Large Cash Transactions: Bank Secrecy Act

Credit union members should be aware of what the Bank Secrecy Act means to consumers and the financial transactions they make in their financial institutions. All financial institutions are required to monitor transactions that take place and report any activity that is deemed suspicious either by definition or by circumstances. Cash transactions in particular are monitored by dollar amount and by frequency. All cash transactions above $10,000 on a daily aggregate basis would be reported. It is important to note though that account holders should not purposely stagger cash deposits over several days to avoid reporting of the $10,000 cash amount threshold. The practice of staggering deposits to avoid reporting is called "structuring" and could result in being reported as a suspicious activity, which is worse than just one large currency transaction. The practice of "structuring" cash deposits to avoid reporting can be prosecuted as a crime. This is especially true if the cash transactions can be connected to money laundering, tax evasion, or criminal activities where cash is being transacted. Most financial institutions have internal systems in place to monitor cash transactions over a period of time to trigger a concern over "structuring". 

There is nothing illegal about making a large currency deposit or withdrawing a large cash sum of money. There should not be any fear by consumers in making cash transactions. The origins of the Bank Secrecy Act was to establish a system that could assist with detecting money laundering and criminal activities. Terrorism concerns with large cash transactions have developed over time. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is the federal bureau within the U.S. Treasury Department that has been charged with implementing, administering, and enforcing compliance with the laws associated with The Currency and Foreign Transactions Act of 1970, commonly called the Bank Secrecy Act. 

The Bank Secrecy Act and the laws associated with it are not a secret. They are a matter of public policy that every citizen can review on their own. The government FinCEN web site has information available for the public in understanding the Bank Secrecy Act. The web site is 
http://www.fincen.gov/ . 

All financial institutions are required to comply with Bank Secrecy Act regulations. Significant fines and penalties could be assessed to financial institutions that do not comply. 

Account holders are advised to be open and honest with their large cash transactions. Do not ask financial institution employees about how to avoid being reported for cash transactions because that is a sure way to get reported. The Bank Secrecy Act law requires it. 

CO-OP Network: Provides Thousands of Branches to NAECU Members

When people ask how many branches NAECU has, the answer might surprise you: Over 5,000 physical branches throughout the United States and foreign locations. That's right, over 5,000 branches. Many of the large regional banks don't offer that many locations. How can an $85 million dollar credit union like NAECU offer more branch locations than a multi-billion dollar regional bank?

Cooperation among credit unions, that's how. The CO-OP Network is a collection of individual credit unions all over the country that have banded together to provide common resources that benefit all credit union members within the network group. Participating credit unions offer their branches and staff to post transactions on your host credit union. Have a child attending college out of town in Tuscaloosa, Alabama? There are 4 CO-OP Network branches available there. Have a child attending college out of town in Auburn, Alabama? There are 2 CO-OP Network branches available there. Have a child out of state in Nashville, Tennessee? There are 13 CO-OP Network Branches available there. Members of NAECU can perform transactions on their NAECU accounts at these CO-OP Network branches. Available transactions include deposits, withdrawals, loan payments, account transfers, account history reviews, and known payroll check cashing. THERE IS NO FEE TO NAECU MEMBERS FOR USING THESE SERVICES. Cashier's checks can be purchased for a small fee.

The CO-OP Network also provides nearly 30,000 surcharge free ATM locations!

Members of NAECU with accounts older than 90 days can utilize the CO-OP Network and enjoy the greatly expanded access to their account(s) with NAECU.

Members are encouraged to visit http://www.allco-op.org/ for CO-OP Network information and a search engine for available locations by city or zip code. Phone apps and a texting option are available. An automated phone search for locations is available at 1-888-748-3266 or live help is available at 1-888-837-6500.

The CO-OP Network is an incredible free benefit available to members of NAECU. Check it out!






Merry Christmas to All



 

 

This past year as seen its share of sorrows and tragedy throughout the world. As we each settle in our holiday gatherings and Christmas events, hopefully we will all spend some time focusing on the blessings that each of us enjoy. Our blessings are many when we stop to consider all that we take for granted. We all typically want more than we really need. We are each blessed to celebrate yet another Christmas on this earth. Be mindful of those around you have lost a loved one this past year. Comforting these individuals is the best gift that we can provide.

 

Merry Christmas to All !!





Surprise Branch Visitor - Monkey!

 

 

You never know what the new day of a credit union operation will bring from one day to the next. Some time ago our Sparkman branch was blessed with a surprise visitor as a guest of one of our credit union members. Our branch staff and fellow members in the office were surprised to see a pet monkey coming through our front door of the branch with our member. The monkey (don't have the pet name) was very well behaved and seemed to enjoy visiting the office. Like many other members and children who visit our offices, the monkey did enjoy a complimentary sucker during its visit. Not sure if the sucker was banana flavored or not.


Our surprise visitor was a highlight of the day for the staff. It reinforces the idea that you truly never know what will come through the front door. 



