Security and privacy
You may have concerns about the security of your money on the internet or how your personal information is protected from misuse. This section explains our web security promise, the measures we take to protect you and what you can do to protect yourself from online fraud.
What we do:
Our systems operate on 128-bit secure encryption. Look for the yellow padlock symbol in your browser status bar.
A team of independent security experts regularly tests our website.
Your session will time out after 15 minutes of keyboard inactivity.
Your log-in account will be locked out after three failed access attempts. You will need to call us to reset your account.
We will verify your identity before disclosing confidential information over the telephone or re-setting your password.
We do not guarantee the Site will be fault free and do not accept liability for any errors or omissions that occur.
Your Username and Password
On registering an account with us, you will have a username and password which must be used in order to access certain restricted parts of the Site. Your username and password are used by us to identify you and so are very important. You are responsible for all information posted on the Site by anyone using your username and password. Any breach of security of a username and password should be notified to us immediately.
What you should do
Never reveal your password to anyone or write it down.
Do not use a password that could be easily guessed by someone else.
Change your password immediately if you suspect someone else could know it.
Log off when you have completed your transaction.
Keep your PC updated with current anti-virus software and the latest browser versions.
Do not send us any confidential account information via email.
Treat emails you receive with caution. Remember we will never ask you to disclose your personal or account information to us by email.
We recommend that you regularly visit the www.banksafeonline.org.uk website to keep up to date with tips to protect yourself from the latest scams.
Security Notice
All forms and online account pages, i.e. those pages that show your information, use 128-bit encryption. Encryption makes your information unreadable to anyone who might intercept it. In addition, a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is used to connect your browser to our secure servers.
The latest browsers (e.g. Internet Explorer 6, Netscape 6, Opera 5) support 128-bit encryption. Browsers older than this support lower levels of encryption (40-bit or 56-bit) but they still remain extremely secure. You should note that ordinary e-mail is not secure.
Please do not send us any confidential information via email. We will only use e-mail to send you account information such as your account balance and transaction information or special offers if you have given your consent for us to do so. We will not use e-mail to send other confidential personal information to you. We cannot accept any responsibility for the unauthorised access by a third party and/or the corruption of data being sent by individuals to APS. It is our policy that if any of our customers are victims of unauthorised access to their accounts, and provided that you have not breached our security procedures, acted fraudulently or without reasonable care, we will cover any direct financial loss which you may have suffered.
Secure Socket Layer (SSL)
A "Secure Socket Layer" is a commonly used method of managing the security of messages transmitted across the Internet and is used by us to connect your computer to our secure server. You can tell that SSL is in use if you are using Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator when a small padlock icon appears on your browser status bar. If you have problems getting to secure mode, install one of the latest browsers and try the site again.
Which browser do I need to view this site?
Our site has been designed to work with a variety of browsers on either Apple Macintosh computers or Windows based PCs. It will run on versions 4 and later of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator and America On-Line (AOL), as well as Opera 5.
If you are using an older browser such as Internet Explorer 3, Netscape 3 or Opera 3 and 4, you will be able to view the information pages but you may not be able to apply for a card or access your account information. To make an application online we recommend you upgrade to the latest versions.
How do I change my screen resolution?
We recommend viewing this site with a screen resolution of 800x600 or above. To change the screen resolution depends on the operating system you use. Please consult your operating system manual for instructions.
Do I need plug-ins?
"Plug-ins" are additional software programs required by some sites to make them work properly. An example is Flash Player from Macromedia. Our site does not need any plug-ins to work effectively.
I am having difficulty accessing my account from work
Most organisations have what is known as "firewalls" to protect their networks and their computers. A firewall is a secure server through which all communication passes and which protects the organisation's computers from unauthorised access by filtering the information getting in and out. Depending on how the firewall is set up, access to another secure server may be denied.
If you are having problems accessing your account from work but can access it from home with no difficulties, check with your IT department to see if a firewall is in place that may be affecting access to our site and how this has been set up.
Cookies
What we use cookies for:
Internet cookies are common and do not harm your system - they are small text files placed on your computer by a web browser, which has been sent to you by a web server, they just store or gather site information. It is essentially an 'identification card' relating to you. They help you do things online, like remembering your logon details so you don't have to re-enter them when revisiting a site.
We use cookies to:
Gather customer journey information across our site
Ensure your privacy in our secure sites
Store login details for our secure sites
Temporarily store details input into our calculators, tools, illustrations and demonstrations
Store details of your marketing, product and business unit preferences to improve our targeting and enhance your journey through our sites
Evaluate our sites advertising and promotional effectiveness.
We use both our own and our partner companies' cookies to support these activities. We don't use cookies to track people's Internet usage after leaving our sites and we don't store personal information in them that others could read and understand. We will not sell or distribute cookie information without your prior consent.
You can disable cookies from your computer system by following the instructions at www.allaboutcookies.org but if you do not accept incoming cookies then the performance of our Site on your system may not be to the full standard or our Site may not serve you at all.
Services requiring enabled cookies:
Some of our services require cookies in your browser to view and use them and to protect your financial and personal information such as www.mycashplus.co.uk. This website uses cookies to enable information about you and your preferences to be stored and to prevent unauthorised access to your account online. If you are accessing your cashplus account we require cookies to be used to ensure your data is secure. If you reject cookies you will not be able to use the cashplus service.
Phishing
Some customers may receive an email claiming to be from APS, AFL or Broadcastle Bank Limited (who are our partner banks) with a link to what appears to be our, AFL’s or Broadcastle's website, where they are prompted to enter their personal and account details. APS is in no way involved with this email and the website does not belong to us, AFL or Broadcastle. APS will never send emails to its customers requesting security or any other confidential information. Do not reply to any such emails or disclose any personal information in these websites. If you think you have received a fraudulent email that looks like it is from APS, AFL or Broadcastle, forward the entire email including the header and footer to fraud@apsgroup.com and then delete it from your email account.
Personal Information
Data Protection:
When you apply for a product or service from us (or another party), you will be asked for personal information that is needed to process your application. The information that you provide will only be used for the purposes described at the time of your application and where applicable in the terms and conditions that apply to the relevant product or service. We will also collect, store and process your personal information on the APS computers to;(a) personalise aspects of our overall service to you; or (b) communicate with you; or (c) learn from the way you use and manage your account(s), for example from the transactions you make and from the payments which are made to your account. We will use your personal information to manage your account(s), and provide our services, for assessment and analysis (including credit and/or behaviour scoring, market and product analysis), and to develop and improve our services to you. If you do not want to receive information about our products and services, please write to Customer Services at PO Box 466, Salford, M50 2XU or by emailing us at info@apsgroup.com. We will not disclose any such information outside of APS except:
- to fraud prevention agencies and other organisations who may use the information to prevent fraud and money laundering;
- to persons acting as our agents under a strict code of confidentiality;
- to anyone to whom we transfer or may transfer our rights and duties under our terms and conditions with you;
- as required by law or regulation.
If we transfer your information to a service provider or agent in another country outside the European Union, we will make sure that the service provider or agent agrees to apply the same levels of protection as we are required to apply to personal information held in the UK and to use your information only for the purpose of providing the service to us.
