out.


• Tips for creating a strong password:
  • Do change your temporary password as soon as possible.
  • Do consider using short phrases or partial sentences instead of simple words.
  • Do consider replacing letters with special characters. (For instance, always replacing the letter “a” with the @ symbol.)
  • Don't use information someone else knows about you, or that someone can access.
  • Don't use your browser’s option for saving passwords.
  • Don't re-use passwords across multiple sites!


• After visiting a site where you have viewed or sent personal or financial information, always log out when done. Clear your browser’s cache at the end of every online session by deleting items in the Temporary Internet Files folder in your file manager, or through the browser itself.


• Protect yourself from online and phone scams. Please visit our Insights & Advice section and choose the category "Security" to read our collection of articles that explain current fraud scams and how you can avoid them.


• To learn more about recent scams or to report you are a victim of an actual or attempted scam, please visit the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and the Government of Canada’s Competition Bureau.

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