General Qustions – Fintel Support

Why should my financial institution use Fintel?

Fintel should be used if your financial institution desires to engage in greater information sharing of data related to fraud, money laundering, cyber threats and terrorist financing, particularly by using legal protections from any civil liability for disclosing information to another financial institution. Fintel allows your financial institution to exchange information more efficiently and gain greater insight and value from the data that both you and other users already capture and retain. Your financial institution will be part of a network so that other institutions may efficiently contact you and potentially alert you to information and intelligence you may otherwise have not been aware of, and vice versa.

Who makes the final decision about whether information can be shared?

Fintel’s software is designed to provide guidance about what may or may not be shared and what is covered under the safe harbor. Ultimately, the parties to the communication need to make the decisions.

What type of liability might my financial institution face by using Fintel?

You should consult with your legal and compliance department before beginning to use Fintel, but generally you are exposed to the same type of risks that would occur anytime your institution engages in the sharing of data with an unaffiliated third party financial institution and/or through a relationship with a service or technology provider.

What type of information is protected by the USA PATRIOT Act Section 314(b) through use of Fintel?

In order for the communication with any third party to be covered by the USA PATRIOT Act civil liability safe harbor protections a number of factors must be met that the Fintel application assists you in navigating:

1) All parties sharing consumer information must either a financial institutions or associations of financial institutions;
2) All parties must be registered with FinCEN to participate in voluntary information sharing;
3) The information must be related to actual or potential money laundering or terrorist. This includes fraud related transactions involving the proceeds of specified unlawful activity.

How is my financial institution’s data protected?

We maintain appropriate administrative, physical, and technical safeguards for protection of the security, confidentiality and integrity of your data.

How is Fintel compliant with bank secrecy and privacy laws?

Fintel software is engineered to help ensure compliance with all laws and regulations, and where applicable, leverage the safe harbor protections afforded under federal law.

How do we sign up for Fintel?

Fintel is currently in private beta. To learn more about how you can participate please click here

Can we share information about money laundering or terrorist financing, including customer information, using Fintel?

Yes. Financial institutions may share customer information about money laundering and terrorist financing with nonaffiliated third parties to protect against, actually or potentially, engaging in unauthorized transaction or customer relationships that may expose a financial institution to liability under the Bank Secrecy Act or USA PATRIOT Act.

Can we share information about fraud, including customer information, using Fintel?

Yes. Although typically the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) protects the privacy of customer financial information and restricts when financial institutions may disclose personal financial information to nonaffiliated third parties the GLBA also provides exceptions under which financial institutions may share customer information with a nonaffiliated third party.

GLBA provides that the privacy requirements for initial notice, opt out, and for service providers and joint marketing do not apply when a financial institution discloses nonpublic personal information “to protect against or prevent actual or potential fraud, unauthorized transactions, claims, or other liabilities.”