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PRIVACY
POLICY NOTICE
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3/2008
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For
over a century, we have forged customer relationships built on strength,
stability, integrity, and service. Hancock Holding Company is made
up of a number of affiliated companies including Hancock Bank, Hancock
Bank of Louisiana, Hancock Bank of Florida, Hancock Bank of Alabama,
Hancock Investment Services, Inc., Hancock Insurance Agency (including,
Ross-King-Walker and J. Everett Eaves, Inc.), Harrison Finance Company,
and Magna Insurance Company (an "Affiliate" or the "Affiliates"
or "we", "our" and "us", which will
refer to all Affiliates or to a particular Affiliate as is appropriate
in the context), that work together in bringing you products and
services to meet your financial needs. In choosing our financial
products and services, you entrust us with financial information
that is personally identifiable to you and not otherwise publicly
available ("Confidential Information"). We honor your
trust by protecting the privacy and security of Confidential Information
that you and others share with us. We believe you should know how
we collect, use and safeguard such personal information and what
your options are as a valued customer of one of America's strongest,
safest full-service financial institutions. This Privacy Policy
shall replace and supersede any of our previous privacy notices
or policies or other conflicting provisions relating to privacy
matters.
Collecting
And Using Confidential Information To Serve Your Needs
We
gather Confidential Information from a variety of sources and use
such information in order to: (i) administer our relationships with
you; (ii) provide you with efficient customer service; and (iii)
help us identify and determine your eligibility for other financial
products and services that may be of value to you. We may collect
the following Confidential Information about you from the following
sources:
- Information
we receive from you on applications or other forms, such as your
name, address, social security number, assets and income;
- Information
about your transactions with us, our Affiliates, or others, such
as your account balance and payment history; and
- Information
we receive from a consumer reporting agency, such as your creditworthiness
and credit history.
Safeguarding
Your Confidential Information
We use
established security standards and procedures to help protect Confidential
Information from unauthorized access and improper use or disclosure.
We maintain Confidential Information in secure environments using
physical, electronic and procedural safeguards that comply with
federal standards to protect against unauthorized access. We restrict
access to Confidential Information to those employees who need to
know such information to administer your accounts and to provide
products and services to meet your needs. We regularly train our
employees on privacy and information security and on their obligations
to protect Confidential Information. Furthermore, we hold our employees
accountable so that they adhere to such policies and procedures
in order to protect against the improper use or disclosure of Confidential
Information.
Maintaining
Accurate Information
We
continually strive to maintain complete and accurate information
on you and your accounts. If you ever determine that your account
information is incomplete, inaccurate or not current, please call
or write to us at the telephone number or address listed on your
account statement. We will correct any inaccuracies as quickly as
possible.
Limiting
And Controlling The Sharing Of Confidential Information
We
primarily share Confidential Information about you so that we may
provide you with the financial products and services that you want
and expect. In order to protect your privacy, we carefully control
our sharing of any such information. We will not disclose any Confidential
Information to anyone, except as outlined below or as permitted
or required by law. Furthermore, when serving you in a fiduciary
capacity, such as a trustee, we often observe limitations on sharing
Confidential Information that are stricter than those set forth
below.
Sharing
Information Within Hancock
In
order to provide you with greater access to financial products and
services, we share Confidential Information between the Affiliates
within our corporate family, which includes financial service providers
such as Hancock Bank, Hancock Bank of Louisiana, Hancock Bank of
Florida, Hancock Bank of Alabama, Hancock Investment Services, Inc.,
Hancock Insurance Agency (including, Ross-King-Walker and J.Everett
Eaves, Inc.), Harrison Finance Company, and Magna Insurance Company.
To this end, we may share amongst these Affiliates all the Confidential
Information that we collect as more fully explained in that section
titled "Collecting and Using Confidential Information To Service
Your Needs." However, you can opt-out of our sharing Confidential
Information with our Affiliates as discussed in greater detail later
in this notice.
Sharing
Information Outside Hancock
We
do not sell Confidential Information about you to nonaffiliated
third parties.
However, as do many other financial institutions, we select service
companies to perform support services for us - such as marketing
assistance, or work on our behalf to provide services to you - such
as printing your checks. We also may enter into joint marketing
agreements with other financial institutions to make available to
you a greater range of financial products and services than we alone
can offer. We disclose to such service providers and joint marketers
Confidential Information they need in order to render such support
services or to jointly market financial services. However, to this
end, we may disclose any or all of the information that we collect
as described in that section titled "Collecting and Using Confidential
Information To Service Your Needs." We carefully choose such
service providers and joint marketers and require them to comply
with standards of security and confidentiality equal to those set
forth in this policy and prohibit them from disclosing or using
any Confidential Information solely for their own purposes.
We
may also disclose Confidential Information about you to nonaffiliated
third parties when permitted or required by law. We will adhere
to the privacy policies and practices described in this notice even
in the event that our customer relationship with you is discontinued.