Reminder on Eligibility with NAECU

People often hear our name, North Alabama Educators Credit Union, and mistakenly think that they must be a teacher to use the services of the credit union. Not so! While the initial origins of the credit union began with teachers back in 1955, our field of membership has expanded over the years to include many different organizations and association groups. A full listing of membership eligibility methods is included at http://naecu.org/about/index.php .

All students of public or private schools located in the Alabama counties of Madison, Morgan, and Limestone are eligible to join North Alabama Educators Credit Union. That is a sizable group of eligible people that may or may not be aware that the credit union could be a benefit for them. For any parents out there who do not have accounts already established for their children, the credit union is a great place to get them started for a safe savings outlet. Better than that piggy bank on the dresser! North Alabama Educators Credit Union has a Kirby Kangaroo Club for younger children and a CU-Succeed Club for teens. Both offer micro-sites on our home page that help to educate and entertain our youth members. (Located in the bottom right corner of our home page at www.naecu.org.)

All members of Parent-Teacher organizations (PTA, PTO, PTSA) of schools located within the Alabama counties of Madison and Limestone, or within the City of Decatur, Alabama are eligible for membership in the credit union. North Alabama Educators Credit Union proudly supports these Parent-Teacher organizations and encourages parents and caregivers to participate in their local school organizations. Many of the Parent-Teacher organizations have a multitude of benefits associated with those who join their organizations, and credit union services through North Alabama Educators Credit Union is one of those benefits.

Additional sponsor groups and eligibility methods are listed on the linked page above. Again, don't be fooled by our name. Part of our "Educators" objective is to help our member-owners to improve their own financial bottom line, not ours. Improving financial literacy throughout the community, especially to teen students approaching college, is a lifestyle benefit that can pay great dividends into the future.

Identity Theft Solutions - Member Security Center

Protecting your identity is one of the most important safeguards you can manage in this world of data exchanges. Your identity is important to you but have you considered how valuable your identity might be to a criminal? The total financial losses attributed to identity theft in 2013 were $24.7 BILLION which was much higher than the identity theft losses of $13.2 BILLION in 2010. (SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice). Identity theft crimes are clearly on the rise. What steps can you take to protect your good name and credit?

North Alabama Educators Credit Union has partnered with the Member Security Center (MSC) to provide a new service that we are excited to offer to our members. The MSC is an affordably priced identity theft solution that has many features for our members. MSC’s Cyber Watch monitoring service scans thousands of websites, chat rooms, forums and networks and alerts members if their non-public information is being traded on the Internet. This proactive approach will allow members to act early and will help them to avoid becoming a victim of identity theft in the first place. There are three reasonable pricing plans of $1.95 monthly, $3.95 monthly, or $12.95 monthly.

These reasonably priced retail MSC identity theft solutions are powered by the same identity theft wholesaler that supplies identity theft retail products for the big national brand names out there. The difference is you don’t pay twice as much for the same level of identity theft protection and monitoring. This is more of a member service for the credit union members of North Alabama Educators Credit Union, not a big profit maker.

I signed up for the $3.95 monthly service on the first day and was amazed to see the number of sex offenders within a relatively small radius. If a registered sex offender moves near our area I will receive an alert stating as such. If a new credit account is opened I will receive a notification on that. There are professional resources and money coverages for costs associated with restoring your identity should that occur. Other valuable services are available depending on the product level selected.

Members are encouraged to take a look at this MSC Identity Theft program. If you already have an identity theft product, compare it with the various MSC programs available. If you do not have an identity theft program protecting your good name now, we would strongly encourage you to consider adopting some type of managed identity theft program. Unfortunately, the world we live in now translates to more of a “when” scenario rather than an “if” scenario in terms of becoming an identity theft victim.

The MSC Identity Theft website has plenty of useful resources and information to help our members make an informed decision on possible identity theft coverage.

https://www.membersecuritycenter.com/

 

IRS Scam by E-mail

Below is the text of an e-mail received claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service;

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Subject: Your FED TAX payment (ID:3Q5IRS367654547) was Rejected

*** PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS EMAIL ***

Your federal Tax payment (ID: 3Q5IRS367654547), recently sent from your checking account was returned by the your financial institution.

For more information, please download notification below. (Security PDF Adobe file)
(Actual Link removed here due to malicious nature of the link).

(Google Disk Drive is a file hosting service operated by Google, Inc.)


Transaction Number: 3Q5IRS367654547}

Payment Amount: $ 5051.63
Transaction status: Rejected

ACH Trace Number: 0000000000
Transaction Type: ACH Debit Payment-DDA

Internal Revenue Service
Metro Plex 1, 8401 Corporate Drive, Suite 300, Landover, MD 20785

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The Internal Revenue Service does NOT send out any e-mail communications for payments, refunds, or filing corrections. Any such e-mail received should be considered as fraudulent. NEVER click on any links provided in a suspicious email. The Internal Revenue Service asks that all fraudulent or suspicious e-mails be forwarded to phishing@irs.gov.