What is a Cookie?

A cookie is a small snippet of text that a website asks your browser to store. All cookies have expiration dates in them that determine how long they stay in your browser. Cookies can be removed in two ways: automatically, when they expire, or when you manually delete them. We’ve included more details below to help you understand what kinds of cookies we use.

Does we use Cookies?

Yes, with the primary purpose to make our website work more effectively.

Types of Cookies

The length of time a cookie stays on your device depends on its type. We use two types of cookies on our websites.

Session cookies are temporary cookies which only exist during the time you use the website (or more strictly, until you close the browser after using the website). Session cookie help our websites remember what you chose on the previous page, avoiding the need to re-enter information.

Persistent cookies stay on your device after you’ve visited our website. For example, if you tick the ‘Remember my ID’ box when you log onto Online Banking a persistent cookie will be used so that the site remembers your choice the next time you use it. Persistent cookies help us identify you as a unique visitor but don’t contain information that could be used to identify you to another person.

The analytics services we use are:

• Google Analytics, which uses cookies to help us analyse how our visitors use the site. Find out more about how these cookies are used on the Google privacy site

• Adobe Analytics to improve our websites and services. This service and the cookies it uses help us understand the popularity of our content and make better consumer experiences.

• Session mmcore.tst This cookie is used by the platform as a test to see whether or not browser setting allow cookies to be set on the end-user machine.

How to control and delete cookies

If you want to restrict or block the cookies we set, you can do this through your browser settings. The ‘help’ function within your browser should tell you how.

Alternatively, you could visit www.aboutcookies.org, which contains comprehensive information on cookies on a wide variety of browsers. You’ll also find details on how to delete cookies from your computer. To learn about controlling cookies on the browser of your mobile device please refer to your handset manual.

Cookies in emails

As well as the cookies we use on our websites, we use cookies and similar technologies in some emails. These help us to understand whether you’ve opened an email and how you’ve interacted with it. If you have enabled images, cookies may be set on your computer or device. Cookies will also be set if you click on any link within the email.