Privacy, Security & Fraud Prevention

Washington Federal takes very seriously our responsibility to protect the privacy and security of your personal and financial information.

Privacy
We adhere to some of the strictest privacy standards in the industry, because we know you want to keep financial matters confidential. Unlike many financial institutions, Washington Federal does not partner with outside vendors to market non-bank products or services. See our Privacy Statement for more information.

Security
We use technology, such as firewalls, virus protection and encryption, to help prevent unauthorized access to your personal and financial data. As an added measure of security, all customers must “opt in” or enroll for online access before we make available their account information on this website. When you sign up for online access, you will be asked to create your own username and password to access your accounts. This information is encrypted during transmission.

Fraud Prevention
To protect our customers’ accounts, we do not allow online transfers or withdrawals. We prefer to follow time-tested procedures for transactions, which usually rely on the customer providing us with identification or a verifiable signature in order to establish his/her authority to transact on an account with us.

Beware of “phishing,” when you receive an email asking you to verify your account information or passwords by clicking on a web link. Phishers can set up websites that appear identical to our existing site, but with links taking you to fraudulent websites which collect information in order to steal your identity. Be sure to always type out our web address (www.washingtonfederal.com) in your browser window to initiate online banking.

Washington Federal will never ask you to verify or provide personal or account information in an email, and we will never include confidential information in email correspondence we initiate. Our basic philosophy is that e-mail is not necessarily a secure means of transmitting confidential data. If you’re ever in doubt about online activity or email you have received which appears to be from Washington Federal, please call your local branch for verification and/or to report suspected identify theft or fraud, or email us at reportfraud@washingtonfederal.com.

Rev. 3/6/07