Everyday, MidWest Financial offers you a wide range of high quality products and services. Do you know that, as a member of the credit union, you are also eligible for great extra member perks?

For example, your membership entitles you to discounts on your auto insurance and cell phone services. Other perks are more season-driven such as discounts on Cedar Point and Renaissance Festival tickets and on tax filing fees with TurboTax Online. Considering purchasing a new vehicle? Take advantage of rebates on GM vehicles available to credit union members through Invest In America program.

Make sure to visit our Exclusive Member Perks & Discounts page for a complete list of current discounts available to you.

Mint.com is a free, web-based service available to track your financial activities in one place—a service known as an account aggregator. Although MidWest Financial has no official opinion on using these types of services, here are some things you may wish to consider before diving in:

• Security — What type of data protection are they using?
  • 128-bit SSL encryption is the standard for bank encryption.
  • Does the site need your bank account login info? If so, how is that info stored?
    • Example: Mint.com states that it does not store login credentials. Someone, however, has to be storing them if the site’s automatically accessing your info. But there’s really no way to know who or how.
    • Be aware that most Identity Theft protection resources will tell you, for very good reason, to keep your account numbers, user names, and passwords secret, no matter what.
• Access — Can you actually use the Web site as it claims? Who else can see your data?
  • Not every financial institution “participates/is supported” by these services because of account security laws.
    • A Multi-Factor Authentication process (those extra security questions) is required for financial institutions. Mint.com, etc., can’t always navigate the various processes.
  • Check the Terms of Use and Privacy Policies carefully and make sure you are comfortable with who and how your personal data may be shared.
• Convenience—How easy is it to get or delete your information?
  • Can you get the info you want or need in a manner that is convenient to you? For example, is the site easy to navigate? Is there an App for your Smartphone?
  • Is it simple to delete your account/information if you decide this system doesn’t work for you?
• Technical Support — Is there help if you run into issues?
  • MidWest Financial’s staff cannot help you troubleshoot these services in any way, shape, or form. We are not affiliated with Mint.com, etc., and have no expertise in their workings. Also, you may or may not be able to link your MidWest Financial accounts.

Damaging storms, tornados, flooding, even an earthquake. There’ve been a lot of natural disturbances/disasters lately in Michigan. Question is if you had to evacuate your home because of one, do you have a disaster box ready?

A disaster box is a waterproof, fireproof container (e.g. portable safe, etc.) that you can take with you in the event of a fire or natural disaster. Your disaster box should include:

• A key to your safe deposit box, if you have one
• Camera—a single use box camera will do
• A copy of your household inventory
• Copies of your insurance papers (car, home, renter’s, health, life, etc.), including agent contact info
• Copies of recent bank, investment, and mortgage account statements
• Copies of birth certificates, adoption papers, and Social Security cards
• Copies of Marriage, divorce, and military records
• Copy of your Will
• Copies of passports and any papers related to immigration or green card issues
• Phone numbers and other contact info for friends, family, doctors and other professionals
• Portable computer storage device (USB drive, etc.) with important financial and/or family records kept on your computer
• A small amount of cash

Why keep copies of your information in your disaster box? Most of us keep the original documents in home safes or another secure location. There may not be time to retrieve original copies in an emergency and copies are better than nothing at all.

 For more information about preparing for a natural disaster, please visit Ready.gov