Access Agreement

Focus Online Banking and Bill Pay Access Agreement

I.  Introduction

II.  Accessing your BankNewport accounts through Focus Online Banking

A. Requirements
B. Electronic Mail (E-mail)
C. Fees
D. New Services
E. Benefits of Using Focus Online Banking and Bill Pay

III.  Terms and Conditions

A. Your Online Password
B. Payment Account
C. Our Liability
D. Overdrafts: Order of Payments, Transfers, Other Withdrawals
E. Hours of Accessibility
F. Additional Terms and Conditions

IV.  Focus Online Bill Pay

A. Using the Service
B. Bill Pay Fees
C. Bill Pay Guarantee

V.  General Terms

A. Changes to Charges, Fees or Other Ten-ns
B. Disclosure of Account Information
C. Questions or Error Correction on Focus Online Banking Transactions
D. Other General Terms

VI.  Protecting Your Account

A. Preventing Misuse of Your Account
B. Unauthorized Transactions in your BankNewport accounts
C. Security Policy

I. Introduction

This Online Access Agreement is for accessing your BankNewport accounts through Focus Online Banking and explains the terms and conditions governing the online banking services and bill pay offered through BankNewport. By using the Focus Online Banking Services, you agree to the terms and conditions of this access agreement. This online access agreement will be governed by and interpreted in accordance with federal law and regulation, and to the extent there is no applicable federal law or regulation, by the laws of the State of Rhode Island. The terms "we," "us," "our," "BankNewport," and "Bank" refer to BankNewport. "You" refers to each signer on an account. The term "business days" means Monday through Friday, excluding Saturday, Sunday and Federal holidays.

Focus Online Banking can be used to access BankNewport accounts. Each of your accounts at BankNewport is also governed by the applicable account disclosure statement ("Deposit Agreement and Disclosure")

II. Accessing BankNewport accounts through Focus Online Banking
 

A. Requirements

To access your accounts through Focus Online Banking, you must have a BankNewport account.

A business must be operating under a taxpayer identification number, which must be the owner's Social Security Number to enroll in this service and access to these accounts.

B. Electronic Mail (E-mail)

Sending electronic mail (E-mail) through Focus Online Banking is a way to communicate with the Bank. E-mail is provided for you to ask questions about your account(s) and provide general feedback. E-mail is accessible after you sign on with your password to a session of Focus Online Banking. To ensure the security of your account information, we recommend that you use E-mail when asking specific questions about your account(s).

You cannot use E-mail to initiate transactions on your account(s). For banking transactions, please use the appropriate functions within Focus Online Banking or call (401)-845-2265 or 1-877-709-2265 outside the Newport County area.

C. Fees

There are no monthly or transaction fees for accessing your account(s) through Focus Online Banking. See Section IV for a description of Bill Pay fees.

Please note that your Internet Service Provider (ISP) may assess fees.

D. New Services

Focus Online Banking may, from time to time, introduce new Online services. We will notify you of any new services. By using these services when they become available, you agree to be bound by the rules communicated to you concerning these services.

E. Benefits of Using Focus Online Banking

With Focus Online Banking, you can manage your personal or small business accounts from your home or office on your personal computer. You can use Focus Online Banking to:

  • View account balances and review transaction history.
  • Transfer money between BankNewport accounts.
  • Pay bills to any merchant, institution or individual.
  • Communicate directly with Focus Online Banking through E-mail.

III. Terms and Conditions
 

The first time you access your BankNewport accounts through Focus Online Banking you agree to be bound by all the terms and conditions of this agreement and acknowledges your receipt and understanding of this disclosure.

A. Your Online Password

You will select an Online Password that will give you access to your BankNewport accounts for Focus Online Banking access. This password can be changed within Focus Online Banking using the options button. We recommend that you change your password regularly. BankNewport will act on instructions received under your password. For security purposes, it is recommended that you memorize this password and do not write it down. You are responsible for keeping your password, account numbers and other account data confidential.

