Let's compare financial transactions on the Internet with common non-electronic financial transactions. For example, you probably often write a check at a store or to pay a bill. Consider the information printed on your check that is easily read by anyone processing that check --- your name, address, phone number, bank name and account number, and perhaps your driver's license number or social security number.

In contrast to this printed information which anyone can read, the information that travels across the Internet using a secure web banking system like ours, is encrypted (scrambled) according to a complex mathematical algorithm. To unscramble the data, someone would have to have both the ability to "crack" this algorithm plus many, many hours of computing time on a super-computer. While this is not impossible, it is not very likely that someone with these resources would concentrate this effort on individual consumer accounts.

Is special software needed to ensure security?

You need to use a web browser that uses 128-bit Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol. We suggest Netscape 4.x or higher, or Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.x or higher.