Overdraft Coverage Options

Overdraft Protection & Courtesy Pay

Choice One Community Federal Credit Union understands that unexpected overdrafts occur from time to time. Overdraft Coverage can help.

Overdraft Coverage Options

The choice is yours. Consider these ways to cover overdrafts:

¹Call us at 800-610-2788, send us a secure message through online banking, or come by a branch to sign up or apply for these services; ²Subject to credit approval.

Overdraft Protection applies to all transactions, except ATM transactions, and may help prevent overdrafts by automatically transferring funds to your checking account from another account, or line of credit you may have at Choice One Community Federal Credit Union for a fee or finance charge. Please note that overdraft lines of credit are subject to credit approval.

Courtesy Pay allows you to overdraw your account up to the disclosed limit for a fee to pay a transaction. Even if you have Overdraft Protection, Courtesy Pay is still available as secondary coverage if the other protection source is exhausted. Please review What Else You Should Know for other important information.

If you want to discontinue Courtesy Pay in its entirety, contact us at 800-610-2788 or send us a secure message through online banking.

WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW

• A link to another account or line of credit may be less expensive than an overdraft. A single larger overdraft will result in one fee, instead of multiple smaller overdrafts. Use our mobile, online, and telephone banking services to track your balance. For financial education resources, please visit mymoney.gov.
• The $35 Courtesy Pay Fee that is charged if you overdraw your account is the same fee that is charged if an item is returned as unpaid. If multiple items overdraw your account on the same day, each item will be assessed an appropriate Courtesy Pay Fee or NSF Return Fee of $35. All fees and charges will be included as part of the Courtesy Pay limit amount. Your account may become overdrawn more than the Courtesy Pay limit amount because of a fee.
• There is no limit on the total Courtesy Pay Fees and/or NSF Return Fees per day we will charge you for overdrawing your account.
• Recipients of federal or state benefits payments who do not wish us to deduct the amount overdrawn and the Courtesy Pay Fee from funds that you deposit or that are deposited into your account may call us at 800-610-2788 to discontinue Courtesy Pay.
• If an item is returned because the Available Balance (as defined below) in your account is not sufficient to cover the item and the item is presented for payment again, Choice One Community Federal Credit Union (“We”) may charge an NSF Return Fee each time we return the item because it exceeds the Available Balance in your account. Because we may charge an NSF Return Fee each time an item is presented, we may charge you more than one fee for any given item as a result of a returned item and re-presentment of the item. When we charge an NSF Return Fee, the charge reduces the Available Balance in your account and may put your account into (or further into) overdraft. If, on re-presentment of the item, the Available Balance in your account is sufficient to cover the item we may pay the item, and, if payment causes an overdraft, charge a Courtesy Pay Fee. We may use the terms “item” and “transaction” interchangeably.
• This describes the posting order for purposes of determining overdrafts. Our general policy is to post items throughout the day and to post ACH credits before debits. ACH debit transactions and debit card transactions are posted in the order in which the items are received, while paper checks are posted from lowest to highest dollar amount; however, because of the many ways we allow you to access your account, the posting order of individual items may differ from these general policies. Holds on funds (described herein) and the order in which transactions are posted may impact the total amount of Courtesy Pay Fees or NSF Return Fees assessed.
• Courtesy Pay is not a line of credit; it is a discretionary overdraft service that can be withdrawn at any time without prior notice.
• Depositor and each Authorized Signatory will continue to be liable, jointly and severally, for all overdraft and fee amounts, as described in the Membership and Account Agreement. The total (negative) balance, including all fees and charges, is due and payable upon demand.
• We may be obligated to pay some debit card transactions that are not authorized through the payment system but which we are required to pay due to the payment system rules, and as a result you may incur fees if such transactions overdraw your account. However, we will not authorize debit card transactions unless your account’s Available Balance (including Overdraft Protection) is sufficient to cover the transactions and any fee(s). We also will not authorize ATM transactions unless your account’s Available Balance is sufficient to cover the transactions and any fee(s).

Understanding your Available Balance: Your account has two kinds of balances: the Ledger Balance and the Available Balance.

• We authorize and pay transactions using the Available Balance.
• Your Ledger Balance reflects the full amount of all deposits to your account as well as payment transactions that have been posted to your account. It does not reflect checks you have written and are still outstanding or transactions that have been authorized but are still pending.
• Your Available Balance is the amount available to you to use for purchases, withdrawals, or to cover transactions. The Available Balance is your Ledger Balance, less any holds due to pending debit card transactions and holds on deposited funds.
• The balance used for authorizing checks and ACH items is your Available Balance plus the amount of the Courtesy Pay limit and any available Overdraft Protection.
• The balance used for authorizing recurring and everyday debit card transactions on accounts with Standard Coverage is your Available Balance plus any available Overdraft Protection and does NOT include the Courtesy Pay limit.
• The balance used for authorizing ATM transactions on accounts with Standard Coverage is your Available Balance and does NOT include Overdraft Protection or the Courtesy Pay limit.
• Because your Available Balance reflects pending transactions and debit holds, your balance may appear to cover a transaction but later upon settlement it may not be sufficient to cover such transaction. In such cases, the transaction may further overdraw your account and be subject to additional overdraft fees. You should assume that any item which would overdraw your account based on your Available Balance may create an overdraft. Note that we may place a hold on deposited funds in accordance with our Funds Availability Policy Disclosure, which will reduce the amount in your Available Balance.
• Please be aware that the Courtesy Pay amount is not included in your Available Balance provided through online banking, mobile banking or Choice One Community Federal Credit Union’s ATMs.
• We will place a hold on your account for any authorized debit card transaction until the transaction settles (usually within two business days) or as permitted by payment system rules. In some cases, the hold may exceed the amount of the transaction. When the hold ends, the funds will be added to the Available Balance in your account.
• Except as described herein, we will not pay items if the Available Balance in your account (including the Courtesy Pay limit, if applicable) is not sufficient to cover the item(s) and the amount of any fee(s).

Understanding Courtesy Pay Limits

• A Courtesy Pay limit of $500 will be granted to eligible member checking accounts opened at least 90 days in good standing.
• A Courtesy Pay limit of $500 will be granted to eligible business checking accounts opened at least 90 days in good standing.
• Courtesy Pay may be suspended if you default on any loan or other obligation to us, your account becomes subject to any legal or administrative order or levy, or if you fail to maintain your account in good standing by not bringing your account to a positive balance within 32 days for a minimum of one business day. You must bring your account balance positive for at least one business day to have the full Courtesy Pay limit reinstated.

If you have any questions about Overdraft Protection or Courtesy Pay, please call us at 800-610-2788 or visit a branch.

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