Privacy Policy

Business First Bank has a long tradition of respect for the privacy of our clients and the confidentiality of the information you provide us. In today's age of spammers and online scams, we understand how much your privacy means to you. Even when we use new technologies to serve you better, you still have the right to expect that your private information will be protected.

Web Site Privacy

Through our Web site, we strive to provide valuable information to you about how we may serve you, our existing customer and all potential new customers. As a visitor to our Web site, you need not be concerned about the privacy of your personal information.

If however, you decide to contact us via e-mail, please keep in mind that e-mail on the Internet is not secure. We cannot guarantee the confidentiality of information sent via e-mail on the Internet. We strongly discourage you from including your Social Security Number, your Account Number or any other form of personal financial information or identification in your e-mail to us. Your e-mail address and any other information your e-mail header shows about you, such as your name or organization, will be revealed to us in the e-mail. We will use this information only for the specific purpose of responding to your comments or questions. Your e-mail address will not be sold, nor will it be shared with others outside the bank unless we are compelled to do so by law.

Personal Information Which May Be Obtained From You
Personal information includes all of your personal identifying information which you provide us online and may include: your name, address and telephone number, your e-mail address, your Internet Service Provider, the web browser you use, products you are interested in or use, and the content of any sent or received cookie.

Cookies and Your Personal Information
Some parts of the Business First Bank website may use a 'cookie', which is a file placed on your computer hard drive. This allows the bank's web server to log the pages you use in the bank's website and to determine if you have visited the site before. The cookie captures no personal identifying information. The bank uses this information to provide certain products and services on its site. You can set your browser to warn you when placement of a cookie is requested, and decide whether or not to accept it. By rejecting a cookie some of the features available on the site may not function correctly.

Traditional Banking Privacy

Continuing our commitment to provide quality banking services to you, our valued customer, Business First Bank has adopted the following privacy policy:

Recognition of Our Customer's Expectation of Privacy
We recognize that you expect us to safeguard the privacy and security of your confidential financial affairs. We have established and maintain standards and procedures to protect against misuse of this information.

Collection, Use and Retention of Customer Information
We collect nonpublic personal information about you from the following sources:

• Information we receive from you on applications or other forms;
• Information about your transactions with us; and
• Information we receive from a third party, such as a consumer reporting agency.

We collect, use and retain information about you only where we reasonably believe it to be useful and necessary in administering our business relationship with you; providing products, services, other business opportunities to you; and protecting you against fraud and other criminal activity or because we are required by law to collect the information. We collect and retain this information only for these purposes and if you ask us, we will tell you why we are collecting and retaining the information.

If you decide to close your account(s) or become an inactive customer, we will adhere to the privacy policies and practices as described in this notice.

Maintenance of Accurate Information
We have established procedures to assure that the financial information we have about you is accurate, current and complete in accordance with reasonable commercial standards. We will respond to any request to correct information in a timely manner. You should notify us immediately if you believe any financial information we have about you is inaccurate.

Limiting Employee Access to Information and Protection of Information
Although our employees do have access to confidential and private customer information in the normal performance of their duties, each employee's job responsibility and authority defines the level of access needed to perform his or her duties and to provide good customer service. The importance of confidentiality and customer privacy is emphasized in our Employee Handbook. We educate our employees to understand the importance of confidentiality and customer privacy and they are well aware that appropriate disciplinary measures will be taken for any violation of our Privacy Policy and Procedures.

Restrictions on the Disclosure of Account Information
We do share private information about you among our branches, departments and divisions only in accordance with these strict confidentiality policies, applicable law, and only as required to complete transactions and conduct business with you.

We do not reveal specific information about your account or other personally identifiable data to parties not affiliated with you or us unless: (1) you have requested it, (2) the information is provided to help complete a transaction you have initiated or authorized, (3) the information is provided to a reputable credit bureau or similar information reporting agency or (4) in connection with a fraudulent activity investigation. There are many state and federal laws that require us to disclose information to various government entities. Some examples of these laws are the Bank Secrecy Act, the Internal Revenue Code and the Right to Financial Privacy Act. There are other laws and regulations that require us and our service providers to disclose information. If you are involved in a legal proceeding, state and federal law provide the litigants with the right to obtain records and information from us. In these instances we will disclose the information when ever we are required to do so by law, regulation, legal process or court order. We will attempt to notify you before we comply with legal process unless we are specifically prohibited from doing so by law.

Maintaining Customer Privacy in Business Relationships with Third Parties
At times it is necessary to make personally identifiable information about you accessible to a third party, such as a vendor or service company that we have hired to provide support or services for one or more of our products or to our external or regulatory auditors. If personally identifiable customer information is accessible to such third parties, the third party (if not required by law to maintain confidentiality) must agree to adhere to our privacy principles and standards. We do not sell or otherwise provide customer information, mailing lists, or prospect lists, to other business entities for their independent use.

Removal From Any Solicitation List

From time to time, Business First Bank will send our customers information about our products and services that we believe will be of interest to them. If you do not wish to receive this information, please contact us at (800) 773-5640 or privacy@heritageoaksbank.com.

Disclosure of Privacy Principles to Customers

We want you, our customer, to understand our commitment to privacy issues and our use of confidential financial information about you. You may obtain a copy of this policy statement at any one of our branches.

Changes to Our Privacy Policy

The Business First Bank Privacy Policy and this Privacy Notice are subject to change without notice. As changes occur we will update this website accordingly.