SPARTA,
Mich., Jan. 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ChoiceOne
Financial Services, Inc., and ChoiceOne Bank (NASDAQ: COFS)
("ChoiceOne") are pleased to announce advancements in digital
banking security. ChoiceOne will transition their website domain to
"choiceone.bank" from "choiceone.com" on January 23. This change will provide another
layer of enhanced security and verification requirements to reduce
the risk of cyber threats and enable the Bank to provide a greater
level of digital security.
"Customer security – both in personal and financial information
– is always a top priority at ChoiceOne," said ChoiceOne CEO
Kelly Potes. "With a reputation for
providing industry-leading technology that supports our customers'
needs for high-speed convenience, security is at the forefront of
every decision we make. Transitioning our domain name to
'choiceone.bank' from 'choiceone.com' will provide additional
security features giving our customers an even greater level of
digital security today."
ChoiceOne email addresses and website URL will now end in
'.bank'. Before interacting with ChoiceOne emails and before
entering a username and password on ChoiceOne's website, customers
can simply look for the '.bank' to authenticate the email and
website. Choiceone.com email addresses will forward to the new
choiceone.bank email addresses, and the '.com' website will
redirect to the new '.bank' website. Customers will want to update
their address books and bookmark for the site.
According to the American Bankers Association (ABA),
banking has remained one of the most phished industries for more
than a decade. Publicly available, unrestricted, and inexpensive
domains (e.g., .com, .net) enable bad actors to easily obtain
lookalike domains to execute business email compromises, phishing
and spoofing attacks that lead to data breaches, identity theft,
and financial fraud.
With the '.bank' visual authentication cue in place, consumers
can quickly confirm emails and websites are real, and avoid
interactions that could lead to identity theft and financial fraud.
This authentication is also an additional layer of protection for
internal and vendor communications, helping to further secure
against potential breaches.
The '.bank' domain is a gated domain, like .gov or .edu, and is
exclusive for verified banks. A '.com' domain can be purchased by
anyone, whereas the '.bank' domain is quickly verified that the
website or email is authentically from ChoiceOne
Bank. Customers and consumers can interact with confidence when
they see the '.bank' at the end of the Bank's email address and
website URL.
All banks using '.bank' are verified and authenticated
by fTLD Registry Services, LLC, the '.bank' administrator.
This ensures everyone using a '.bank' domain is an eligible
organization. Hackers and bad actors cannot get a '.bank' domain to
create lookalike domains for phishing and spoofing, as they can in
a '.com' and other publicly available domains.
"Our customers rely on our digital banking platforms including
mobile banking, mobile deposits, online banking, online loan
applications, online account openings and our digital mobile
savings tool," said Potes. "The move to a '.bank' domain is a
business decision every bank must make, and plan for, based on its
own priorities and resources. At ChoiceOne, it is a
priority for us to enhance our security and provide our
customers with an easy way to authenticate our email communications
and website so we made the move to choiceone.bank."
See https://www.choiceone.com/dotbank/ for more information
on the benefits of a '.bank' website domain.
About ChoiceOne
ChoiceOne Financial Services,
Inc. is a financial holding company headquartered in Sparta, Michigan and the parent corporation of
ChoiceOne Bank. Member FDIC. ChoiceOne Bank, named one of
America's Best Banks by Newsweek for three consecutive
years, operates 35 offices in parts of Kent, Ottawa,
Muskegon, Newaygo, Lapeer, St.
Clair and Macomb
counties. ChoiceOne is an approximately $2.4 billion-asset bank holding company making it
the 10th largest bank holding company in Michigan based on asset size. ChoiceOne Bank
offers insurance and investment products through its subsidiary,
ChoiceOne Insurance Agencies, Inc. ChoiceOne Financial Services,
Inc. common stock is quoted on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the
symbol "COFS." For more information, please visit Investor
Relations at ChoiceOne's website choiceone.com.
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SOURCE ChoiceOne Financial Services, Inc.