General Notice to the Membership
A verification of members' accounts is being performed as of September 30, 2023. All members should receive a statement either by mail or e-statement. Please compare your statement with your records and report any differences in balances to:
Cornerstone Resrouces
P. O. Box 655147
Dallas, TX 75265-5147
Password Requirement Changes
Beginning June 26, 2023 CFCU will require members to maintain at least an eleven (11) digit password with the following characteristics:
Password Requirements:
- Passwords must be between 11 and 1,024 characters long
- Passwords musts contain at least 3 different characters (lower case letters, upper case letters, numbers or special characters)
Strong passwords are essential to protect your personal information and accounts. A weak password can compromise your security and give criminals easy access to personal data stored online.
Consider creating a PASSPHRASE -- a "sentence like" string of words, longer than a password, that are more difficult to hack. Using a passpharse helps you make stronger passwords, that are easier to remember, and more complex.
Passphrase Example:
Sentence: WooHoo! The Chiefs won Super Bowl 2023!
Passphrase: W00!(h13f$23!
Elements: WooHoo! = W00! Chiefs = (h13F$ 2023! = 23!
Passpharse Tips:
- The best way to remember your passphrase is to create a story that ties all the words together
- A good passphrase should be long, memorable, somewhat random and contain special characters and numbers
- Don't use common expressions, song titles, movie quotes, etc.
- Don't use your personal details (birthday, hometown, pet's name, etc.)
- Ensure sensitive accounts (banking) are protected by the strongest password/passphrase possible
- Longer is Better
- For more information on protecting yourself from Identity Theft Click: Foiling Identity Theft Handout
Foiling Identity Theft Video
Learn how to keep your personal information safe at home and on the go!
2022 Annual Report
Each year CFCU holds an Annual Meeting for our membership. Our Annual Meeting was held on April 28, 2023 at 4:00 PM CST at the Martin Sanchez Building, Celanese Bishop Plant. During the meeting we highlight our accomplishments over the past year.
Although the meeting date has past you can still review the 2022 Annual Report which includes financial statements and reports from the Chair, President, Treasurer and Supervisory Committee.
Click to View: 2022 CFCU Annual Report
Your Credit Union: A Safe Harbor
Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank have made the news recently with thier closures on Friday, March 10 and Monday, March 13, 2023 respectively. SVB and Signature Bank's failures are related to bank mismanagement, not a system fracture. The failures can be viewed as a reverberation of the tech sector's currrent issues, accelerated by digitization, and amplified by the collective angst caused by the current economic and media replaying events from earlier this century.
SVB and Signature Bank were highly leveraged and in high-risk deposits tied to FinTech and large amounts in cryptocurrencies. Chemcel FCU (CFCU) does not hold cryptocurriencies, loans with venture capital, private equity or FinTech providers.
Each financial institution is unique in its operations. The focus of CFCU is to provide vehicle loans, credit card loans and mortgage loans along with deposit services to the membership. CFCU does not operate in the same universe that SBV and Signature Bank chose as their focus.
CFCU takes our responsibilities seriously and has provided member service since 1951. Financial records are regularly audited by external sources to ensure this stability. The adherence to strict regulations and guidelines further ensures the protection of our financial health and our members' deposits.
CFCU has sound financial policies; you can be confident about the security and stability of your credit union and your accounts at CFCU. Our priority is our members' financial success and security. Your deposits (savings, checking, money markets, certificates and retirement accounts) are protected by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund and insured up to at least $250,000 per individual depositor - the same as any other federally insured credit union. Visit MyCreditUnion.gov for more information about the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund Coverage.
If you are concerned about your personal finances we are here to help. Stop by or call your local branch or contact us to learn more.
Thank you for allowing CFCU to provide your financial services.
Respectfully,
Michael Engel
President/CEO
Click Alert: Member Scam Red Flags & Prevention Tips
- Don't always trust the name - criminals will spoof email name to appear as a legitimate sender
- Check for misspelled words, bad grammer and/or typos
- Be cautious of clicking links and opening attachments
- Do not provide personal or account information when asked for on social media; doing so can provide information for criminals to impersonate you
- Do not share one-time passcodes sent via text or email
- Check email salutations - legimate businesses will use personal salutations
- Be suspicious of "urgent" or "immediate" response needed
- Know that the IRS or Social Security Administration will not contact you by phone, email or social media
- Don't believe everything you see... Brand Logos, names and addresses may appear legitimate
- Be suspicious of random or unusual groups of people, e.g. all last names begin with the same letter on the TO: list
- Watch out for emails or texts that appear to be a reply to messages that you didn't send
- Monitor the sender's email address for suspicious URLs & domains
- If something seems suspicious; contact the source with a new email or phone call, rather than responding or replying directly to the email, text or call
- Be wary of offers that appear too good to be true, require fast action or cause a sense of fear
- Keep social media accounts private and be cautious of who you connect with
- Never share anything related to your credit union account, transaction history or identifying information in an unprotected forum
Minimum Qualifying Debit Card Transaction Amount Change
Chemcel FCU is changing the criteria for a qualifying debit card transaction beginning January 1, 2023 for all accounts that require a minimum number of debit card transactions in order to qualify for rewards.
The $5.00 minimum will apply to all checking account programs that use debit card transactions as a monthly qualifying criterion. The qualified debit card purchases must post - clear within the qualification cycle with each posting a minimum of $5.00
SMS Two-Factor Authentication
- This feature strengthens the existing Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
- One-Time Passcodes (OTPs) are used to step up Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)
- OTPs are randomly generated and vailid for a single login session
- It is more secure to use OTPs in public computer settings such an airport, hotel, etc. where there is a risk of having traditional passwords stolen by keyloggers
- Two-Factor Authentication requires you to have two things to get into your account: something you know (your password) and something you have (an additional security code from your mobile device)
- An SMS message containing a five-code passcode will be sent to your moble device as a TEXT containing a one-time code whenever you sign-in from a new device... that means even if someone has your username and password for an account, they will not be able to sign in without access to your text messages
- The focus of 2FA is to make it difficult for cyber criminals to get the second authentication factor and drastically reduces their chances to succeed
- This is increasingly important when you consider 65% of people use the same password everywhere