B. Payment Account

Although there are no fees for accessing your accounts through Focus Online Banking, you may be asked to designate a payment account for selected services such as Bill Pay. You agree to pay promptly all fees and charges for services provided under this agreement, and authorize us to charge the account that you have designated as the payment account or any other account for the fees.

If you close the payment account, you must notify BankNewport and identify a new payment account for the selected services. Additionally, if you close all BankNewport accounts, you must notify our Focus Online Banking Center to cancel the BankNewport services.

Your online access may be canceled at any time without prior notice due to insufficient funds in one of your accounts. After cancellation, Focus Online Banking services may be reinstated, once sufficient funds are available in your accounts to cover any fees and other pending transfers or debits. In order to reinstate your services, you must call our Focus Online Banking Center at (401) 845-8616 or 1-877-709-2265(option 4) outside the Newport County area.

If you do not access your BankNewport accounts through Focus Online Banking for six months, BankNewport reserves the right to cancel your service without notice. Please note that your bill payment information will be lost if your service is canceled.

You agree to be responsible for any telephone charges incurred if using a non-local telephone number with a dial up internet connection to access your accounts through Focus Online Banking.

If you wish to cancel any of the Focus Online Banking services offered through BankNewport, please contact our Focus Online Banking Center at (401) 845-8616 or 1-877-709-2265(option 4) outside the Newport County area or send us cancellation instructions in writing to BankNewport, 12 Turner Rd., Middletown, RI 02842.

C. Our Liability

Except as specifically provided in this Agreement or where the law requires a different standard, you agree that neither we nor the service providers shall be responsible for any loss, property damage or bodily injury, whether caused by the equipment, software, BankNewport, OR by Internet browser providers such as Netscape (Netscape Navigator browser) and Microsoft (Microsoft Explorer browser), OR by Internet access providers OR by Online service providers OR by an agent or subcontractor of any of the foregoing. Nor shall we or the service providers be responsible for any direct, indirect, special or consequential, economic or other damages arising in any way out of the installation, use or maintenance of the equipment, software, the online financial services, or internet browser or access software.

D. Overdrafts: Order of Payments, Transfers, and Other Withdrawals

If your account has insufficient funds to perform all electronic funds transfers (ATM withdrawals, pre-authorized transactions, Focus Online Banking transfers and bill payments, etc.) that you have requested for a given business day, then:

  1. Certain electronic funds transfers involving currency disbursement, like ATM withdrawals, will have priority, and
  2. The electronic funds transfers initiated through Focus Online Banking may result in an overdraft of your account and may, at BankNewport 's discretion, be canceled.

In addition, you will be charged the same overdraft charges that apply to your account.

E. Hours of Accessibility

You can access your BankNewport accounts through Focus Online Banking seven days a week, 24 hours a day. However, at certain times, some or all of Focus Online Banking may not be available due to system maintenance.

A transfer initiated through Focus Online Banking before 12:00 AM EST on a business day is posted to your account the same day. All transfers completed after 12:00 AM EST on a business day or on a Saturday, Sunday or banking holiday will be posted on the next business day.

Our business days are Monday through Friday. Saturday, Sunday, VJ Day and Federal holidays are not included as a business day.

F. Additional Terms and Conditions

Obtaining account balance and transaction history - You can obtain balance and transaction history on all eligible accounts. Current balance and activity information is available as of the close of the previous business day.

Transferring Funds - The number of transfers from a savings account is limited as described in the Deposit Agreement and Disclosure. If a hold has been placed on deposits made to an account from which you wish to transfer funds, you cannot transfer the portion of the funds held until the hold expires.

IV. Bill Pay Service
 

A. Using the Service

The Focus Online Bill Pay Service allows you to schedule bill payments through Focus Online Banking. You can schedule, at your option, for the payment of your current, future and recurring bills from any of your BankNewport checking accounts. There is no limit to the number of payments that may be authorized. You may pay any merchant or individual within the United States through the use of Focus Online Bill Pay Service. We do not recommend or take responsibility for any payment of taxes or court-directed payments through Focus Online Bill Pay Service.

