Dear Member

At our next annual meeting, April 16, 2012, there will be four Board of Directors positions open for re-election.  The Board Chairman has appointed a nominating committee at the November Board of Directors’ meeting to interview potential members to fill these positions.  If you would like to nominate a member to be on the Board of Directors, you can send a brief statement of qualifications and biographical data of the person being nominated along with a petition signed by 1% of our membership (94 members) showing support for this member no later than February 15, 2012 to: Heart O’ Texas FCU, Board Secretary, P. O. Box 11, Waco, Texas 76703.  The person nominated must also include a statement that they are agreeable to the nomination and will serve if elected.  The election will be conducted by ballot at the annual meeting if there are multiple nominations for a position.  There will be no nominations from the floor if there are nominees for each position to be filled.  There will be no ballot if there is only one nominee per position.  A list of those nominated by the nominating committee along with their qualifications is in this newsletter….Hal Felty, Jr., Secretary, Board of Directors.

IS IT SECURE? LOOK FOR THE “S”… What is HTTPS ?

Everyone has seen the “http” at the start of most web addresses.  But what about “https”?  Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is a secure version of the Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (http). HTTPS allows secure ecommerce transactions, such as online banking. Web browsers such as Internet Explorer and Firefox display a padlock icon to indicate that the website is secure, as it also displays https:// in the address bar.  When a user connects to a website via HTTPS, the website encrypts the session with a digital certificate. A user can tell if they are connected to a secure website if the website URL begins with https:// instead of http://.  LOOK FOR THAT “S” WHEN YOU ARE TRANSACTING BUSINESS !

IMPORTANT CHANGES HAVE COME TO U.S. SAVINGS BONDS

Effective December 31, 2011 paper savings bonds will no longer be sold at financial institutions.  You will still be able to buy them online through TreasuryDirect at www.treasurydirect.gov.  You can even convert your current paper savings bonds into paperless. 

MEMBERS RECEIVING FRAUDULENT TEXT MESSAGES:  Another group of crooks at work.  Credit Union members everywhere are receiving bogus text messages asking for them to call a local number to straighten out a problem with their “Credit Union Credit Card”.  Remember, we will not do that, just ignore it.  If you are not sure, call us and we can check it out for you. 

GET TRAPPED INTO FINANCING AT THE DEALER?

It is not too late to let us refinance that loan for you.  Currently we have rates as low as 1.99% for those meeting certain criteria.   Even those that don’t will likely find our rate far better than the finance company the dealer used.

WE STILL FINANCE RENTAL PROPERTY WITH SOME OF THE BEST RATES IN TOWN!!

NOMINEES FOR BOARD OF DIRECTORS POSITIONS

HAL FELTY JR.:  Credit Union member since 1984. B.S. degree from Stephen F. Austin State University.  M.A. degree from University of Texas Permian Basin.  Served in the U.S. Army (Captain Retired).  Worked for the Texas Department of Corrections, Texas Parole Commission, U.S. Probation Office, and Hill College.   Served as a Credit Union Director for 27 years.  Completed 26 parts of the Credit Union Volunteer Achievement Program. 

PHIL REYNA:  Credit Union member since 1988.  BA degree from Baylor University. Worked for the U.S. Probation Office in Dallas, TX,  U.S. Pretrial Services in Waco and San Antonio and retired in 2009 as Chief U.S. Pretrial Services Officer. Serves as a consultant in the area of technology.  Served on the Supervisory Committee of another credit union from 1980 to 1986.

SAM MURPHEY:  Credit Union member since 1976.  Bachelors degree in Business Administration from the University of Texas.  Master of Science Degree in Management from American Technological University.  Service in the U.S. Army from 1967 to 1989 (LT. Colonel Retired).  Worked for Congressman Chet Edwards after retiring from the Army.   Served as a Credit Union Director for 23 years.  Currently on the Harker Heights City Council. Completed 29 parts of the Credit Union Volunteer Achievement Program.

BEADE NORTHCUT:  Credit Union member since 1974.  B.S. degree from Texas Tech in Agricultural Engineering.  Works as Registered Professional Engineer and as Registered Public Surveyor with 29 years in a supervisory management position.  Served 35 years as a Credit Union Director.  Completed 45 parts of the Volunteer Achievement Program

PRIVACY POLICY… To assure the continued privacy and confidentiality of your personal financial information, the Heart O’ Texas Federal Credit Union observes these practices and procedures and gives you the notice of such.  We collect nonpublic information about you from some or all of the following sources:

• Information we receive from you on applications or other forms;
• Information about your transactions with us, our affiliates, or others;
• Information we receive from a consumer reporting agency.

We do not disclose any nonpublic personal information about our members and former members to affiliates or non-affiliated third parties except as permitted by law.  Those permitted by law include all our data processing services, all our affiliated insurance companies, the credit bureau and its reporting agencies and other essential credit union affiliates. We restrict access to nonpublic information about you to those employees who need to know that information to provide products or services to you.  We maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that comply with Federal regulations to guard your nonpublic personal information.

It is not our practice to “sell” or give a mailing list or other information to anyone except those necessary to transact daily business on your behalf.

Enclosed please find your quarterly statement. Transactions after December 30, 2011 will appear on your next statement. 

Sincerely,

 J. Michael Chaney

President