What Is Courtesy Pay?
Courtesy Pay is a service that adds a measure of protection to your personal checking account. Courtesy Pay may cover your insufficient funds by checks, ACH, ATM withdrawals, everyday debit card transactions, in-person withdrawals, or requests made by other electronic means, up to your approved limit, for one low fee per covered overdraft transaction. That means, instead of returning an item to the merchant because of insufficient funds, the credit union may pay your item, saving you additional charges from the merchant collection companies, in addition to the credit union’s insufficient fund fee. It saves you the embarrassment an inadvertent overdrawn item can cause. It also helps protect your credit rating.
How Does Courtesy Pay Work?
Overdrafts on your checking account, up to a limit of $500 [including the amount of the overdrawn item(s) and the Courtesy Pay fee(s)] may be honored by Union Square Federal Credit Union. A $20 fee will be assessed for each item that draws your account negative. You then have up to 30 days to bring the account current, either through a direct deposit, transfer of funds, or a deposit at one of our branch offices.
What If I Already Have Overdraft Protection?
If you already have our traditional overdraft line of credit, the overdraft protection will be activated in the order that you established. If there is no overdraft protection or your line of credit has been depleted, Courtesy Pay may pay your overdraft.
Do I Have To Apply For This Service?
No. We require no applications or additional signatures. As long as you are a member in good standing which includes having an account with us for at least 30 days, you bringing your account back to a positive balance at least once every 30 days or less for a minimum of 24 hours, not being in default on any loan or other obligation to Union Square FCU, and there are no legal or administrative orders or levies against the account, your Courtesy Pay privilege remains activated. Courtesy Pay is a way for us to provide a higher level of service to our members by helping protect your account and reputation when an inadvertent overdraft occurs.
Call Us for More Information
We are happy to review Courtesy Pay and its features with you, along with giving you other options to add convenience and ease to your account. Please call us at 940-720-8000 or toll free (800)600-7517.
Discretionary Courtesy Pay Policy
It is the policy of Union Square Federal Credit Union to comply with all applicable laws and regulations and to conduct business in accordance with applicable safety and soundness standards.
The Member Account Agreement and Disclosure provided to you at the time you opened your account with us controls the duties, obligations, and rights of the Depositor, the Authorized Signatories, and Union Square FCU with regard to your checking account. The Member Account Agreement (and all amendments thereto) and its terms shall control any possible conflict, if any, between any provision of this Discretionary Courtesy Pay Policy and the Member Account Agreement and Disclosure. A copy of the Member Account Agreement and Disclosure is available to you on request from your Union Square FCU officer.
Courtesy Pay is not a line of credit. However, if you inadvertently overdraw your account, we will have the discretion to pay the overdraft, subject to the limit of your Courtesy Pay and the amount of the Courtesy Pay fee. Union Square FCU is not obligated to pay any item presented for payment if your account does not contain sufficient available funds. Any discretionary payment by Union Square FCU of an overdraft check (or item, such as an ATM withdrawal) does not obligate Union Square FCU to pay any other overdraft check (or item), or to provide prior notice of its decision to refuse to pay such check (or item).
Pursuant to Union Square FCU’s commitment to always provide you with the best level of service, now and in the future, if your consumer account (primarily used for personal and household purposes) has been open for at least thirty (30) days and thereafter you maintain your account in good standing, which includes at least:
A) Bringing your account to a positive balance within every thirty (30) day period for a minimum period of 24 hours;
B) Not being in default on any loan or other obligation to Union Square FCU; and
C) Not being subject to any legal or administrative order or levy.
Union Square FCU will have the discretion to pay overdrafts within the Courtesy Pay limits, but payment by Union Square FCU is a discretionary courtesy and not a right of the member or an obligation of Union Square FCU. This privilege for consumer checking accounts will generally be limited to a maximum of $500 overdraft (negative) balance. Of course, any and all fees and charges, including without limitation the non-sufficient funds fees (as set forth in our fee schedules and Member Account Agreement and Disclosure), will be included as part of this maximum amount. It may be possible that your account will become overdrawn in excess of the Courtesy Pay amount as a result of the assessment of a fee.
The total of the discretionary Courtesy Pay (negative) balance, which includes any and all fees and charges, including all non-sufficient funds/Courtesy Pay fees, is due and payable upon demand, and Depositor and each Authorized Signatory will continue to be liable, jointly and severally, for all such amounts, as described in the Member Account Agreement and Disclosure. Our standard Courtesy Pay fee of $20.00 will be imposed for overdrafts created by checks, ACH, ATM withdrawals, everyday debit card transactions, in-person withdrawals, or by other electronic means. Transactions may not be processed in the order in which they occurred, and the order in which transactions are received and processed may impact the total amount of fees incurred.
While Union Square FCU will have the discretion to pay overdrafts on accounts in good standing (as described above), any such payment is a discretionary courtesy, and not a right of the member or an obligation of Union Square FCU and Union Square FCU in its sole and absolute discretion, can cease paying overdrafts at any time without prior notice of reason or cause.
For our consumer members Union Square FCU will not pay overdrafts for ATM or everyday debit card transactions after August 15, 2010 unless Union Square FCU has provided you with the notice required by section 205.17(b) of Regulation E and you have opted in to the payment of these overdrafts. In order to avoid overdrafts due to ATM and everyday debit card transactions, Union Square FCU will place a hold on your account for any ATM or everyday debit card transaction authorized until the transaction settles. ATM and everyday debit card transactions usually settle within two business days after the transaction is authorized. The amount of the hold will be for the amount authorized, or as permitted under applicable payment network rules. Holds on authorized ATM and everyday debit card transactions will be removed prior to settlement where required by applicable payment network rules.
In addition, for both consumer and commercial accounts, you may opt out of the Courtesy Pay services for check, ACH, and debit card bill payment transactions at any time by contacting one of our Account Services Representatives.