By furnishing us with the names of payees/merchants, you authorize us to follow the payment instructions to these payee/merchants that you provide us through Focus Online Bill Pay Service. When we receive a payment instruction (for the current or a future date), we will remit funds to the payee on your behalf from the funds in your selected checking account. When BankNewport receives a payment instruction, you authorize it to charge your checking account and remit funds on your behalf so that the funds arrive as close to the business day designated by you as reasonably possible. While it is anticipated that most transactions will be processed by the recipient in a timely manner, it is understood that due to circumstances beyond the control of BankNewport, particularly delays in handling and posting payments slow-responding companies or financial institutions, some transactions may take a day or even a few days longer.

For this reason, it is recommended that all payments be scheduled at least (7) seven business days before the actual due date, not the late date. If you properly follow the procedures described herein, and BankNewport fails to deliver a payment on the scheduled payment date, BankNewport will bear the responsibility for late charges ($50.00 maximum). In any other event, including, but not limited to, choosing a payment date less than (7) seven days prior to the actual due date, the risk of incurring and the responsibility for paying any and all charges or penalties will be yours.

BankNewport will use its best efforts to process all your payments properly. However, BankNewport shall incur no liability if it is unable to complete any payments initiated by you through Focus Online Bill Pay Service because of the existence of any one or more of the following circumstances:

  1. Your account does not contain sufficient funds to complete the transaction or the transaction would exceed the credit limit of your overdraft protection account.
  2. BankNewport's processing center is not working properly and you know or have been advised by the service about the malfunction before you execute the transaction.
  3. You have not provided BankNewport with the correct names or account information for those persons or entities to whomever you wish to send a payment.
  4. Circumstances beyond the control of BankNewport such as, but not limited to, fire, flood, or interference from an outside force that would prevent the proper execution of the transaction, given that BankNewport has taken reasonable precautions to avoid those circumstances.

You have the right to stop or change any scheduled payment. You must cancel the payment by no later than 9:00 PM EST, on the Payment Date, by using the DELETE function on the Focus Online Bill Pay Service "Bill Payments" screen.

BankNewport reserves the right to terminate your use of Focus Online Bill Pay Service in whole or part, at any time without prior notice.

If, for any reason, you should ever wish to cancel Focus Online Bill Pay Service, we strongly suggest that you cancel all future bill payments at the same time that you cancel your service, either by deleting those payments yourself using Focus Online Bill Pay Service or calling our Focus Online Banking Center at (401) 845-8616 or 1-877-709-2265(option 4) outside the Newport County area. This will ensure that future payments and transfers made by you will not be duplicated. We will automatically delete all outstanding payment orders (all individual payments and all recurring payments) once we have been notified that your service has been terminated. We will continue to maintain your accounts until you notify us otherwise.

B. Bill Pay Fees

Our Focus Online Bill Pay Service is free to all our personal and business customers. You have the right to stop or change any scheduled payment. You must cancel the payment by no later than 9:00 PM EST, on the Payment Date, by using the DELETE function on the Focus Online Bill Pay Service "Bill Payments" screen. If you do not delete the payment prior to it being sent and still wish to stop that payment there will be a $25.00 fee deducted from your account with us. To place a stop payment on a Bill Payment please contact our Online Banking Center at 401) 845-8616 or 1-877-709-2265(option 4) outside the Newport County area.

C. Bill Pay Guarantee

BankNewport's Bill Payment Guarantee covers errors made by us in processing your online bill payments, providing you notify us promptly. Our Guarantee does not cover late fees that result from:

Incorrect information such as payee addresses, payment amounts or account numbers, entered by you.

  • Delays or errors made by your payee in processing your payment.
  • Postal delays
  • Payments you do not schedule within our recommended timeframes:
    • 2-3 business days in advance of when the bill is due for payments made electronically.
    • 5-7 business days in advance of when the bill is due for payments made by a paper check.

