Overdraft Privilege Program Policy Disclosures
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Overdraft Privilege Program Policy
Overdraft Privilege Program Policy
For Personal Accounts
It is Austin County State Bank’s (“we, us, or our”) policy to comply with applicable laws, rules and regulations, and to conduct business in accordance with strict safety and soundness standards. A non-sufficient funds (overdraft/negative balance) may result from: A) The payment of checks, electronic funds transfers, or other withdrawal requests you initiate; B) Payments authorized by you; C) The return of items (unpaid) deposited by you; D) Charging your account for our applicable service charges and fees; E) The deposit of items to your account which, according to our Funds Availability Policy, are treated as not yet “available” or “finally paid”. We are not obligated to pay any item initiated for payment against your account if your account does not contain sufficient collected funds. Rather than automatically returning, unpaid, all non-sufficient funds items that you may have, if your “eligible account type” has been open for at least sixty (60) days and thereafter you maintain your account in good standing, which includes at least the following factors: (A) Continuing to make deposits consistent with your past practices, and depositing at least $600 or more in your account within each sixty (60) day period, (B) You are current on all loan obligations with us, (C) We reserve the right to require you to pay your outstanding overdraft (negative) balance, including our fees, immediately or on demand, and (D) Your account is not the subject of any legal or administrative order or levy, such as bankruptcy or a tax lien, and (E) Your account is not overdrawn more than 60 consecutive days, we will consider, without obligation on our part, approving your reasonable overdrafts up to your assigned Limit, including our fees.
This discretionary² service will generally be limited to a $500 overdraft (negative) balance for eligible personal checking account types. Our normal fees and charges including, without limitation, our Return Item Charges or Overdraft Charges; currently $30.00 per return item charge or overdraft charge, as set forth in our fee schedule, will be charged for each transaction initiated for payment from your checking account that does not have sufficient collected funds. We will charge you a fee up to $30.00 each time we pay an overdraft. There is a 5 charge per day limit on the above $30.00 Return Item Charge/Overdraft Charge we can charge you for overdrawing your account. The limit is based on the day the items are presented for payment. No Return Item Charge/Overdraft Charge will be charged for a total overdraft balance of less than $10.
Our Return Item Charge/Overdraft Charges will be included in and count against your assigned Limit of $500. Whether your overdrafts will be paid or not is at our sole discretion and we reserve the right not to pay. For example, we typically do not pay overdrafts if your account is not in good standing as described above, or if you have excessive overdrafts. “Excessive Overdrafts” may be defined by the Bank, but any use of the Overdraft program 6 or more times could be considered “Excessive”. We may refuse to pay an overdraft for you at any time, even though your account is in good standing and even though we may have previously paid overdrafts for you. You will be notified by mail of any non-sufficient funds items paid or returned that you may have; however, we have no obligation to notify you before we pay or return any item. The amount of any overdrafts including our fees that you owe us shall be due and payable immediately. If there is an overdraft paid by us on an account with more than one (1) owner on the signature card, each owner, and agent if applicable, drawing/presenting the item creating the overdraft, shall be jointly and severally liable for such overdrafts including our fees.
Optional Overdraft Privilege Services (Overdraft Sweep Feature): We offer an alternative Overdraft Privilege Service if you have another account with us from which to transfer funds; i.e. Savings Account, Money Market Account, or other Checking Account.
Ineligible Accounts and Limitations: The Optional Overdraft Privilege Service (Overdraft Sweep Feature) is available only for eligible checking accounts that are maintained in good standing as defined above.
Savings Accounts, Money Market Accounts, Public Fund/Charitable Organization Accounts, Certain Trust Accounts, Student Minor Accounts, and any other Minor Accounts not of legal age are not eligible for this service.
Eligible Account Types: The account types that are eligible for this privilege are: Personal Checking Accounts.
Transactions That May Cause or Create Overdrafts Using Your Limit: Non-sufficient transactions initiated for payment against your checking account may be paid by us using your assigned Limit, including our charges. Our Return Item Charge/Overdraft Charge may be imposed for paying, or not paying, overdrafts you create by: checks; in person (teller) withdrawal; or other electronic means.
We do not authorize and pay overdrafts for ATM transactions or everyday debit card transactions unless you ask us to through opting in.
You May Always Opt-Out: You may choose at any time to not participate in this service by notifying one of our Customer Service Representatives- at the following number (979) 865-4200, who will explain what this (“Opt Out”) means for you.
If You Need Help: Of course, overdrafts should not be used to pay ordinary or routine expenses and you should not rely on overdrafts as a means to cover these expenses. If at any time you feel you need help with your financial obligations please contact one of our Customer Service Representatives at (979) 865-4200.
ALWAYS A DISCRETIONARY SERVICE: Our Overdraft Privilege Program does not constitute an actual or implied agreement between you and us. Nor does it constitute an actual or implied obligation of or by us beyond our legal and regulatory obligations. This service represents a purely discretionary courtesy or privilege that we may provide to you from time to time and which may be withdrawn or withheld by us at any time without prior notice, reason, or cause.
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What You Need To Know
What you Need to Know about Overdrafts and Overdraft Fees
An overdraft occurs when you do not have enough money in your account to cover a transaction, but we pay it anyway. We can now cover your overdrafts in two different ways:
We have standard overdraft privilege that comes with your account (Overdraft Privilege).
