First Financial Northwest Bank is a corporate leader. We take our responsibilities seriously, not just as a member of this community, but as a regional and even national entity. We will continue to respect the rights and privacies of individuals and do not tolerate any prejudice, whether it be based on race, color, creed, religion, sex, age, national origin, marital status, sensory, physical or mental handicap, political ideology, or sexual orientation.
‘Check 21’ - The Check Truncation Act is a federal law that allows banks to handle checks electronically. This allows large volumes of checks to be processed quickly and efficiently, and results in these significant benefits for you: Checks clear faster, and as each check clears, the new balance is reflected on the account.
Fraud is reduced because, as checks clear faster, banks are able to identify fraudulent items sooner and minimize customer inconvenience. Check images are accessible to you online and readily available to print if needed.
The Seattle office of the Federal Reserve Bank became a Check 21 capture and print facility, and all paper checks deposited to the Seattle office will be converted to Check 21 for collection.
What this means to you....
First Financial Northwest Bank will be truncating checks for all accounts with check writing capability. First Financial Northwest Bank will not return your cancelled checks. For your convenience, we offer “HomeBanker”, an internet banking service available at www.ffnwb.com, where you can view the front and back of your cancelled checks online. We know this will be a change for many of you. If you have questions about your statement please don’t hesitate to call or stop in the office.
First Financial Northwest Bank is concerned with the prevalence of email and internet-related fraudulent schemes, such as "phishing" (fishing) and ID theft. Our web site should not be accessed from a link provided by a third party. It should only be accessed by typing in the web site name or the URL address, into the web browser, or by using an established "bookmark" that directs your browser to our site. An outside link may take you to a site which appears like First Financial Northwest Bank, however this could lead to a "spoofed" site which is out to trick customers in to thinking they are responding to a bona fide request, and divulge personal information. First Financial Northwest will never ask for any personal or financial information from you via email.
We will not request your social security number, account number nor P.I.N.s. Please report any such requests to our institution.
Outside surcharges may be assessed at some ATM locations. The above limits only apply to consumer accounts. For business accounts please reference your Business Debit Card Agreement.
The federal regulation limiting the amount of checks written on all Money Market Accounts has been increased from three (3) to six (6), with the six-per-month transaction limitation by means of check, debit card or similar order payable to third parties still applies.
The Funds Availability Policy has been revised due to recent changes to Regulation CC - Expedited Funds Availability Act. We’ve updated the amount of money that becomes available to you when a funds hold is placed on a deposit. The first $200 of the deposit amount placed on hold will become available the next business day.
For additional information, please review our Funds Availability Disclosure.
Banks are required to comply with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. Please refer to the Internet Gambling and Your Bank pamphlet for information you need to know about what banks are doing to ensure illegal internet gambling activities are thwarted.