V. General Terms
 

A. Changes to Charges, Fees or Other Terms

We reserve the right to change the charges, fees or other terms described in this Agreement. However, when changes are made to any fees or charges, we will notify you Online, or send a notice to you at the address shown on our records, or send you an electronic mail message (E-mail). The notice will be posted or sent at least thirty (30) days in advance of the effective date of any fees for Online Services, transactions, or of any stricter limits on the type, amount or frequency of transactions or any increase in your responsibility for unauthorized transactions, unless an immediate change is necessary to maintain the security of the system. If such a change is made, and it can be disclosed without jeopardizing the security of the system, we will provide you with electronic or written notice within thirty (30) days after the change. As always, you may choose to accept or decline changes by continuing or discontinuing the accounts or services to which these changes relate. We also reserve the option, in our business judgment, to waive, reduce or reverse charges or fees in individual situations. Changes to fees applicable to specific accounts are governed by BankNewport's Deposit Agreement and Disclosure.

B. Disclosure of Account Information

We may disclose information to third parties about your account: (a) where it is necessary for completing a Bill Payment; (b) in order to verify the existence of and condition of your account for a third party, such as a credit bureau or merchant; (c) in order to comply with a government agency or court order, or; (d) if you give us your written permission.

C. Questions or Error Correction on Focus Online Transactions

In case of questions, or errors through Focus Online Banking or Focus Online Bill Pay Service involving your account, here is what you should do:

Contact us in one of the following ways:

  • Send an electronic mail (E-mail) to our Focus Online Banking Center at intouch@banknewport.com.
  • Call our Focus Online Banking Center at (401) 845-8616 or 1-877-709-2265(option 4) outside the Newport County area.
  • Write BankNewport, Attn: Focus Online Banking, 12 Turner Rd., Middletown, RI 02842.

We must hear from you no later than sixty (60) days after we have sent the first paper statement on which the problem or error appeared. If you notify us verbally, we may require that you send us your complaint or question in writing within ten (10) business days.

  • Tell us your name and the last four digits of the account number in question.
  • Describe the error or the transaction you are unsure about, and explain why you believe it is in error or why you need more information.
  • Tell us the dollar amount of the suspected error.
  • For a bill payment question or suspected error inform us of the, payee name, date the payment debited your BankNewport account, payment amount, and reference number for the payment in question.

Here's what we will do:

We will tell you the results of our investigation within ten (10) business days, or twenty (20) business days in the case of point of sale purchases, after we hear from you and will correct any error promptly. If we need more time, however, we may take up to forty-five (45) days, or ninety (90) days in the case of point of sale or international transactions, to investigate your complaint or question. If we decide to do this, we will credit your account within ten (10) business days, or twenty (20) business days in the case of point of sale or international transactions, 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 ten (10) business days, we will not credit your account. If we determine that there was no error, we will send you a written explanation within three (3) business days after we finish our investigation and debit the amount of the error that we previously credited. You may request copies of the documents that we used in our investigation.

If we do not complete a transfer to or from your BankNewport 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 transfer.
  • If a legal order directs us to prohibit withdrawals from the account.
  • If your account is closed or if it has been frozen.
  • If the transfer would cause your balance to go over the credit limit for any credit arrangement set up to cover overdrafts.
  • If you, or anyone you allow, commits any fraud or violates any law or regulation.
  • If any electronic terminal, telecommunication device or any part of the electronic fund transfers system is not working properly.
  • If you have not properly followed the instructions for using Focus Online Banking.
  • If circumstances beyond our control (such as fire, flood or improper transmission or handling of payments by a third party) prevent the transfer, despite reasonable precautions taken by us.

D. Other General Terms

Other Agreements - In addition to this Agreement you agree to be bound by and will comply with the requirements of the applicable Deposit Agreement and Disclosure, the Bank's rules and regulations, the rules and regulations of any funds transfer system to which the Bank partners with, and applicable State and Federal laws and regulations. We agree to be bound by them also.

BankNewport reserves the right to terminate this agreement - The Bank reserves the right to terminate this Agreement and your access to Focus Online Banking, in whole or in part, at any time without prior notice.

VI. Protecting Your Account
 

A. Preventing Misuse of Your Account

Your role is extremely important in the prevention of any wrongful use of your account. You must promptly examine your statement upon receipt. If you find that your records disagree with our records, you must immediately call our Focus Online Banking Center at (401) 845-8616 or 1-877-709-2265(option 4) outside the Newport County area.

