Member Education

Member Education

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Read CSCEFCU Money Guides below:

Credit Card Three-Digit Security Code
How Do Electronic Checks Work?
Put Savings on Automatic

Credit Card Verification Value

Your CSCEFCU card contains a three-digit security code, called Card Verification Value 2. To simplify the name, we call the security code CVV2. This code helps to validate that your card is a genuine card when you make a purchase over the phone, through the mail, or over the Internet—anytime your card is not present at the merchant location. In short, this code helps prevent a criminal from using your account number.

What is CVV2?
The CVV2 is a three-digit security code that is printed on the back of cards. The number appears in reverse italic at the top of the signature panel, at the far right end. The CVV2 is calculated using a complex algorithm based on characteristics of each individual account. Even if a criminal steals a valid account number, They cannot compute the CVV2 numbers since they do not know the mathematical algorithm logic.

How does CVV2 Work?
When you place a telephone order purchase with a merchant, the merchant will likely ask you for the three-digit CVV2 number that appears on the back of your card. You’ll need to have your card handy to read the code from your card.

When the merchant asks Equifax (our card processor) to authorize your purchase, they’ll present your CVV2 number along with the other authorization information (amount of purchase, etc.). They’ll confirm that the CVV2 your presented is accurate, check the other purchase information, then tell the merchant whether to proceed with your order. This authorization process is usually done electronically and only takes a few seconds to complete.

When can you give out your CVV2 number?
When you initiate a transaction over the telephone, mail, or Internet, you can feel comfortable giving the merchant your CVV2 security code if they ask for it. After all, they need this code to help ensure that you really are the owner of this card account. However, NEVER give out this code if someone else calls you.

Some other credit card issuers have reported fraud attempts by criminals who are attempting to get a card’s CVV2 number from the cardholder. Here’s how the scam works.

A thief discovers a card account number, then calls the cardholder to obtain the CVV2 code. Criminals are known to pose as representatives of financial institutions, saying they need to “verify” their records. CSCEFCU would NEVER call you for this information. Some criminals claim that they are calling on behalf of a credit reporting agency or popular merchant. Don’t be fooled! If you receive a suspicious call, hang up and call CSCEFCU. (Don’t call a telephone number that the possible criminal gives you. Be sure to look up our telephone number in the telephone directory.) And remember you can give out your CVV2 number when you initiate the call, not when someone else calls you.

Additional security measures
Your card carries many other security measures that you can’t see. For example, security codes are encoded on your card’s black magnetic stripe (on the card back). These codes are verified when you go to a merchant location and the merchant swipes your card through their electronic card reader machine. We also use high-tech fraud prevention tools, such as card activation, card expiration date matching and CRIS – Card Risk Identification Service (neural network technology). We not only provide a valuable card product; we provide a safe product for you to use. If you have any questions, please give us a call.

Electronic Checks: A New Way to Pay

Today, merchants convert more than one million checks a month that consumers write at the point of sale to electronic transactions, according to industry analysts.

So, what are electronic checks? Here's how they work:

1. You write out and give a share draft or check to a cashier at the point of sale.

2. The cashier scans the check through a magnetic ink character recognition (MICR--pronounced miker) reader that captures the account number, check serial number, and financial institution routing number.

3. The data moves electronically to a check authorization service, which verifies that it's not drawn on a closed account or that you have not written bad checks.

4. The cashier voids the check once approval comes electronically and then hands the check back to you. (Returning the check back to you is under discussion. The National Automated Clearing House Association(NACHA)--The Electronic Payments Association in Herndon, Va., a trade association and rule-making body for the 33 Automated Clearing House (ACH) associations around the U.S., recently has proposed that merchants retain checks).

5. You and merchants participate in electronic checking voluntarily. Yousign an authorization (usually a receipt) permitting electronic conversion of payment. The merchant signs upand pays for the service through either its financial institution or a processing company.

6. The transaction goes to the ACH network where it's credited to the retailer's account electronically andforwarded to CSCEFCU for debiting. The check will take about two or three days to clear, the same amount of time a paper check usually takes to be approved for payment.

"It's essentially a neutral process in that the consumer is still doing the same thing; they're presenting their check for purchase and theiraccount is still being debited in about the same amount of time for the purchase," says Michael Herd, director of public relations at NACHA.

Electronic checks also provide privacy protection.
When you hand over a paper check to a clerk, 10 or more hands touch that check during processing before it returns to yourcredit union or to you. With electronic checking, the check doesn't travel beyond the point of sale; you take it with you after it's been approved electronically.

Put Savings on Automatic

If you think saving money is too difficult, and even have justifications to back you up, fuhgeddaboudit. We have the solutions to your saving hang-ups:

I don't have the money.
That's the standard cry from those who wait to save what's left over. It never happens. Instead, "pay yourself first." Use CSC Employees Federal Credit Union’s payroll deduction service and we'll automatically divert the amount you say, for as long as you say, to your share savings or certificate account.

For what little I can put aside, it doesn't pay.
Consistent, regular savings are the only kind that add up. If you only can start with $10 a paycheck, do that now. When you see how that works, you'll find yourself raising the ante to $25, $50, or more over time. And yes, that pays.

Payday and bill paying is too hectic to think about saving, too.
Whoa, that's a lot like excuse No. 1. The solution here: Use direct deposit at CSC Employees Federal Credit Union and your paycheck starts working--earning dividends--right away, instead of waiting until you get around to making a deposit. That saves you time and, over time, the headstart saves money, too.

But I'm paying too much on bills to save money.
Well, maybe we can help you there, too. Call one of our loan officers at 800 CSC-EFCU and we can discuss loan consolidation options. Sometimes we can reduce your interest rate, and that can reduce how much you owe and how long you'll be paying off the loan. And that, too, can pay off in savings.

The bottom line: The professionals at CSC Employees Federal Credit Union have the services and skills to help you automate your savings. Call today.