Your
Opportunity To Opt-Out Of Our Sharing Certain
Information With Our Affiliates And Related Marketing
Programs Under The Fair Credit Reporting Act
Information We Can Share With Our Affiliates And Which Our Affiliates
May Use For Marketing To You (Unless You Tell Us Not To)
Unless
you tell us not to, we may share with our other Affiliates in our
corporate family certain information about you including:
- Information
we obtain from an application for credit, such as your income
and marital status;
- Information
we obtain from a consumer report, such as your credit score or
credit history;
- Information
we obtain to verify representations made by you, such as your
open lines of credit;
- Information
we obtain from a person regarding employment, credit or other
relationship with you, such as your employment history; and
- Information
related to your transactions or other experiences with us.
Also,
unless you tell us not to, our Affiliates may use this information
in marketing their financial products and services to you.
Shared
With Whom
Affiliates
within our corporate family that may receive this information and
may use it in marketing financial products and services to you include
financial service providers such as banks, securities broker-dealers
and insurance companies.
How
To Tell Us Not To Share This Information With Our Affiliates Or
Tell Our Affiliates Not To Use It In Marketing
If you prefer that we do not either share this information
with our Affiliates, or that our Affiliates not use such information
to market their financial products and services to you, you may
opt-out of this sharing and marketing, that is, you may direct us
not to share this information or use this information in marketing
by calling us toll free at 1-888-416-4502. Also, you may
write us at Hancock Bank, Attn: Privacy Officer, Post Office
Box 4019, Gulfport, MS 39502 and provide us with your name,
address and social security number.
Impact
Of An Opt-Out On Direct Marketing
Your decision to opt-out of either the sharing of such information
or our Affiliates marketing to you using such information will be
treated as your request not to receive future marketing offers from
us or our Affiliates by direct mail, telephone, and/or e-mail. Even
if you opt-out, you will continue to be contacted as necessary to
service your account, be contacted by your account representative,
and receive marketing information included with your regular account
mailings and statements. Furthermore, this opt-out does not apply
to sharing of such information or marketing contacts by our Affiliates
that you specifically authorize or request.
We
will honor your opt-out request within a reasonable time and thereafter
will not share this information with our Affiliates. However, when
we receive your opt-out request a marketing program may already
be underway and you may receive a marketing offer from an Affiliate
resulting from information shared prior to Hancock receiving your
opt-out request. Note: Your direction to opt-out only covers certain
information about you that we might otherwise share with our Affiliates.
Even if you opt-out, we may share other information about you with
our Affiliates to the extent permitted by law.
Joint
Customers
If two or more customers jointly obtain a financial product or service
from us (joint customers), we treat an opt-out instruction by one
joint customer as applying to that joint customer only. Each joint
customer may make a separate choice but any customer can opt-out
on behalf of the other joint customers. A customer's opt-out (including
an opt-out made on customer's behalf by a joint customer) will apply
to all accounts that he or she maintains with any Affiliate.
Please
note that third parties may obtain information about you from sources
other than and independent of us, such as from credit reporting
agencies or public documents or records. Mailings and other solicitations
based on such information are outside of our control.
How
To Reduce Direct Marketing From Other Companies
If
you want to remove your name from many national direct mail lists,
send your name and address to:
DMA
Mail Preference Service
P.O. Box 643
Carmel, NY 10512
If
you want to reduce the number of telephone solicitations from many
national marketers, send your name, address, and telephone number
to:
DMA
Telephone Preference Service
P.O. Box 1559
Carmel, NY 10512
This
Privacy Policy applies to all affiliated companies within the Hancock
Holding Company, Inc. family unless we provide notice that a separate
privacy policy applies to that company. However, should you receive
a notice of privacy policy from an Affiliate that differs from this
Privacy Policy, the terms of this Privacy Policy will govern over
conflicting terms, if any, contained in such other privacy policy.
Hancock
Holding Company Family
Hancock
Bank
Hancock Bank of Louisiana
Hancock Bank of Florida
Hancock Bank of Alabama
Hancock Investment Services, Inc.
Hancock Insurance Agency (Including, Ross-King-Walker and J. Everett
Eaves, Inc.)
Harrison Finance Company
Magna Insurance Company
WEB
SITE PRIVACY POLICY NOTICE
At
Hancock Bank, we take the issue of privacy very seriously. We want
to assure visitors to our Web site the security, privacy and confidentiality
that they expect from a premier financial services institution.
You can be sure that our commitment to protect your financial information
will continue under the principles and online guidelines described
below.
Information
Collected Generally
Hancock Bank does not collect any personal information from anyone
who is merely visiting or browsing its Web site. Personal information
may be requested if the visitor chooses to respond to online surveys,
send Hancock Bank an e-mail message, apply for products and services
online, or use Hancock Bank's on-line banking product.
