The start of a new financial year is a great time to take a pit stop and review your personal and financial goals and make a solid plan to achieve all that you had set out to achieve during the year.

Reflecting on the first half of 2018, we’ve endeavoured to bring increased value to our members by putting them at the heart of our decision making. One of our key focuses in the last few months has been on removing a significant number of fees on various accounts and improving the product and service offerings for our members.

Our approach is simple - 100% of our profits are re-invested to benefit our members in Police, Health, Emergency and Public Services and the communities they serve. It’s this approach that drives the work we do everyday – we’re about ‘People before Profits’ and putting our members first.

Thank you to all of our members for their continued support and we look forward to all we can achieve together in the second half of the year.

THE SPIRIT OF CFA YOUTH AWARDS

The ‘Spirit of CFA Youth Awards’ was held on 20 May in Ballarat to honour the outstanding dedication and the extraordinary lengths volunteers and firefighters go to in helping one another and the community. BankVic is a proud supporter of the Country Fire Authority (CFA), and was honoured to be one of the major sponsors of the event this year.

The CFA is a leader in emergency services, not only in Australia but internationally, providing a wealth of important programs and services. The Spirit of CFA Awards is an opportunity to recognise individual contributions as well as showcasing the quality and depth of service provided by all CFA volunteers and staff to their communities. A truly inspirational group, Bailey Rhodes was awarded the winner of the ‘Youth Award’, Tyson Huggins was awarded the ‘Highly Commended Award’ and Deklan Brown was awarded the ‘Commended Award’ by our Chief Product & Marketing Officer, Heather McGovern who was honoured to present these awards on behalf of BankVic.

With online and offline banking scams and fraud on the rise, it’s more important than ever to ensure you’re well aware and protected when using your debit and credit cards at a store,online, at an ATM or even when you receive unsolicited calls or emails.

Here are some handy tips to help you stay safe online and offline.

• Always closely review your account. You can do this via online banking and by checking your statements. Please contact us as soon as possible if there are any unauthorised or unknown transactions.
• Always remove your card from an ATM. Unlike Australia’s ATMs, some overseas ATMs (such as in Bali) may not prompt you to immediately remove your card.
• Do not give out personal passwords. Not even to friends, family, or partners as you may be liable for any subsequent fraudulent activity.
• Do not respond to e-mails that aren’t recognised, do not download or open attachments, or click embedded links that aren’t explicitly from a known and trusted e-mail address.
• Be aware of fraudsters posing to be from BankVic or other companies (e.g. the ATO or Energy Companies) and if there’s ever hesitation, contact the companies directly using their direct phone number, general enquiry e-mail addressor via their social media page.
• Be aware of mobile porting - call your mobile service provider to ask if they can add a keyword to your account.Call them immediately if you notice unexpected or unusual service outages.
• Use a password to protect access to your mobile device and set your mobile device to lock automatically after a few minutes of non-use.
• Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter store large amounts of personal information that could be used to conduct identity fraud. For example, information such as your date of birth can be used to verify your identity over the phone. Think about the consequences before posting information on these sites.
• Securely dispose of sensitive documents - don’t simply throw your bank documents, bills etc. in the bin. These should be shredded or destroyed.
• Secure your mailbox - use a padlock or PO Box and report any missing mail to the relevant provider.
• Stay up to date with the latest online threats and how they can be managed. A free subscription service updating internet users is available at www.staysmartonline.gov.au. Another great Australian Government resource is www.scamwatch.gov.au.

Remember, a genuine organisation will never contact you to:

1. request information or payment over the phone or
2. request information or payment by e-mail or
3. request bank account details or
4. request you log into a computer

If you have any concerns at any time, please contact BankVic on 13 63 73 to discuss this further with one of our friendly staff. More information is also available on our website.

TRAVELLING OVERSEAS?

MAKE SURE YOU LET US KNOW

To ensure the security of your cards and peace of mind while travelling overseas, it’s always a good idea to notify us of your travel

Simply complete our online form  before you head off or call us on 13 63 73 option 3 (8am-7pm Mondayto Friday or 9am-12 noon Saturday) to providethe following information:

• what country/countries you’ll be visiting and when,
• your contact details while you are away and
• if you are intending to use your Visa card ormake any large external or BPAY® transferswhilst overseas.

More information on what else to consider before you leave is available here

INSURANCE

WIN $20K

COMPETITION WINNER

We are thrilled to announce the winner of our combined BankVic and CGU Insurance Win $20k competition!BankVic member Michelle Simpson is the winner of $20,000! Many congratulations to Michelle for winning the competition.

Many congratulations also to Lyle Whitten who was the winner of the $1,000 Visa Debit Card minor prize.