Money Market Accounts - Privacy Policy

We, our, and us mean Appalachian Community Bank, Gilmer County Bank (a division of Appalachian Community Bank), and Appalachian Community Bank, FSB.

This is our privacy notice for our customers. When we use the words “you” and “your” we mean the following types of customers: :

• All of our consumer customers who have a continuing relationship with us, such as:
• Deposit account holders
• Loan account holders
• Credit Card holders
• Safe deposit box holders
• Customers with retail installment contracts which we hold and service
• Customers who receive Financial, investment, or economic advisory services (for a fee) from us

We will tell you the sources for nonpublic personal information we collect on our customers and we will tell you what measures we take to secure that information, but, first, we must define some terms:

Nonpublic personal information means information about you that we collect in connection with providing a financial product or service to you.  Nonpublic personal information does not include information that is available from public sources, such as telephone directories or government records. An affiliate is a company we own or control, a company that owns or controls us, or a company that is owned or controlled by the same company that owns or controls us.  Appalachian Community Bank and Appalachian Community Bank, FSB are affiliates of each other and of the company that owns them both, Appalachian Bancshares, Inc. For the purposes of the law, ownership does not always have to mean complete ownership; it can mean owning enough to have control.

A nonaffiliated third party is a company that is not an affiliate or ours.

THE INFORMATION WE COLLECT

We collect nonpublic personal information about you from the following sources:

• Information we receive from you on applications or other forms
• Information about your transactions with us
• Information about your transactions with our affiliates
• Information about your transactions with nonaffiliated third parties
• Information from a consumer reporting agency  

INFORMATION WE DISCLOSE ABOUT YOU

We do NOT disclose any nonpublic personal information about you to anyone, except as permitted by law.

We restrict access to nonpublic personal information about you to those employees who need to know that information to provide products or services to you. 

We maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that comply with federal standards to guard your nonpublic personal information.

NONPUBLIC PERSONAL INFORMATION AND FORMER CUSTOMERS

We do not disclose nonpublic personal information about former customers, except as permitted by law. 

USA Patriot Act

Electronic Funds Transfer Agreement and Disclosure

TYPES OF TRANSFERS, FREQUENCY, AND DOLLAR LIMITATIONS:

PRE-AUTHORIZED TRANSFERS: You may make arrangements for certain direct deposits to be accepted into your checking and/or savings accounts. You may make arrangements to pay certain recurring bills from your checking and/or savings accounts.

TELEPHONE TRANSFERS: You may access your accounts by telephone at 706-636-2265 or 706-258-2265 (24 Hour Access) by using a touch tone phone, your account number, and PIN (personal identification number) to transfer funds from checking to savings or from savings to checking, to transfer funds from checking to a line of credit, to make payments from checking to a line of credit, to obtain checking or savings account information, or to obtain information about your line of credit.

ATM TRANSFERS : You may access your accounts by ATM (automated teller machine) by using your ATM Card or your Visa Debit card and PIN (personal identification number) to make deposits or withdrawals from checking or savings accounts, to transfer funds from savings to checking or from checking to savings accounts, to obtain checking or savings account information. Some of these services may not be available at all ATM terminals. You may withdraw no more that $500.00 per day from an ATM.

POINT OF SALE TRANSACTIONS : With your Visa Debit card you may access your checking account to purchase goods or pay for services (in person, by phone, or by computer), get cash from a merchant, if the merchant permits, or from a participating financial institution, and do anything that a participating merchant will accept. You may not exceed $1,000.00 in transactions per day with your Visa Debit card.

COMPUTER TRANSFERS : You may access your accounts on the internet by computer by accessing our website at www.apab.com and using your account numbers, user name and password to transfer funds from savings to checking or from checking to savings accounts, to transfer funds from your savings or checking accounts to your loan accounts, or to obtain checking, savings, certificate of deposit or loan account information. If you have enrolled in our online banking bill payment service, you may pay bills directly from your checking or savings accounts in the amounts and on the days you request.

ELECTRONIC FUND TRANSFERS INITIATED BY THIRD PARTIES : You may authorize a third party to initiate electronic fund transfers between your account and the third party's account. These transfers to make or receive payment may be one-time occurrences or may recur as directed by you. These transfers may use the Automated Clearinghouse (ACH) or other payment networks. Your authorization to the third party to make these transfers can occur in a number of ways. In some cases, your authorization can occur when the merchant posts a sign informing you or their policy. In all cases, the transaction will require you to provide the third party with your account number and financial institution information. This information can typically be found on your check as well as on a deposit or withdrawal slip. Thus, you should only provide your financial institution and account number information (whether over the phone, the Internet, or via some other method) to trusted third parties whom you have authorized to initiate these electronic funds transfers.

