In Perspectives

During one of my recent trips to Starbucks, which admittedly is a frequent occurrence, I ordered my usual Grande Americano with just a small amount of room left for cream. The barista then announced a familiar total of approximately $3.00 for the carefully crafted Espresso that is so essential to my day. I then held up my smartphone with the Starbucks Mobile Application barcode displayed, the barista scanned the barcode, and I was on my way in less than 30 seconds.

This was a vividly different experience from two years prior when I still had this same habit of frequent trips to Starbucks, but the process to pay for my drink was much more of a burden.  At that time, before many mobile payment applications even existed, I had to fumble around in my physical wallet to determine whether I had the correct change and what the most efficient combination of dollar bills and coins would be, just so that I could repeat the same process in reverse to put my change back in my wallet. Thankfully those times are over and the simple swipe of my finger make getting my necessary dose of caffeine better in every single way. All I have to do is open an app, swipe my phone, and the transaction is complete. No change, no physical paper bills, just pure simplicity and convenience.

But what about peace of mind? With all of the recent news of credit card data breaches at Target and Home Depot it is prudent to consider the potential negative outcomes of paying with your phone which is linked to nearly all of your personal data. Many, including myself, would argue that the recent data breaches at large retailers are due to a lack of changing technology rather than new technology. The technology that hackers were able to access during the data breaches is well over 20 years old and has remained nearly unchanged since then. That is why the recent wave of mobile payments on smart phones should be welcomed by those worried about security. Unlike traditional plastic credit cards, most mobile payment apps do not store your personal information in the application itself. Instead, they are able to generate a unique code that is related to each transaction and/or your device, which is then relayed to your credit card company so that you are charged the appropriate amount. The card and personal information is never exposed and if your phone is lost or stolen all payments can be halted remotely so no damage is done.

Like most things in technology, we should expect some growing pains before mobile payments are fully integrated into our everyday lives. However, over the next four years payments made in store by mobile devices are expected to grow by nearly 50 times to more than $180 Billion. It appears the days of paper money and plastic credit cards are numbered.

Legacy Trust and Your Right to Financial Privacy

At Legacy Trust we have established policies and practices that respect the financial privacy of all individuals who use our trust company. We believe it is critical to comply with the laws and regulations designed to secure your financial privacy. Your relationship with us as our client is very important to us, and we want you to understand our policies and practices about handling your information.

This Policy applies to you – This Policy applies to our relationships with individual clients who inquire about or obtain products or services from us for personal, family and household purposes.

Strict security measures – We take the security of information very seriously. We have established security standards and procedures to prevent access to client information. We maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards to guard client information.

Limited employee access – We have established procedures to limit employee access to information to only those employees with a business reason for accessing such information. We educate our employees about the importance of confidentiality and client privacy. We take appropriate disciplinary measures to enforce employee responsibilities regarding client information.

Why we collect information – We collect information about you to:

  • accurately identify you;
  • protect and administer your records, accounts and funds;
  • help us design or improve our products and services;
  • understand your financial needs;
  • save you time when you apply for new products and services; offer you quality products and services; and comply with certain laws and regulations;

We collect information – We collect and maintain your personal information so that we can provide investment management and other services to you. The types and categories of information that we collect and maintain about you include:

  • Information we receive from you to open an account or provide investment advice or other services to you (such as your home address, social security number, telephone, financial information and investment objectives).
  • Information that we generate to service your account or from our transactions with you (such as account statements and other financial information).
  • Information on your transactions with nonaffiliated third parties.

We have established procedures so that the financial information we collect is accurate, current and complete. We are committed to work with you to promptly correct any inaccurate information.

Our selective sharing of information – In order for us to provide investment management and other services to you, we do disclose your personal information in very limited instances, which include:

  • Disclosures to nonaffiliated companies as permitted by law, including those who help us service your account (such as providing account information to brokers and custodians).
  • Other limited disclosures as permitted by law, for example, required reports to government entities.

We do not share your information with third parties for marketing purposes. We do not sell your information.

Former clients – If you end your relationship with us, we will continue to adhere to the privacy policies and practices described in this notice.

×
USA PATRIOT Act

Important Information About Procedures For Opening A New Account

To help the government fight the funding of terrorism and money laundering activities, Federal law requires all financial institutions to obtain, verify and record information that identifies each person who opens an account.

What this means for you: When you open an account, we will ask for your name, address, date of birth and other information that will allow us to identify you. We may also ask to see your driver’s license or other identifying documents.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause; however, federal law prohibits us from waiving these requirements.

×
You are leaving the Legacy Trust website

Legacy Trust makes no representation concerning nor is it responsible for the quality, content, nature, or security of any hyperlinked site. This link is provided as a convenience and does not imply any investigation or endorsement of the site.

×
Warning!

Do not send sensitive information over email. If you need to communicate sensitive information, please call us at 616.454.2852

×

The views expressed on Linkedin do not necessarily reflect the views of Legacy Trust

×