Choose Your Password Wisely

Your online password is the gateway to your personal information, so it’s important to choose a strong password, keep it confidential and update it periodically.

  • Your Web Branch password must be 8-32 characters. We recommend selecting an 8-digit or longer password for greater security.
  • Choose a mixture of letters, numbers and non-alphanumeric characters (@, %, $, #, &, etc.).
  • Use capital letters sporadically.
  • Think of a mnemonic device to remember your unique password.
  • Change your password frequently.

What NOT to Use in a Password

  • Don’t choose the name of a child, spouse, pet or other familiar person.
  • Don’t select words that appear in the dictionary.
  • Don’t choose something that can be easily guessed, like “chocolate,” “password” or “123456”.

Strong Password Example

Suppose your favorite ice cream sundae is mint chocolate chip with whipped cream and a cherry on top. You could create a password like this: mCCwc1c!

  • mCC = mint chocolate chip
  • wc = whipped cream
  • 1c = one cherry
  • ! = favorite

Notice how we added security by using capital letters for the chocolate chip reference. Putting all of these characters together makes no sense to anyone else, but would be easy for you to remember. Please note: this is meant only as an example — do not use this as your password.