ELECTRONIC CHECK/DRAFT CONVERSION : You may authorize a merchant or other payee to make a one time electronic payment from your checking account using information from your check to pay for purchases and pay bills. You may authorize a merchant or other payee to initiate an electronic fund transfer to collect a charge in the event a check is returned for insufficient funds. You may access your accounts with check writing capabilities by electronic check or draft conversion. Your authorization to make these types of electronic funds transfers may be expressed in writing or implied through the posting of a sign. You may make payments for electronic checks or draft from your checking or savings accounts. In accordance with Federal law, transfers from your savings account must be limited to no more than three third-party transfers per month.

GENERAL LIMITATIONS: In addition to those limitations on transfers elsewhere described, transfers from a money market or savings account to another account or to third parties by preauthorized, automatic, or telephone transfer are limited to six, with no more than three transfers by check or similar order to third parties. If you exceed the transfer limitations set forth above, your account will be subject to closure.

FEES:

FEES AND CHARGES FOR ATM TRANSACTIONS : There is no charge for ATM withdrawals at machines owned by us. There is a charge for ATM withdrawals at machines not owned by us which amounts to $1.00 per cash withdrawal when using your ATM or Visa Debit card. A $.50 fee will be charge for Balance Inquiry.

ATM OPERATOR/NETWORK FEES: When you use an ATM not owned by us, you may be charged a fee by the ATM operator or any network used (and may be charged a fee for a balance inquiry even if you do not complete a fund transfer).

DOCUMENTATION :

TERMINAL TRANSFERS: You may get a receipt at the time you make any transfer to or from your account using one of our ATMs.

PREAUTHORIZED CREDITS: If you have arranged to have direct deposits made to your account at least once every 60 days from the same person or company, you can call us at 706-276-8000 to verify the deposit has been made. In addition, you will get a monthly account statement from us, unless there are no transfers in a particular month. In any case you will get a statement at least quarterly. You will get a quarterly statement from us on your savings account if the only possible electronic transfer to or from the account is a preauthorized credit.

PREAUTHORIZED PAYMENTS

RIGHT TO STOP PAYMENTS : If you have told us in advance to make regular payments from your account, you can stop any of these payments. Here's how: Call us at 706-276-8000 or write us at 822 Industrial Blvd., Ellijay, Georgia 30540, in time for us to receive your request 3 business days or more before the payment is scheduled to be made. If you call, we may also require you to send us your request in writing and get it to us within 14 days after you notify us by phone. We charge $34.50 for each stop payment order you give.

NOTICE OF VARYING AMOUNTS : If these regular payments may vary in amount, the person you are going to pay will tell you, 10 days before each payment, when it will be made and how much it will be. (You may choose instead to get this notice only when the payment would differ by a certain amount from the previous payment, or when the amount would fall outside certain limits that you set.)

LIABILITY FOR FAILURE TO STOP PAYMENT OF PRE-AUTHORIZAED TRANSFER : If you order us to stop one of these payments 3 business days or more before the transfer is scheduled, and we do not do so, we will be liable for your losses or damages

LIABILITY FOR FAILURE TO MAKE TRANSFERS : If we do not complete a transaction from your account on time or in the correct amount according to our agreement with you, we will be liable for your losses or damages. However, there are some exceptions. We will NOT be liable for instance:

• If through no fault of ours, you do not have enough money in your account to make the transfer.
• If the transfer would go over the credit limit on your overdraft line.
• If the ATM where you are making the transfer does not have enough cash.
• If the terminal or system was not working properly land you knew about the breakdown when you started the transfer.
• If circumstances beyond our control (such as fire or flood) prevent the transfer, despite reasonable precautions that we have taken.
• There may be other exceptions stated in our agreement with you.

CONFIDENTIALITY:

We will disclose information to third parties about your account or the transfers you make:

• Where it is necessary for completing transfers;
• To verify the existence and condition of your account for a third party, such as a credit bureau or merchant; or
• To comply with government agency or court orders; or
• If you give us written permission
• As explained in the separate Privacy Disclosure.

UNAUTHORIZED TRANSFERS:

CONSUMER LIABILITY : Tell us AT ONCE if you believe your ATM Card, Debit card, or PIN has been lost or stolen or if you believe that an electronic fund transfer has been made without your permission using information from your check. Telephoning is the best way of keeping your possible losses down. You could lose all the money in your account (plus your maximum overdraft line of credit). If you believe your card and or code has been lost or stolen, and you tell us within 2 business days after you learn of the loss or theft, you can lose no more than $50.00 if someone used your card and/or code without permission. If you do NOT tell us within 2 business days after you learn of the loss or theft of your card and/or code, and we can prove we could have stopped someone from using your card and/or code without your permission if you had told us, you could lose as much as $500.00. Also, if your statement shows transfers that you did not make, including those made by card, code, or other means, you must tell us at once. If you do not tell us within 60 days after the statement was mailed to you, you may not get back any money you lost after the 60 days if we can prove that we could have stopped someone from taking the money if you had told us in time. If a good reason (such as a long trip or a hospital stay) kept you from telling us, we may extend the time periods

VISA DEBIT CARD: Additional limits on liability for Visa Card ®. Unless you have been grossly negligent or have engaged in fraud, you will not be liable for any unauthorized transactions using your lost or stolen Visa card. This additional limit on liability does not apply to ATM transactions, to transactions using your Personal Identification Number, which are not processed by Visa, or to commercial cards. Visa is a registered trademark of Visa International Service Association. .

