EMV Chip Payment Cards
EMV, or Chip Cards, are the new, more secure type of payment cards that are being rolled out across the USA. Long used in Canada and Europe, these cards feature an embedded computer chip which creates a unique transaction code that’s used to process the credit or debit card transaction. This is much more secure than the old magnetic strip, which had static, unchanging information. Our Visa® Credit Cards already have EMV chips. Beginning this quarter we’ll be upgrading our Visa Debit Cards as they expire. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Ransomware
Here is some timely information for anyone who is online. Ransomware is an insidious bit of malware that takes control of your computer and holds it hostage—unusable and unable to get your information back—until you pay a ransom to the perpetrators. Most frequently, ransomware is spread by email, by double-clicking on a malware attachment or link in an email. So, be very careful. Make sure that any links you click or attachments you open are not only from a trusted source, but that they are truly sent by that trusted source. And consider installing security (anti-virus) software with an up-to-date subscription. Most importantly, be sure to have good backups of your important data so that if you are infected, you can get your data back without caving in to the hackers.