Online Privacy Policy

Your privacy is important to us.

Please read this Online Privacy Policy before using our Services. It explains how Southern Bank and its legal affiliates (“Southern Bank”, “we” or “us”) collect, share, use, and protect personal information and data we receive through our website, mobile applications, and other online services and digital advertising activities, and from other sources as described below, such as via email, our branches or via phone with our Client Service team (collectively, the “Services”). “You” and “your” refer to any person who accesses or uses the Services. By using the Services, you agree to be bound and abide by our Terms of Use and Online Privacy Policy in effect at the time of use. Do not access or use the Services if you do not agree with these terms.


Please keep in mind that if you have a financial product or service with us, we will also use and share any information that we collect from or about you consistent with our Privacy Notice, which offers you certain choices with respect to the use and sharing of your personal information.


We may change this Online Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will let you know by appropriate means such as by posting the revised information on this page with a new “effective date” date at the bottom of this Policy. Any changes to this Online Privacy Policy will become effective when posted unless indicated otherwise.


By using the Services, you represent and warrant that you are of legal age to form a binding contract with Southern Bank and meet all of the eligibility requirements in these terms. The Services are intended only for individuals who are at least 13 years old, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 without parental consent.


1. INFORMATION WE COLLECT

We may collect several types of personal information from you or others where we believe it is reasonably required for ordinary business purposes or legal obligations. We may collect such information by various means, including directly from you, both online (e.g., our website) and offline (e.g., when you call us or visit a branch location), through your use of our websites or related online services, and from other third party sources and social media platforms that you may use to engage with us, as well as from our affiliates or third parties for the purposes provided below, and/or to supplement information we already possess. This includes:

  • Personal Information you voluntarily provide: This includes a username and password, contact information (such as first and last name, email address, mailing address, and telephone number), device contacts/contact lists, and financial account information. We may also collect payment card information, social security numbers, and driver’s license numbers (or comparable) that you provide where we believe it is reasonably required for ordinary business purposes such as user authentication. We also receive information you may provide through the Services (e.g., feedback, inquiries, etc.) and communications between you and us, such as emails or messages regarding the Services. Note that you may not be able to opt out of certain Services-related e-mails.
  • Identifiers and other information regarding use of the Services: We may use third-party analytics tools to help us measure traffic, usage, and sales trends by your use of our Services. These tools may capture the IP address of the device you use to connect to the online service, metadata, log files, the type of operating system and browser you use, and information about the site you came from, the parts of our Service you access, and the site you visit next, to help assist us in improving your online experience.
  • We or our third-party partners may also use cookies, web beacons or other similar technologies to collect and store other information about your visit to, or use of, our Services. In addition, we may later associate the usage and other information we collect online with personal information about you. If you do not want information collected through the use of cookies, most browsers allow you to reject cookies, although it can impact your ability to use the functionality or features provided by the Services. We may share non-personal information obtained via cookies with advertisers and affiliates.
  • When you use our mobile application or otherwise use a mobile device to connect to our Services, we may collect a unique device identifier or other device information to provide the Services and/or functionality. Certain Services may require your mobile phone number, which we may associate with your account and device. We may also collect, use, and store information about your location (GPS and cell tower information). Your personal information and mobile device information (e.g., location and device identifier) may also be used for security and user authentication purposes.
  • When you use our mobile application or otherwise use a mobile device to connect to our Services, allowing access lets you add contacts to use with features that allow you to send money via your mobile app. We will only add the contacts you choose, and that information will not be shared.
  • When you use our mobile application or otherwise use a mobile device to connect to our Services, access to camera/photos are required to deposit checks or capture receipts.
  • Information received from third parties: We may receive personal information about you from additional online and offline sources and third parties (such as credit reporting agencies) to supplement the information we receive from you. If we do so, this Notice governs any combined information that we maintain in a personally identifiable format.

2. HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

In general, we use the personal information described above in a number of ways, such as:

  • Process account applications and transactions, and facilitate other account activities;
  • Verify your identity (such as when you access your account information) and enhance our online security measures;
  • Help you efficiently access and manage your information and preferences;
  • Provide you with customer support;
  • Provide personalized content and information, which could include tailored online ads or other forms of marketing;
  • Monitor metrics such as total number of visitors, traffic, and demographic patterns; and
  • For other purposes disclosed at the time of collection.

We may also use the information we collect as we believe to be necessary or appropriate for certain essential purposes, including:

  • To facilitate the functionality of our Services and business operations;
  • To comply with and enforce applicable legal requirements, relevant industry standards, contractual obligations, and our company policies;
  • To detect, prevent, or investigate potential security or fraud events;
  • To enforce our Terms of Use protect our operations, or pursue available remedies or limit the damages that we may sustain; and
  • To protect our rights, privacy, safety or property, security and/or that of our affiliates, business partners, you or others.

We may aggregate data we collect on an anonymous basis that does not identify you for any purpose otherwise allowed by applicable law.

Job applicants may also provide us information as part of an employment application that includes name and contact information, resume (e.g., education and work experience), and cover letter. We may also obtain personal information about applicants from third parties (e.g., former employers or references you provide). We use this information to evaluate applicants for employment with us and for on boarding and human resources purposes in connection with such employment. Job applicants may provide additional information for routine background checks to a third-party provider of such services, which may be subject to specific privacy terms and consents provided at the time of collection.