CONTACT US IN THE EVENT OF AN UNAUTORIZED TRANSFER : If you believe your card and/or PIN has been lost or stolen or that someone has transferred or may transfer money from your account without your permission, call us at 706-276-8000 or write us at Appalachian Community Bank, Attn: Bookkeeping Department ,PO Box G, 822 Industrial Blvd. , Ellijay , Georgia 30540. You should also call the number or write to the address listed above if you believe a transfer has been made using the information from your check without your permission

ERROR RESOLUTION NOTICE:
In case of errors or questions about your electronic transfers, telephone us at 706-276-8000 or write us at PO Box G, 822 Industrial Blvd., Ellijay, GA 30540 as soon as you can, if you think your statement or receipt is wrong or if you need information about a transfer listed on the statement or receipt. We must hear from you no later than 60 days after we sent the FIRST statement on which the problem or error appeared. Tell us your name and account number (if any), describe the error or the transfer you are unsure about, and explain as clearly as possible why you believe it is an error or why you need more information. Tell us the dollar amount of the suspected error

If you tell us orally, we may require that you send us your complaint or question in writing within 10 business days.

We will determine whether an error occurred within 10 business days (5 business days if involving a Visa ® transaction or 20 business days if the transfer involved a new account) after we hear from you and will correct any error promptly. If we need more time, however we may take up to 45 days (90 days if the transfer involved a new account, a point-of-sale transaction, or a foreign-initiated transfer) to investigate your complaint or question. If we decide to do this, we will credit your account within 10 business days (5 business days if involving a Visa transaction or 20 business days if the transfer involved a new account) for the amount you think is in error, so that you will have the use of the money during the time it takes us to complete our investigation. If we ask you to put your complaint or question in writing and we do not receive it within 10 business days, we may not credit your account

For errors involving new accounts (an account is considered a new account for 30 days after the first deposit is made, if you are a new customer), point-of-sale, or foreign-initiated transactions, we may take up to 90 days to investigate your complaint or question. For new accounts, we may take up to 20 business days to credit your account for the amount you think is in error.

We will tell you the results within 3 business days after completing our investigation. If we decide that there was no error, we will send you a written explanation.

You may ask for copies of the documents that we used in our investigation.

BUSINESS DAYS:
For the purposes of these disclosures, our business days are Monday through Saturday. Holidays are not included.

NOTICES : All notices from us will be effective when we have mailed them or delivered them to the last know address on our records. Notices from you will be effective when received by us via telephone or at the address specified in this Agreement. We reserve the right to change terms and conditions upon which this service is offered. We will mail notice to you at least twenty-one days before the effective date of any change, or as required by law. Use of this service is subject to existing regulations governing your account and any future changes to those regulations.

ENFORCEMENT : In the even either party brings a legal action to enforce this Agreement or collect amounts owing as a result of any Account transaction, the prevailing party shall be entitled to reasonable attorney's fees and costs, including fees on appeals, subject to any limits under applicable by law.

TERMINATION OF ATM AND POS SERVICES : You agree that we may terminate this Agreement and your use of the ATM Card, Point of Sale Transactions, or Visa Debit Cards if:

• You or any unauthorized user of our ATM PIN or debit card PIN breach this or any other agreement with us;
• We have reason to believe that there has been an unauthorized use of your ATM PIN or Debit card PIN;
• We notify you or any other party to your account that we have cancelled or will cancel the Agreement. You or any other party to your account can terminate this Agreement by notifying us in writing.

Termination of service will be effective the first business day following the receipt of your written Termination of this Agreement will not affect the rights and responsibilities of these parties Agreement for transactions initiated before termination.

OTHER PROVISIONS : There may be a delay between the time a deposit is made and when it will be available for withdrawal. You should review our FUNDS AVAILABLITY POLICY to determine availability of funds deposited at ATMs. We reserve the right to refuse any transaction which would draw upon insufficient funds, exceed a credit limit, lower an account below a required minimum balance, or otherwise require us to increase our required reserve on the account.

ATM SAFETY TIPS : As an issuer of Automated Teller Machine (ATM) access devices, we are providing for your information a list of safety precautions regarding the use of automated machines. Please read the following safety tips:

• Be aware of your surroundings, particularly at night.
• Consider having someone with accompany you when the ATM is used after dark.
• It is appropriate to politely ask someone who is uncomfortably close to you to step back before you complete your transaction.
• Refrain from displaying your cash. Pocket it as soon as your transaction is completed. Count the cash later in the safety of your car or home.
• Consider using another ATM or coming back later if you notice anything suspicious. If you are in the middle of a transaction and you notice something suspicious, cancel the transaction, pocket your ATM access devise and leave.
• Go to the nearest public area where people are located if you are followed after making the transaction.

Report all crimes to law enforcement IMMEDIATELY.