We also offer overdraft protection plans (Overdraft Sweep Feature), such as a link to a savings account, which may be less expensive than our standard practices. To learn more, ask us about these plans.
This notice explains our standard overdraft practices.
What are the standard overdraft practices that come with my account?
We may at the bank’s discretion, authorize and pay overdrafts for the following types of transactions:
Checks and other transactions made using your checking account number
Automatic bill payments
We do not authorize and pay overdrafts for the following types of transactions unless you ask us to through opting in (see below):
ATM transactions
Everyday debit card transactions
We pay overdrafts at our discretion, which means we do not guarantee that we will always authorize and pay any type of transactions.
If we do not authorize and pay an overdraft, your transaction will be declined.
What fees will I be charged if Austin County State Bank pays my overdraft?
Under our standard overdraft practices:
We will charge you a fee up to $30.00 each time we pay an overdraft. No Return Item Charge or Overdraft Charge will be charged for a total overdraft balance of less than $10.00. There is a 5 per day limit on the above $30.00 fee we will charge you for overdrawing your account. The limit is based on the day the items are presented for payment.
What if I want Austin County State Bank to authorize and pay overdrafts on my ATM and everyday debit card transactions?
If you also want us to authorize and pay overdrafts on ATM and everyday debit card transactions, call 979-865-4200, or complete the form below and present it at 436 S. Front St., Bellville, Texas or mail it to P.O. Box 1466, Bellville, TX. 77418
____ I DO NOT want Austin County State Bank, Bellville, Texas, to authorize and pay overdrafts on my ATM and everyday debit card transactions.
____ I do want Austin County State Bank, Bellville, Texas, to authorize and pay overdrafts on my ATM and everyday debit card transactions.
Printed Name: ____________________________________ Date:_____________
Account Number:____________________________
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Avoiding Overdrafts
Avoiding Overdrafts
Things You Need to Know About Transaction Processing
An overdraft happens when you try to withdraw or spend more money from your account than you have available in your account. You can easily avoid overdrafts by keeping track of how much money you put into your account and keeping track of how much money you have spent on your account.
Below are some of the most common reasons account holders overdraw their accounts.
Items the Bank Has Not Received.
If you do not carefully keep track of the payments you make and compare them to the transactions recorded by the Bank, you may overdraw your account.
If you write a check or swipe a debit card to make a payment. The Bank will not know about the payment instantaneously. For example, it can take more than two days for the Bank to receive a debit card payment. It can take an even longer time for the person you paid to deposit a check and for the Bank to receive the check. Your account statements and online banking records will not reflect a payment you make until the bank receives the payment and processes it.
For this reason, you need to be sure that the balance shown on your account statement or in online banking show all of the transactions you have started.
Debit Card Preauthorizations.
You should ask hotels, car rental agencies, and other businesses whether they will charge a preauthorized amount when you make a purchase.
Some merchants, like hotels or gas stations, may not know how much to charge you until after you complete a transaction. For example, you might swipe your debit card at a gas pump and authorize a payment before you know how much gasoline you will purchase.
In this case, the merchant might place an estimated payment authorization on your account. The way merchants process their debit card transactions might place a hold on your account in that amount, or the estimated charge may appear as a pending charge you may view within our online banking platform.
Within a few business days after the completed transaction, the actual charge may appear on your account, which may be more or less than the estimated charge. In some cases, the estimated charge may be removed from your account before the actual charge is recorded. It can take a few business days after the transaction is finalized for the Bank to receive and process the final payment information and post it to your account.
If you make additional payments without confirming that the actual charge is recorded on your account, you may overdraw your account.
Returned Payments and Provisional Credits.
If you withdraw funds early from a deposit, you may overdraw your account.
You may overdraw your account if your deposits are returned. Check payments and other electronic payments may take more than business days for the Bank to process and receive good funds for the payment. In addition, checks and electronic payments may be subject to a return order after the payment has been processed.
In some cases, we may make funds available to you early, before the payment is processed and before the return period has expired. If we make funds available to you early, and you use those funds before the return period expires, you may overdraft your account when the payment is returned.
For example, if you deposit a $500 check, $225 must be made available to you the next day as required by law. However, if you use the $225 in funds and the $500 check is returned later, you may overdraw your account.
See the Bank’s Funds Availability Policy and deposit account agreement for further information.
Representment.
Do business with reputable businesses and only make payments you have money to pay.
If you make a payment with a check or electronic transaction, and that transaction fails, the person you paid might try to send the same check or electronic transaction to the Bank again. To the Bank, this may appear to be a second separate transaction for which you may be charged an additional overdraft fee. This can be avoided by keeping enough funds in your account to cover your payments and by doing business with merchants who do not present your payments twice.
Processing More than One Transaction
You must keep enough funds in your account to cover all of your outstanding transactions.
The Bank may process transactions in batches and may not receive information about payments you make in the order you make the payments. For example, if you write a check for your car payment and mail it on the 28th of the month and then buy gas and groceries on the 29th. The Bank may receive all of the transactions and process them all on the same day.
The Bank currently processes debit transactions received on the same day from smallest to largest. In the example above, if you did not have enough funds in your account to pay for all the transactions, the transaction processed last would overdraw the account.