E-mail
and Product Inquiry
Through use of a "Contact Us" feedback form, Hancock Bank invites
visitors on its Web sites to send e-mail messages to Hancock Bank
so that Hancock Bank may respond to inquiries regarding Hancock
Bank or its products or services. Hancock Bank retains copies of
these e-mail messages. The information provided by a visitor will
only be used to respond to the visitor's inquiry and to provide
better customer service. If Hancock Bank thinks that a particular
Hancock Bank account or service might apply to you or serve your
needs, then Hancock Bank may occasionally contact you at your e-mail
address to inform you of the potential benefits and availability
of such accounts or services. Unless otherwise stated, all e-mail
inquiries initiated from Hancock Bank’s web site by the user are
assumed to be non-secured and therefore may be transmitted in the
"open" over the Internet.
Applications
for Products and Services
Through its Web site, Hancock Bank offers opportunities to apply
for various products and services online, such as PC banking and
brokerage services. Visitors who choose to apply for such products
and services provide personal information Hancock Bank needs to
process the application. To protect the confidentiality of the information
submitted, Hancock Bank uses secure socket layer (SSL) technology.
SSL technology establishes a "secure" Internet session and encodes
the data submitted to the Hancock Bank Web site, ensuring that the
information is accessible only to an authorized Hancock Bank representative
and the customer. To support SSL, customers must have an Internet
browser that supports state-of-the-art 128-bit "strong" encryption,
such as Netscape 6.1 and higher, Microsoft's Internet Explorer 6.0
and higher, and AOL 3.0 (Windows). A customer can tell whether a
document comes from a secure server by looking at the location (URL)
field. If the URL begins with https:// (instead of http://), the
document comes from a secure server. After you have submitted an
application online, Hancock Bank recommends that you end your browser
session before leaving your computer.
Protecting Your Bank Online
When you bank online with Hancock Bank, we, along with
our third-party service providers who bring these services to you,
have access to your information. Information is retained on our
system or the system of the appropriate third-party service provider,
depending upon what is required to serve your needs. We use state-of-the-art
Internet technology, supported by the third-party service providers
that we work with, to make online banking secure and to protect
your personal information. We also require an I.D. and password
to access your accounts. If you do not provide this information,
we cannot establish an online banking service for you. You can also
help maintain the security of your banking information by not sharing
your ID or password with anyone, by changing your password regularly,
and by remembering to sign off.
Planning Tools and Personal Data
There are many planning tools and educational topics
throughout this Site to help you make the financial decisions that
are right for you in the privacy of your home. We encourage you
to try all of our "what-if" scenarios as often as you
like. When you use various planning tools on our Site, the calculations
run on your computer or our server. The information you enter is
retained to assist you on return visits to our site as it relates
to the use of the tools and topics. The information is also used
to present specific product/service information related to those
tools or topics when visiting our web-site. You will not be solicited
by telephone or e-mail unless you specifically request to have a
representative contact you.
Applications
for Employment
Hancock Bank offers visitors to its Web site the opportunity to
inquire about employment opportunities posted on the Web site. When
enabled, applicants may also submit online resumes on the Web site.
The information submitted is used solely to evaluate prospective
candidates and to communicate regarding an open position.
Transactional
Services
Within its web-site, Hancock Bank collects personal information
necessary to complete transactions or provide data requested by
the visitor (for example, account balances and check clearance dates).
To protect the confidentiality of the information submitted, Hancock
Bank requires that visitors have a browser that supports 128-bit
"strong" encryption, i.e., Netscape 6.1 and higher, Microsoft's
Internet Explorer 6.0 and higher and AOL 3.0 (Windows).
Use
of Cookies
A cookie is a small piece of information about an Internet session
that may be created when a visitor accesses a Web site. Presently,
Hancock Bank's Web site uses cookies to facilitate easier navigation
within the site and provide a higher level of convenience for the
visitor. The cookies used by Hancock Bank...
- Are
not written to the visitor's hard drive*
- Exist
only until the browser is shut down*
- Do
not contain any personal information regarding the visitor
- Do
not retrieve any information from the visitor's personal computer.
* Except
for Online Banking-HandyNet. Please refer to Online
Banking FAQ for more information regarding the use of Cookies
with Online Banking.
Use of Information Collected
Hancock Bank uses the information collected from visitors to its
Web sites to address the specific needs of those visitors and to
provide better customer service, including the provision of the
latest information regarding Hancock Bank products. The information
collected also is used to provide a record of communications between
Hancock Bank and its Web site visitors and to comply with any applicable
legal and/or regulatory requirements.
Access
to Information Collected By Hancock Bank Employees
Certain Hancock Bank employees will be provided with a visitor's
information in order to respond to that visitor's needs and provide
the visitor with information regarding specific products in which
the visitor may have an interest. Hancock Bank employees are instructed
to use strict standards of care in handling the personal, confidential
information of Hancock Bank customers, and the handling of such
information is dealt with in Hancock Bank's Code of Conduct. Hancock
Bank employees who do not conform to Hancock Bank's confidentiality
rules are subject to disciplinary sanctions that include dismissal.
Keeping
Information Accurate
Keeping your account information accurate and up-to-date is very
important. If you ever find that our records are incomplete, inaccurate
or not current, please call the telephone number on your account
statement or email customer
service. We will correct the information as quickly as possible.
Visitors
Visitors having specific questions regarding any information may
e-mail Hancock Bank at service@hancockbank.com.
