You may place a fraud alert on your credit report to limit access to
your personal information. Once you place a fraud alert on your credit
file, any creditor trying to access the file must take extra steps to
verify your identity before granting credit. This is to confirm the
credit application is not the result of identity theft or fraud.
Generally, you will be contacted by phone for verification, however
other methods such as email may be used to confirm an application is
legitimate.
How REALTORS® FCU, A Division of Northwest Federal Credit Union's
Membership Application Works
During the online membership application process, we collect personal
information required to verify your identity before you can establish
membership in the credit union. All financial institutions must adhere
to the USA Patriot Act which states:
To help the government fight the funding of terrorism and money
laundering activities, Federal law requires all financial institutions
to obtain, verify and record information that identifies each person who
opens an account.
When you open an account at REALTORS® FCU, A Division of Northwest Federal Credit Union, we will ask for your name,
address, date of birth and other information that will allow us to
identify you. We may also ask to see your driver's license or other
identifying documents. We thank you for your understanding and for
joining us in securing a safer tomorrow. REALTORS® FCU, A Division of Northwest Federal Credit Union is a virtual
institution, so in order to verify your identity during the online
application process we use technology that performs a credit report
inquiry. Information gathered from this inquiry is used to generate
multiple choice questions that you must answer correctly so we know that
you are you. If you have a fraud alert or subscribe to an identity
theft protection service that places fraud alerts on your credit report,
we cannot automatically verify your identity so extra steps will be
necessary before your membership can be established.
What To Do If You Have Fraud Alert On Your
Credit Report
If you have a fraud alert or subscribe to an identity theft protection
service that places fraud alerts on your credit report, a message will
display after submitting your application directing you to call a Member
Care Representative so we may ask additional questions to help us
verify your identity before we can finalize your application. Your fraud alert will not influence credit
decisions, although it may inhibit "instant" credit decisions and access
to your credit information.
*Business days are Mon-Fri
8:30AM-5:00PM EST; excluding holidays.
