Mobile Banking Privacy Notice

View our full Privacy Notice.

This Mobile Banking Privacy Notice informs you of Virginia Federal Credit Union’s (“VACU” or “Virginia Credit Union”) policies and practices regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of any personal information that we and our service providers collect from or about you in connection with our mobile apps.

Virginia Credit Union’s Mobile Banking App and VACU Cards App

Virginia Credit Union’s Mobile Banking app and VACU Cards app are available for download from the Apple® App Store and Google™ Play Store. The mobile apps allow you to manage your accounts through your smartphone, tablet, or other mobile device, making it easy to manage your finances on the go. A username and password are required to access either app.

After authentication, our mobile apps allow you to:

• Deposit checks
• Check your balances
• Manage your accounts
• Transfer funds between eligible accounts
• Pay bills and enter or delete payees
• Find a branch, ATM, or Credit Union service center
• Get up-to-date information
• Learn about new and exciting promotions
• Contact us

Our mobile apps may contain display ads, native ads, or banner ads from Virginia Credit Union itself but never from third-party providers.

Secure Transmissions

To ensure information remains confidential, Virginia Credit Union uses encryption technology such as Secure Socket Layer or Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure to protect information you enter and submit from our Mobile Banking app. Our app never publicly discloses any personal or sensitive user data related to financial or payment activities or any government identification numbers.

Information We May Collect Through the App

Personal and sensitive user app data collected includes, but isn’t limited to, personally identifiable information, financial and payment information, authentication information, biometric information, contacts, device location, SMS and call-related data, microphone, camera, and other sensitive device or usage data. As with information we collect through other means, we limit our access, collection, use, and sharing of personal or sensitive data acquired through our apps to purposes directly related to providing and improving the features and functionality of our apps and to fulfilling your requests.

User data that we collect may include:

• User ID
• Device ID
• Name
• Usage data
• Purchase history
• Payment information
• Credit information
• Physical address
• Email address
• Phone number
• Other user contact information (i.e., any other information that can be used to contact you outside of the app)
• User content such as email or text messages, photos or videos, and customer support

Note: The VACU Cards mobile application does not collect, transmit, or use geolocation information.

Personal Information You Provide Us

• We may collect personal information from you such as your first and last name, mailing address, email address, phone number, and Social Security number when you create an account.
• We will collect the financial and transaction information necessary to provide you with services, including account numbers, payment card expiration date, payment card identification, verification numbers, and transaction and payment history.
• If you provide feedback or contact us via email, we will collect your name and email address as well as any other content included in the email in order to send you a reply.
• We also collect other types of personal information that you provide voluntarily such as any information requested by us if you contact us via email regarding support.

Your Permission

The mobile apps request access to information stored on your device such as location, camera, contacts, or other features to enrich and simplify your user experience, improve our services, and provide security to protect your account. It is important for you to understand that before granting access, you are prompted to grant your permission, and if you do not wish to grant that permission, you may decline. Your permissions can be updated in your device settings if you change your mind at a later time.

Personal Information and Sensitive User Data Collected Via Technology

Some features in our mobile apps may request access to data located on the device you use. To ensure proper functionality, users are prompted to allow access to biometric information, data, contacts, and location data. If access is not allowed, the feature requiring that data will not be fully functional.

We and our service providers may automatically log information about you, your smartphone, tablet, or other mobile device, and your interaction over time with our mobile apps services, our communications, and other online services such as:

• Device data such as your mobile device’s operating system type and version, manufacturer and model, browser type, screen resolution, RAM and disk size, CPU usage, device type (e.g., phone or tablet), Internet protocol (IP) address, unique identifiers, language settings, mobile device carrier, radio/network information (e.g., Wi-Fi, LTE, or 3G), and general location information (e.g., city, state, or geographic area)
• Cookies, which are text files that websites store on a visitor’s device to uniquely identify the visitor’s browser or to store information or settings in the browser for the purpose of helping you navigate between pages efficiently, remembering your preferences, enabling functionality, and helping us understand user activity and patterns
• Local storage technologies such as HTML5 and Flash that provide cookie-equivalent functionality but can store larger amounts of data, including on your device outside of your browser in connection with specific applications
• Web beacons (also known as pixel tags or clear GIFs, which are used to demonstrate that a webpage or email was accessed or opened or that certain content was viewed or clicked
• Location information — if you have enabled location services on your mobile device and agree to the collection of your location when prompted by our mobile apps, we may collect location data when you use our apps, even when the apps are closed or not in use, for example, to provide our fraud detection services. If you do not want us to collect this information, you may decline the collection of your location when prompted or adjust the location services settings on your device

How We May Use Your Information Collected in the Apps

General Use

User data collected that is linked to you may be used for the following purposes:

• Facilitate the creation of your account and secure and maintain the account
• Identify you as a legitimate user
• Provide improved administration of our services
• Provide services requested by you
• Advertise and market to you and for product personalization
• Perform analytics on your browsing history, product interaction, advertising data, purchase history, and other usage data
• Improve the quality of experience when you interact with our services
• Perform diagnostics by reviewing crash data