3. SHARING OF YOUR INFORMATION

We are not in the business of selling personal information about our users to third parties without your consent. We may share the information we collect from and about you with our affiliates and other third parties in some instances, such as:

  • Our third-party service providers that we believe need the information to perform a technology, business, professional, or banking function for us (such as IT services, maintenance and hosting of our Services, payment processors), but we only provide information so these individuals or entities can perform their required functions on our behalf;
  • Southern Bank’s affiliated websites and businesses in an effort to bring you improved service across our family of products and services, or other companies in connection with co-branded services, products, or programs, when permissible under relevant laws and regulations;
  • Credit reporting agencies;
  • Third parties or affiliates in connection with a corporate transaction, such as a sale, consolidation, or merger of Southern Bank’s businesses; and
  • To comply with legal requirements such as regulator, court, and law enforcement demands (subpoenas, court orders, etc.);
  • To address fraud, security, or technical issues;
  • To respond to an emergency or otherwise to protect the rights, property or security of our company, customers or third parties.

Where appropriate, we will limit sharing of your information in accordance with the choices you have provided us in response to our Consumer Privacy Notice.

4. HOW WE STORE YOUR INFORMATION

By registering for and using the Services you consent to the transfer and use of your personal information anywhere where the Services or our service providers maintain facilities, consistent with this Online Privacy Policy. We keep personal information at least as long as necessary for business purposes, our retention policy, and legal requirements. We typically retain customer calls as reasonably needed for quality assurance and training, security and fraud prevention, and other related purposes.

Although we implement commercially reasonable administrative, physical, and technical security measures designed to protect your personal information from unauthorized access or use, we cannot guarantee that the information will not be accessed, disclosed, altered, or destroyed. We will make any legally required disclosures of any breach of the security, confidentiality, or integrity of your personal information. To the extent the law of your jurisdiction allows for notification of a breach via e-mail or the Services, you agree to accept notice in that form.

Please note that information you send to us electronically may not be fully secure when it is transmitted to us. We recommend that you do not use insecure channels to communicate sensitive or confidential information (such as your Social Security Number) to us.

5. YOUR CHOICES ABOUT YOUR INFORMATION

Southern Bank is a regulated financial institution. Information we collect from or about individuals in connection with any consumer banking activities is treated in accordance with applicable federal and state privacy laws including the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) and Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). We therefore use and share any information that we collect from or about customers of our financial products or services consistent with the disclosures in our Consumer Privacy Notice and, in the event that state privacy law provides for an exemption for GLBA-regulated organizations or information, state privacy law may not apply. However, we provide individuals with privacy rights that may be exercised in accordance with our Consumer Privacy Notice and the access, correction and opt-out services provided below.

  • Accessing and Correcting Your Information: Keeping your account information up to date is important. You may review or update certain account information by logging in to the Services or by contacting us. You can also adjust certain profile and privacy settings as follows:
  • User profile: Your user profile may provide different options for the type of personal information you can provide as well as the types and methods of communication that you prefer.
  • Emails: In all promotional emails, you will be given the opportunity to opt-out of receiving such messages in the future by clicking on the link at the bottom of the email that says “unsubscribe.” It may take up to ten (10) business days for us to process the opt-out request. Please note that even after opting out of promotional emails, we may still send you customer service announcements, administrative notices, and Services-related communications (e.g., account verification, payment confirmations, technical and security notices).
  • Text messages: In the event you are enrolled in any service that provides text messages to you, you can opt-out by replying “STOP” to any text message received.
  • Cookies: As noted above, most web browsers allow a user to reject cookies, but doing so may diminish your experience with our Services.
  • Mobile devices: As with cookies, mobile devices may allow a user to block certain information requests (such as location information) but doing so may diminish your experience with our Services. Mobile device or mobile operating system providers typically provide instructions on how to adjust such privacy features.

6. ONLINE ADVERTISING

Where permitted by law, we may advertise, through the Services or on unaffiliated websites, the products or services that are offered by us or third parties we work with, such as pre-screened offers of credit. These advertisements (“ads”) may be based on information about you that we or our affiliates, service providers and other companies we work with have, including your existing relationship with us (e.g., location, types of account and transactional information). We do not respond to Do Not Track (DNT) signals and handle all user information as permitted by law consistent with our Terms of Use and this Online Privacy Policy.

7. LINKING TO THIRD-PARTY WEB SITES AND SERVICES

Our Services may contain links to other websites or services that that are owned or operated by other companies ("Third-party Websites"). We are not responsible for the practices employed by any Third-party Websites or services linked to or from our Services, including the information or content contained within them. Your browsing and interaction on any Third-party Websites or service, including those that have a link on our Services, are subject to that third party’s own rules and policies, not ours. By accessing Third-party Websites, you agree that we are not responsible and do not have control over any third-party that you authorize to access your personal information, this includes your sharing of account credentials with any third party, or linking your activity to any social media platforms.

8. INTERNATIONAL CONSIDERATIONS

Southern Bank operates in the United States. While our primary data centers are in the United States, we may transfer personal information or other information outside of the United States. In addition, we may employ other companies and individuals to perform functions on our behalf. If we disclose personal information to a third party or to our employees outside of the United States, we will seek assurances that any information we may provide to them is safeguarded adequately and in accordance with this Online Privacy Policy. By providing your personal information, you consent to any transfer and processing in accordance with this notice.

9. HOW TO CONTACT US

Please direct questions or concerns about this Online Privacy Policy or our Services to Southern Bank at ebanking@bankwithsouthern.com, by phone at 1.855.455.7272 or by mail to: Attn: Digital Banking – Privacy, PO Box 520, Poplar Bluff, MO 63902.

The effective date of this Online Privacy Policy is July 19, 2023.