Privacy Statement

Website Privacy

Visitors to this bank Website remain anonymous. We do not collect identifying information about visitors to our site. We may use standard software to collect non-identifying information about our visitors, such as:

• Date and time our site was accessed
• IP address (A numeric address given to servers connected to the Internet)
• Web browser used
• City, state, and country

The bank uses this information to create summary statistics and to determine the level of interest in information available on our site.

Visitors may elect to provide us with personal information via E-mail, online registration forms, or our guest book. This information is used internally, as appropriate, to handle the sender's request. It is not disseminated or sold to other organizations.

Some areas of our Website may use a "cookie" temporarily stored in the visitor's computer memory (RAM) to allow the web server to log the pages you use within the site and to know if you have visited the site before.

General Banking Privacy

For nearly a century, The Palmetto Bank has protected the privacy of our customers. We’re committed to the confidentiality of your personal financial information, and we use all measures of safeguard your information.

The following information is a privacy notice for our customers. It informs you of the sources for nonpublic personal information that The Palmetto Bank collects regarding our customers, along with the strict measures we take to secure your information.

Definition of important terms:

We, our and us, when used in this brochure, refer to The Palmetto Bank.

When we use the words you and your, we refer to The Palmetto Bank customers that have continuing relationships with us, such as those with a deposit account, loan account, credit card or safe deposit box; along with those who use The Palmetto Bank for financial, investment, or economic advisory services (for a fee).

Nonpublic personal information is information about you that The Palmetto Bank collects in connection with providing a financial product or service to you. Nonpublic personal information does not include information that is available from public sources, such as telephone directories or government records.

An affiliate is a company we own or control, a company that owns us, or a company that is owned or controlled by the same company that owns or controls us. Ownership does not mean complete ownership, but means owning enough to have control.

A nonaffiliated third party is a company that is not an affiliate of ours.

How does The Palmetto Bank collect information about you?

The Palmetto Bank collects nonpublic personal information about you from the following sources:

• Applications or other forms you give to us
• Your transactions with us
• Your transactions with our affiliates
• Your transactions with nonaffiliated third parties
• Consumer reporting agencies

Your information is only accessed by authorized persons, and only when needed.

We restrict access to your personal information to only those Palmetto Bank employees that need the information in order to provide you with products or services. The Palmetto Bank maintains physical, electronic and procedural safeguards that comply with federal standards to guard your nonpublic personal information.

We carefully guard and limit the sharing of your personal information.

Your Information and Nonaffiliated Third Parties
We will not disclose your nonpublic personal information to nonaffiliated third parties, except as by law.

Former Customer Information
We do not disclose nonpublic personal information regarding former customers, except as permitted by law.

Authorized Sharing With Outside Marketing Services
We may disclose the following information to companies that perform marketing services on our behalf:

• Nonpublic Personal Information we receive from you on an application or other forms, such as your name and address.

Federal law allows us to disclose the information listed above with companies that perform marketing services on our behalf. You do not have a right to opt out of the disclosure of this information. We may also disclose nonpublic personal information about you to nonaffiliated third parties as permitted by law.

Types of Businesses We Share With
We may disclose information for outside marketing purposes with service providers that perform marketing services for us, such as direct sales companies.

Reasons for Disclosing
We may disclose your nonpublic personal information about you to companies that perform marketing services on our behalf, so that we may provide you with information about additional products and services that may benefit you.

We value your trust.

The Palmetto Bank honors the trust that you have placed in us for both your financial needs and financial privacy, and we know how important the security of your information is to you. We hope you appreciate the steps The Palmetto Bank takes to insure your financial security.

Our Pledge Is Your Financial Privacy!

Policy and Principles for Financial Privacy

As financial services professionals entrusted with sensitive financial information, The Palmetto Bank respects the privacy of our customers and is committed to treating customer information responsibly. Our Principles for Financial Privacy service as our policy and standards for all bank employees for collection, use, retention, and security of individual customer information.

1. Recognition of a Customer's Expectation of Privacy
   We recognize and respect the privacy expectations of our customers. All employees will be made aware of and educated on these privacy principles and our guidelines for assuring compliance. The safekeeping of customer information is a priority for The Palmetto Bank.
2. Use, Collection, and Retention of Customer Information
   We will collect, retain, and use information about individual customers only where we reasonably believe it would be useful and allowed by law to administer our business and to provide products, services, and other opportunities to our customers. We collect and retain information about our customers only for specific business purposes. We use information to protect and administer customer records, accounts, and funds; to comply with certain laws and regulations; to help us design or improve our products and services; and to understand our customers' financial needs so that we can provide quality products and superior service.
3. Maintenance of Accurate Information
   We will maintain systems and procedures to ensure that a customer's information is accurate, current, and complete in accordance with reasonable commercial standards. If we become aware of or have requests to correct inaccurate information, we will respond in a timely manner. Department managers are responsible for correcting inaccuracies, informing users, and communicating actions with the customer.
4. Limiting Employee Access to Information
   We will limit employee access to personally identifiable information to those with a business reason for knowing such information. Through physical and data security measures, access to customer information will be allowed according to job function. All new employees will receive training on confidentiality and information security. All employees will agree to and sign the Information Protection and Personal Computer Employee Agreement and Code of Ethics. Breech of the trust associated with access to confidential information is serious and may be grounds for dismissal. Each such breech will be addressed internally on a case-by-case basis.
5. Protection of Information via Established Security Procedures
   Security procedures and systems will be maintained to limit access to and safeguard customer information. The Palmetto Bank Information Protection Policy and Procedures address the protection of confidential or sensitive information. Electronic and physical measures are utilized to protect information from disclosure to unauthorized parties.
6. Restrictions on the Disclosure of Account Information
   We will not reveal non-public, personal, financial information to third parties for their independent use, except for the exchange of information with reputable information reporting agencies to maximize the accuracy and security of such information or in the performance of bona fide corporate due diligence, unless 1) the information is provided to help complete a customer initiated transaction; 2) the customer requests it; 3) the disclosure is required by / or allowed by law. We will not disclose account or customer information to unrelated or unaffiliated third parties for their independent use for marketing or similar purposes.
7. Maintaining Customer Privacy in Business Relationships with Third Parties
   If personally identifiable customer information is provided to third parties as allowed in #6 above, we insist that the third party adhere to privacy principles that provide for keeping such information confidential.
8. Disclosure of Privacy Principles to Customers
   We want our customers to understand our commitment to privacy in our use of customer information. As a result of our commitment, we have developed our Policy and Principles for Financial Privacy and Financial Privacy brochure, which are provided to and made readily available to our customers.