Compliance and Protection

We may use your personal information to:

• Comply with applicable laws, lawful requests, and legal processes such as to respond to subpoenas or requests from government authorities
• Protect your rights, privacy, safety, or property and protect our rights and the rights of others
• Audit our internal processes to ensure compliance with legal and contractual requirements and internal policies
• Enforce the terms and conditions that govern our services
• Prevent, identify, investigate, and deter fraudulent, harmful, unauthorized, unethical, or illegal activity, including cyberattacks and identity theft

Creation of Non-Identifiable Data

The mobile apps may create non-identifiable information data records from your personal information by excluding certain information that makes the information personally identifiable to you (e.g., your name). We may use this information in a form that does not personally identify you to analyze request patterns and usage patterns to enhance our products and services. We reserve the right to use and disclose non-identifiable information to third parties at our discretion.

Sharing and Disclosure of Your Personal User Data

We may share information about you with companies that work for us to provide you with products and services that you've requested or already have with us. All outside companies and independent contractors with whom the Credit Union does business are subject to strict confidentiality agreements that restrict the use of your information. Your personal and sensitive information will not be sold or reused by these companies or independent contractors.

The Credit Union does not, and will not, sell or provide any member information to third parties, including list services, telemarketing firms, or outside companies for independent use.

We may share your information with the following types of outside companies and independent contractors:

• Service providers under contract with Virginia Credit Union such as our Online Banking, Mobile Banking, and Bill Pay service providers
• Financial service providers such as insurance companies and mortgage service companies
• Nonfinancial companies such as consumer reporting agencies, data processors, check printers, companies that prepare account statements, plastic card processors, direct marketers, and government agencies
• We may also disclose user data to Credit bureaus and similar organizations and as permitted or required by law

Your Choices Regarding Your Information

You have several choices regarding your information.

Access, Update, or Correct Your Information

You can access, update, or correct your information by changing preferences in your account. For additional requests, please contact us at www.vacu.org or (804) 323-6800 or (800) 285-6609.

Opting Out of Email or SMS Communications

If you provide your phone number through the mobile apps, we may send you notifications by SMS such as a fraud alert. You may opt out of SMS communications by unlinking your mobile phone number through the app.

Safeguards and Retention

We implement reasonable administrative, technical, and physical measures in an effort to safeguard the information in our custody and control against theft, loss, and unauthorized access, use, modification, and disclosure.

Information collected is only kept for the minimum retention time required for business, legal, and regulatory purposes.

Links to Other Sites

The mobile apps may contain links to third-party websites. When you click on a link to any other website or location, you leave the app and go to another site, and another entity may collect personal and/or anonymous information from you. The app’s provision of a link to any other website or location is for your convenience and does not signify our endorsement of such other website or location or its contents. We have no control over, do not review, and cannot be responsible for these outside websites or their content. Please be aware that this Mobile Banking Privacy Notice does not apply to, nor can we control, the activities of other vendor links or websites. We encourage you to read the privacy policy of every website you visit.

Cookies and Web Beacons

Our mobile apps may use cookies to store information about users’ preferences, identify the mobile device being used for access, and record user-specific information.

If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through the settings on your mobile device. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browsers' respective websites.

Log Files

Like many apps, our apps make use of log files. The information inside the log files includes IP addresses, browser type, Internet service provider, date/time stamp, and referring/exit pages. This information is used to analyze trends, administer the app, track a user's movement, and gather demographic information, IP addresses, and other such information that is not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.

Mobile Banking Privacy Notice Applicability

This Mobile Banking Privacy Notice only applies to our mobile apps and information shared and/or collected there; it does not apply to any information collected via any other channel. What Virginia Credit Union does with members’ sensitive information outside of our apps is disclosed in our full Privacy Notice available at account opening, on our website, or by contacting us at www.vacu.org or (804) 323-6800 or (800) 285-6609.

Children’s Online Privacy

Virginia Credit Union's services are not directed to children under the age of 13, nor is information knowingly collected from them through our mobile apps. If a child under 13 submits personal information to us and we learn that the personal information is of a child under 13, we will delete the information as soon as possible.

Marketing Communications

We may contact you with information you requested, product offerings, promotions, special offers, or communications that we believe may benefit you. We consider your acceptance of this privacy notice as your acceptance of our offer to send you these communications. You may opt out of such communications at any time by following the opt-out instructions provided in the emails or by calling (804) 323-6800 or (800) 285-6609.

Questions

This Mobile Banking Privacy Notice was last updated on August 1, 2024. Should we update, amend, or make any changes to our Mobile Banking Privacy Notice, those changes will be posted here. If you require any additional information or have any questions about our Mobile Banking Privacy Notice, please feel free to contact us here or by calling (804) 323-6800 or (800) 285-6609.