We have updated our Overdraft Policy effective 7/1/2020
OVERDRAFTS
1. Payment of Overdrafts. If, on any day, the available balance in your share or deposit account is not sufficient to pay the full amount of a check, draft, transaction, or other item, plus any applicable fee, that is posted to your account, we may return the item or pay it, as described below. The Credit Union’s determination of an insufficient available account balance may be made at any time between presentation and the Credit Union’s midnight deadline with only one review of the account required. We do not have to notify you if your account does not have a sufficient available balance in order to pay an item. Your account may be subject to a fee for each item regardless of whether we pay or return the item. We may charge a fee each time an item is submitted or resubmitted for payment; therefore, you may be assessed more than one fee as a result of a returned item and resubmission(s) of the returned item.
If we offer standard overdraft services, this service allows us to authorize payment for the following types of transactions regardless of whether your share or deposit account has sufficient funds: (1) share drafts/checks and other transactions made using your checking account, except as otherwise described below; (2) automatic bill payments; (3) and ACH transactions. For ATM and one-time debit card transactions, you must affirmatively consent to such coverage. Without your consent, the Credit Union may not authorize and pay an ATM or one-time debit card transaction that will result in insufficient funds in your account. If you have established a service linking your share or deposit account with other individual or joint accounts, you authorize us to transfer funds from another account of yours to cover an insufficient item, including transfers from a share or deposit account, an overdraft line-of-credit account, or other account you so designate. Services and fees for these transactions are shown in the document the Credit Union uses to capture your affirmative consent and the Schedule of Fees and Charges.
Except as otherwise agreed in writing, if we exercise our right to use our discretion to pay such items that result in an insufficiency of funds in your account, we do not agree to pay them in the future and may discontinue coverage at any time without notice. If we pay these items or impose a fee that results in insufficient funds in your account, you agree to pay the insufficient amount, including the fee assessed by us, in accordance with our standard overdraft services or any other service you may have authorized with us or, if you do not have such protections with us, in accordance with any overdraft payment policy we have, as applicable.
2. How Transactions are Posted to Your Account. Basically, there are two types of transactions that affect your account: credits (deposits of money into your account) and debits (payments out of your account). It is important to understand how each is applied to your account so that you know how much money you have and how much is available to you at any given time. This section explains generally how and when we post transactions to your account.
Credits. Deposits are generally added to your account when we receive them. However, in some cases when you deposit a check, the full amount of the deposit may not be available to you at the time of deposit. Please refer to the Funds Availability Policy Disclosure for details regarding the timing and availability of funds from deposits.
Debits. There are several types of debit transactions. Common debit transactions are generally described below. Keep in mind that there are many ways transactions are presented for payment by merchants, and we are not necessarily in control of when transactions are received.
- Checks. When you write a check, it is processed through the Federal Reserve system. We receive data files of cashed checks from the Federal Reserve each day. The checks drawn on your account are compiled from these data files and paid each day. We process the payments from low to high dollar value.
- ACH Payments. We receive data files every day from the Federal Reserve with Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions. These include, for example, automatic bill payments you have authorized. ACH transactions for your account are posted throughout the day in order of receipt.
- PIN-Based Debit Card Purchase Transactions. These are purchase transactions using your debit card for which a merchant may require you to enter your personal identification number (PIN) at the time of sale. They are processed through a PIN debit network. These transactions are similar to ATM withdrawal transactions because the money is usually deducted from your account immediately at the time of the transaction. However, depending on the merchant, a PIN-based transaction may not be immediately presented for payment.
- Signature-Based Debit Card Purchase Transactions. These are purchase transactions using your debit card that are processed through a signature-based network. Rather than entering a PIN, you typically sign for the purchase; however, merchants may not require your signature for certain transactions. Merchants may seek authorization for these types of transactions. The authorization request places a hold on funds in your account when the authorization is completed. The “authorization hold” will reduce your available balance by the amount authorized but will not affect your actual balance. The transaction is subsequently processed by the merchant and submitted to us for payment. This can happen hours or sometimes days after the transaction, depending on the merchant and its payment processor. These payment requests are received in real time throughout the day and are posted to your account when they are received.
The amount of an authorization hold may differ from the actual payment because the final transaction amount may not yet be known
to the merchant when you present your card for payment. For example, if you use your debit card at a restaurant, a hold will be
placed in an amount equal to the bill presented to you; but when the transaction posts, it will include any tip that you may have added to the bill. This may also be the case where you present your debit card for payment at gas stations, hotels and certain other retail establishments. We cannot control how much a merchant asks us to authorize, or when a merchant submits a transaction for
payment.
This is a general description of certain types of transactions. These practices may change, and we reserve the right to pay items in any order we choose as permitted by law.
3. Understanding Your Account Balance. Your checking account has two kinds of balances: the actual balance and the available balance.
Your actual 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 of money in your account that is available for you to use. Your available balance is your actual balance less: (1) holds placed on deposits; (2) holds on debit card or other transactions that have been authorized but are not yet posted; and (3) any other holds, such as holds related to pledges of account funds and minimum balance requirements or to comply with court orders. We use your available balance to determine whether there are sufficient funds in your account to pay items, including checks and drafts, as well as ACH, debit card and other electronic transactions. Pending transactions and holds placed on your account may reduce your available balance and may cause your account to become overdrawn regardless of your actual balance. In such cases, subsequent posting of the pending transactions may further overdraw your account
and be subject to additional fees. You should assume that any item which would overdraw your account based on your available balance may create an overdraft. You may check your available balance online at www.voltcu.org, at an ATM, by visiting a credit union branch or by calling us at 888-430-7199.
CONSENT TO CONTACT – By signing or otherwise authenticating an Account Card, you agree we and/or our third-party providers, including debt collectors, may contact you by telephone or text message at any telephone number associated with your account, including wireless telephone numbers (i.e. cell phone numbers) which could result in charges to you, in order to service your account or collect any amounts owed to us, excluding any contacts for advertising and telemarketing purposes as prescribed by law. You further agree methods of contact may include use of pre-recorded or artificial voice messages, and/or use of an automatic dialing device. You may withdraw the consent to be contacted on your wireless telephone number(s) at any time by any reasonable means. If you have provided a wireless telephone number(s) on or in connection with any account, you represent and agree you are the wireless subscriber or customary user with respect to the wireless telephone number(s) provided and have the authority to give this consent. Furthermore, you agree to notify us of any change to the wireless telephone number(s) which you have provided to us.
In order to help mitigate harm to you and your account, we may contact you on any telephone number associated with your account, including a wireless telephone number (i.e. cell phone number), to deliver to you any messages related to suspected or actual fraudulent activity on your account, data security breaches or identity theft following a data breach, money transfers or any other exigent messages permitted by applicable law. These contacts will not contain any telemarketing, cross-marketing, solicitation, advertising, or debt collection message of any kind. The contacts will be concise and limited in frequency as required by law. You will have an opportunity to opt-out of such communications at the time of delivery.