Protecting Personal Information - In addition to protecting your account information, you should also take precautions to protect your personal identification information, such as your driver's license, Social Security Number, etc. This information by itself or together with information on your account may allow unauthorized access to your account(s). It is your responsibility to protect personal information with the same level of care that you protect your account information.

Taking Care of Your Online Password - The password that is used to gain access Focus Online Banking should also be kept confidential. For your protection, you will be required to change your online password every six months. It is recommended that you memorize this online password and do not write it down.

You are responsible for keeping your password, account numbers and other account data confidential. If you believe that your online password may have been lost or stolen, or that someone has transferred or may transfer money from your account without your permission, notify our Focus Online Banking Center at (401) 845-8616 or 1-877-709-2265(option 4) outside the Newport County area.

B. Unauthorized Transactions in Your BankNewport Accounts

Notify us immediately if you believe another person has improperly obtained your Online password. Also notify us if someone has transferred or may transfer money from your account without your permission, or if you suspect any fraudulent activity on your account. Only reveal your account number to a legitimate entity for a purpose you authorize (such as your insurance company for automatic payments). To notify us, contact our Focus Online Banking Center at (401) 845-8616 or 1-877-709-2265(option 4) outside the Newport County area, or write BankNewport, Attn: Focus Online Banking, 12 Turner Rd., Middletown, RI 02842.

If your statement shows withdrawals, transfers or purchases that you did not make or authorize, please notify us immediately. If you do not notify us within sixty (60) days after the paper statement was mailed to you, and we could have stopped someone from taking money if you had told us in time, you may not get back any money lost after the sixty (60) days. If extenuating circumstances, such as a long trip or hospital stay, kept you from telling us, the time periods in this section will be extended.

C. Security Policy

We have taken significant measures to help ensure that your personal information remains confidential and secure within our data center. We use state-of-the-art network, data, and physical security practices to protect your data to the best of our ability.

  • Security Overview
    We make every effort to ensure that your information is protected. We use industry standard procedures and processes to safeguard your personal information by using intrusion detection, secure firewalls, FIPS 140-1 Level 2 encryption of sensitive information, internal controls, and carefully monitoring of the network for unauthorized access attempts. We also employ SSL encryption to insure that information passed between our site and your browser is secure.
  • Physical Security
    All servers involved in gathering, storing, and providing the data to you are operated in a secure data center that has restricted access to authorized personnel only. Our data center is monitored 24 hours per day and only certified employees are permitted on premises through the use of a picture ID and electronic access. A record is kept of all personnel who have entered the secure data center. Access to servers requires multiple levels of authentication and sensitive data including your access credentials and account numbers are always stored in encrypted format at all times. Our employees are made aware of our security policy's procedures and practices through their acceptance on a yearly basis that they have carefully reviewed and abide by it.
  • Firewalls
    All external access to our internal network must go through firewalls. Additional firewalls are used to secure access to the application and database from internal sites within our institution. Our firewalls are regularly tested to insure that they are able to protect your personal information from unauthorized external and internal access.
  • Intrusion Detection
    We use an Intrusion detection system to continuously monitor unauthorized attempts to access our site.
  • Secure communications between systems
    We use SSL to securely encrypt and protect all communications between your browser and our web servers.
  • Internal Business Practices
    We store all access credentials in an encrypted format on a secure data warehouse. Only a few authorized individuals have access to the data warehouse and no one except you can ever see the access credentials that you have provided. We require all users to provide an ID and password using both alpha and numeric characters to prevent easy guessing of passwords by unauthorized individuals. If you ever lose or forget your password, we allow only you to reset it by first accessing a token sent only to your email address on record and then providing the answer to your secret question.
  • Questions
    If you have any questions about our security procedures you can contact us via email at intouch@banknewport.com or by contacting our Focus Online Banking Center at (401) 845-8616 or 1-877-709-2265(option 4) outside the Newport County area. Be sure to provide your name, contact information, and clearly state the question. We will make every effort to answer your questions.