Home Banking Security

At MemberSource Credit Union, security is an important topic. We even have a whole department at the credit union whose sole job is to protect your security when you interact with us. They do it though tough Internet software and some incredible know-how. So, how does it all work?

Security Overview

The privacy of the communications between you (your browser) and the home banking site is ensured using encryption. Encryption scrambles messages exchanged between your browser and our home banking server. Encryption happens as follows: When you go to the sign-on page for online banking, your browser establishes a secure session with our server. The secure session is established using a protocol called Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Encryption. This protocol requires the exchange of what are called public and private keys. Keys are random numbers chosen for that session and are only known between your browser and our server. After the keys are exchanged, your browser will use the numbers to scramble (encrypt) the messages sent between your browser and our server. Both sides require the keys because they need to de-scramble (decrypt) the messages when they are received. The SSL protocol not only ensures privacy, but also ensures that no other web site can "impersonate" a financial institution’s web site, nor alter any of the information sent. You can tell whether your browser is in secure mode by looking for the secured lock symbol at the bottom of your browser window.

Encryption Level

The numbers used as encryption keys are analogous to combination locks. The strength of encryption is based on the number of possible combinations that a lock can have. As the number of possible combinations grows, it becomes less likely that anyone would be able to guess the combination in order to decrypt the message. Today's browsers offer 128-bit encryption. Our servers require the browser to connect at 128-bit encryption. Users will be unable access online banking functions at lesser encryption levels. This may require some end users to upgrade their browser to the stronger encryption level in order to access online banking functions.

To determine if your browser supports 128-bit encryption, click on "Help" in the toolbar of your Internet browser and click on "About [browser name]". If your browser does not support 128-bit encryption, you will need to upgrade to a browser that does in order to continue to access secure pages of the website. Supported browsers change all the time. If you are having issues with your browser, please contact the company the created the software and ask about 128-bit encryption.