First Financial Northwest Bank

Frequently Asked Questions Details

Multifactor Authentication

  1. In order to make your online banking experience as secure as possible, we have a security feature that detects any uncharacteristic or unusual behavior involving your account. If anything out of the ordinary is detected, we will verify your identity.

  2. If we detect any unusual or uncharacteristic activity, we will ask you to answer your security questions or receive a phone call to make sure that it's really you. This will most likely be a very rare occurrence.

  3. Expect to be prompted at some point while banking online to enter additional information. This may include choosing several security questions that only you know the answers to as well as supplying phone numbers where you can be reached while banking online. Once this occurs, you have added a layer of protection to your account!

  4. As our customer, we know how you typically behave: what types of transactions you conduct, when and from where. If we detect any activity that does not seem like your typical behavior, we will prompt you to further verify your identity-so that we can ensure it is you and not a fraudster attempting to comprise your account. This will only happen on rare occasions. Normally you will not be asked for any additional information. For example, if someone tries to sign in with your user name and password from a computer in a foreign country shortly after you have logged off from your normal computer at home, we may decide to verify that it is really you trying to access your account.

  5. Expect to be prompted at some point while banking online to enter additional information. This may include choosing several security questions that only you know the answers to, as well as supplying phone numbers where you can be reached while banking online. Once this occurs you have added a layer of protection to your account!

  6. There is absolutely no cost associated with the security system.

  7. You will only be prompted to enter additional information when a particular activity or transaction appears to be unusual or uncharacteristic of your typical behavior.

  8. If any unusual or uncharacteristic behavior is detected you will be asked to answer several of the security questions you chose.

  9. Uncharacteristic or unusual behavior is anything that appears out-of-the-ordinary compared to how you normally would bank online and where you normally bank online. If the action being requested does not appear to be something you would normally do, we will ask you for more information to make sure it is really you and not an unauthorized user.

  10. The security system takes into account factors such as the type of transactions you ordinarily perform, the computers you typically use to access your accounts, or the typical security settings for your computer. Hundreds of factors, such as these, create a profile that is unique to you that allows us to make decisions about whether the person conducting a given activity and transaction within your account appears to be really you.

  11. No, you will only be asked for more information when unusual or uncharacteristic behavior is detected. This will most likely be a very rare occurrence.

  12. You only need to complete the set-up process once; afterwards the security system will work automatically. That means you are being protected every moment - when you are online and more importantly when you are not. Occasionally you will see this symbol to remind you that you are being protected:

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  13. Yes. In fact, your personal information is safer than ever before because we are making sure it is really you and not an unauthorized user trying to access your information.

  14. If your user name and password are stolen, the fraudster would have to be able to answer your security questions correctly before being able to access your account or complete a fraudulent transaction. If the user is unable to provide this information or cannot be reached on the phone, the activity would be blocked. This added layer of security helps us protect your online account at all times.

  15. It is always a good idea to regularly monitor your account for any unusual activity (like payments you didn't make). This security service helps prevent those incidences from ever occurring, so when you check your account everything is exactly how it should be.

  16. We are glad to hear you use antivirus software and a personal firewall. Be sure that you keep both programs up-to-date for the best possible protection against viruses, Trojans, and hackers. This security feature protects against other kinds of threats such as a stolen user name and password. It works with your other personal security programs as an added layer of security for your online banking transactions.