Are you adding staff? Or saying goodbye to an important employee? These occasions of changing your team members or their responsibilities can also require a change in your account with Salal. There are two main types of account updates related to personnel changes: Online Banking user updates and authorized signer updates. The first is relatively simple, while the second is more involved.
While adding authorized signers or Online Banking users may be useful to run your business, it is critical to remove individuals’ access to your account whenever an employee leaves your business. Account security and fraud prevention require that only authorized individuals have access to your accounts, whether online or via other methods of authorizing debits from your account. Planning for these personnel departures ahead of time will keep your account safer, and both Salal and our members have a mutual responsibility to protect each member and the credit union as a whole.
Regarding bookkeepers or accounting staff, it’s often convenient to include them in your Online Banking list of users. Your primary administrator of Online Banking can add or remove Online Banking users at any time, and you can find instructions in the User Guide in our Online Banking portal. No paperwork is required, unless you’d like to change the individual assigned as your primary administrator. For primary administrator updates, please contact Business Services, and our team will prepare the required DocuSign paperwork to be completed by a principal of your business. Since all approvals from a principal must be in writing, receiving and tracking your request is easiest when you send it via email.
Different staffers at your business likely perform different tasks, and accordingly, you may set varying levels of permissions for everyone granted access in your Online Banking portal. You’re also welcome to contact Business Services anytime should you need additional assistance with any aspect of your Online Banking. “We have a variety of detailed how-to guides to help you with your Online Banking,” said Brandon Wilson, Senior Business Banking Representative. “We can send you guides on how to find your statements, create payees or users, and many other topics, and each guide includes step-by-step instructions that are easy to follow.”
For more significant staff changes, you may wish to add or remove an authorized signer on your account. This applies when you need to reconfigure which responsible individuals will be allowed or required to sign checks or approve ACH or wire transactions. Changing an authorized signer is entirely different from changing an Online Banking user, though some individuals may hold both levels of access.
Angie Raham, Senior Business Banking Operations Manager, emphasizes that making these account updates in a timely manner is critical for account security. “In an effort to protect your business account from unauthorized access or activity when signers leave your organization,” Angie said, “we strongly recommend notifying us as soon as possible whenever a signer needs to be removed from an account.”
To update your authorized signers, the paperwork required via DocuSign will vary depending on whether your business joined Salal before or after August 1, 2022, and if you joined before that date, whether you have updated your business documentation since then. Salal’s entire business account documentation changed as of August 1, 2022, so any significant changes to business accounts opened before that date will require the new documentation to be completed via DocuSign by all signers being added to or remaining on the account.
When your business documentation must be updated in full, you can expect to receive the following:
- Account Change Request form
- Describes and authorizes the change(s) to your account.
- Signed by an individual authorized to act on behalf of your business.
- Business Account Card & Certificate of Authority
- Formalizes your business’s agreement to Salal Credit Union’s terms and conditions.
- Signed by one or more individuals authorized to enter into an agreement with Salal Credit Union.
- Business Authorization Resolution
- Lists the individuals authorized by your business as signers on your account(s).
- Signed by one or more individuals authorized to enter into an agreement with Salal Credit Union.
- Authorized Signer Card for each signer on the account
- Collects each signer’s information and agreement to Salal Credit Union’s terms and conditions.
- Signed by each authorized signer.
- Beneficial Owner Certification (as needed)
- Describes the individuals who own or control your business.
- Signed by an individual authorized to act on behalf of your business.
If your new documentation is already in place, or if you joined Salal after August 1, 2022, updating your authorized signers will be much simpler. We’ll just need the approval of one of the principals of your business, and then we’ll send out a short, simplified DocuSign set to your business principal(s) and any new authorized signers. To get started, you’re welcome to contact your Salal Business Account Officer. You can also reach out to the Business Services team at 206.298.9398 or BusinessServices@SalalCU.org.
