5 simple steps to set up your own email account

Whether you’re new to digital banking or already use it, there are some quick things you can do to make day-to-day transactions easier and faster. Having an email address is one handy way to access your account. Here’s how to set one up for free.

In order to sign in to ACU’s new digital banking for the first time, you will need either an email address or mobile phone number. If you don’t have either, you can set up an email account easily — and it will only take a couple of minutes.

Your new email account will help you access your ACU digital banking, giving you the ability to:

• Securely access your account balances and activity
• Transfer funds between accounts and to other ACU members
• Send and receive Interac e-Transfers®
• Pay bills
• View online statements
• Make contributions to your RRSP and TFSA
• Much more!

Ready to get your new email account? Here are some quick and easy steps to follow:

Choose a trusted email provider

Think of an email address as your digital mailbox. Just like different post offices, each email provider has a slightly different look and feel, but they all do the same thing — allowing you to send and receive emails.

Email providers usually don’t charge you for their service. While there are many of these free and trusted options available online, the key is to select a provider that is easy for you to use. Some popular options include:

• Gmail (from Google)
• Yahoo! Mail
• Outlook (from Microsoft)

5 steps to creating your own email account

It only takes a couple of minutes to set up your email account. Here’s what you’ll need to do:

1. From your Internet browser, navigate to the sign-up page for your email provider.

Once again, you can use a trusted provider such as Gmail (from Google), Yahoo! Mail or Outlook (from Microsoft).

2. Enter your details to open an email account. These often include:

Name	First and last
Desired Login Name	This is the email address you’d like to create. Choose a login name that is easy for you to remember, spell and type. Once your create this, you can’t change it.   Many people will use their name separated by a dot, such as firstname.lastname@gmail.com, as this is recognizable and easy for others to email you.
Password	Create a password that is secure, which is often not easy to remember, spell or share.   Use at least eight characters with a combination of upper case, lower case, letters, numbers and symbols. For example, a password such as “password999” is easy for a person or automated bot to guess. But a password such as “a3#b975!d” is much harder.   Write this password down and store that in a safe place.
Phone number	This can be used as an extra security measure in case you can’t get into your email account in the future.

3. Follow the rest of the steps as required.

Some sign-up forms will also ask for things such as your birthday and location. You may also be asked to create a security question, which can be a helpful way for you to recover a forgotten password.

4. Accept the “Terms of Service.”

You’ll also be asked to read and accept the terms of their service. This is usually one of the final steps.

5. Start using your new email account!

You can easily log in from any computer, phone or tablet that has Internet access.

Extra instructions

If you need more help setting up an email account, there are many easy-to-follow resources available online, including these helpful links:

• Video: How to create a Gmail email account
• Article: How to create a Yahoo! Mail account
• Video: Beginner’s guide to using Microsoft Outlook: This is helpful if you have Outlook software installed on your computer.

Once you’re set up with your new email address, feel free to contact ACU’s Member Communication Centre for digital banking support. We’ll be happy to help you get more out of your digital banking experience!

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