OOPS! (Occasional Overdraft Privilege Service)
OOPS! and Your Account
OOPS! is a convenient service that Members Exchange offers to eligible personal and business account holders. We will consider, without obligation on our part, paying items for which your account has insufficient or unavailable funds, instead of automatically returning those items unpaid.
Q: What is OOPS! (Occasional Overdraft Privilege Service)?
A: A convenient service that Members Exchange offers to eligible personal and business account holders. We will consider, without obligation on our part, paying items for which your account has insufficient or unavailable funds, instead of automatically returning those items unpaid. Our standard fee of $35.00 will be charged for each item paid into the overdraft and fees are inclusive of the OOPS! limit.
Q: What other overdraft options are available besides OOPS! (Occasional Overdraft
Privilege Service)?
A: There are several options to choose from:
- Transfer from another account: You can authorize us to transfer funds needed to cover your overdraft if the funds are available. A small transfer fee may apply or it can be at no cost depending on the type of checking account you choose to open.
- Open-End Line of Credit – If you have a line of credit with Members Exchange you can authorize us to advance (add money) to your LOC and in turn the funds will be deposited into your checking account to cover payments that are presented.
Q: What is the difference between OOPS! and Non-Sufficient Funds (NSF)?
A: An NSF is when you do not have the funds to cover the full amount of the transaction and we return the item unpaid. When you have OOPS!, rather than automatically returning unpaid all NSF items that you may have, we will consider, without obligation on our part, payment of your reasonable overdrafts up to the assigned OOPS! limit.
Q: Do I need to complete an application to get OOPS!?
A: No. There is no application to complete. Once a person qualifies, OOPS! will automatically be added to the account.
Q: What is the OOPS! limit?
A: $800.00
Q: What if I want my OOPS! limit to be more than $800?
A: This limit is set and it can’t be increased.
Q: When do I have to repay the overdrawn amount in my account?
A: Members Exchange reserves the right to require you to pay the outstanding negative balance, including our fees, immediately or on demand. Any deposits made will first be applied to recovering any overdrawn balance.
Q: What if I do not want OOPS! added to my account?
A: You can opt-out of OOPS! at any time. Just notify Members Exchange and it will be removed. If you choose not to have OOPS! all future NSF items will be returned unpaid and the NSF fee will still be charged. Also, additional fees may be charged by the merchant that presented the item for payment.
Q: How do you qualify for OOPS!?
A: OOPS! will be assigned if you qualify per Members Exchange discretion. To qualify, the account must be in good standing and:
- Must be an eligible account type (no savings/money market),
- Checking account must be open 30+ days, and
- New checking accounts must have cumulative deposits of at least $400 during the last 30 days following account opening.
Q: If I have more than one checking account can I get OOPS! on each checking account?
A: No. If there are multiple checking accounts, only one checking account will be evaluated for OOPS!. If a person requests a secondary checking account to have OOPS!, the request will be sent and reviewed by a Branch Manager for approval.
Q: How will I know if OOPS! is added to my account once I qualify?
A: Once an account qualifies, OOPS! will be added and a letter will be mailed letting the member know.
Q: Am I charged a fee even if I don’t use OOPS!?
A: If you do not use OOPS! it costs you nothing. “Use” means you initiate insufficient funds transactions.
Q: Once I get OOPS! can it be taken away by the credit union?
A: Yes. Once OOPS! is added to the checking account it will be monitored and OOPS! may be removed if the following occur:
- If it is abused
- If you have a loan and it becomes past due/delinquent
- If the OOPS! limit is exceeded
- If we do not have a current address on file
- If the account is not brought back to a positive balance immediately or upon demand
- If a garnishment or levy is received on the account
- If the account owner files bankruptcy
Q: What are the standard overdraft practices that come with my account?
A: We do authorize and pay overdraft for the following types of transaction: Checks and other transactions made using your checking account number and automatic bill payments.
Q: What about ATM and debit card transactions?
A: We will not authorize and pay overdrafts for the following types of transactions unless you ask us to (opt-in): ATM transactions and everyday debit card transactions.
Q: What if I want Members Exchange Credit Union to authorize and pay overdraft on my ATM and everyday debit card transactions?
A: If you also want us to authorize and pay overdrafts on ATM and everyday debit card transactions you must opt-in. You can do this by sending us a message through our mobile app or login to online banking and go to the services tab to opt-in.
Q: How will I know when the opt-in is effect to cover ATM and everyday debit card transactions?
A: You will receive written confirmation of that consent that it will include information on how to take back (revoke) the consent.
Q: What will happen if I don’t “opt-in” to Reg. E ?
A: If you elect not to opt-in, certain transactions may be denied, specifically everyday debit card transactions and ATM withdrawals.
Q: What is the best way for me to manage my account and prevent incurring fees?
A: The best way to know how much money you have and avoid paying overdraft fees is to record and track all of your transactions closely. Members Exchange Credit Union offers several services that allow daily monitoring of your account. Our home banking service not only lets you check balances and transfer funds, it also allows you to set-up e-alerts. With e-alerts, you can be notified when certain transactions occur on your account. The same information can be monitored through mobile banking and the automated account access line allowing you 24-hour access to your account, 7 days a week.
Your checking account has two kinds of balances: the “actual” balance and the “available” balance. Both can be checked when you review your account online, by mobile application, by phone, or by contacting the credit union. It is important to understand how the two balances work so that you know how much money is in your account at any given time.
Actual Balances
Your ACTUAL balance is the amount of money that is actually in your account at any given time. It reflects transactions that have “posted” to your account, but not transactions that have been authorized and are pending. While the term “actual” may sound as though the number you see is an up-to-date display of what is in your account that you can spend, that is not always the case. Any purchases, holds, fees, other charges, or deposits made on your account that have not yet posted will not appear in your actual balance. For example, if you have a $50 actual balance, but you just wrote a check for $40, then your actual balance is $50 but is does not reflect the pending check transaction. So, at that point, you actually have $50 but you have already spent $40 leaving an available balance of $10.
There are basically two kinds of transactions in your account: credits or deposits of money into your account and debits or payments that come 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. The information below describes how we handle credits and debits to your account and the resulting impact on your available balance.
Credits
Most deposits are added to your account when we receive them. For some checks you deposit, only $225 will be made available at the time of deposit and the remaining funds will be available two (2) business days later. There may be extended holds on checks. In this case, your available balance may not reflect the most recent deposits to your account. For details on the availability for withdrawal of your deposits, please see the “Funds Availability Policy”.
Debits
There are several types of debit transactions. Common debit transactions are described below. Please note that this list may not be all inclusive. Keep in mind that there are many ways transactions are presented for payment by a merchant and Members Exchange is 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 each day. The checks drawn on your account are compiled from these data files and then posted to the checking account. We process checks in check number order – lowest to highest.
ACH Payments
We receive data files every day that consist of Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions. These include, for example, automatic bill payments you have authorized. Each day, ACH transactions for your account are presented first to post credits and then debits are paid, by dollar amount, lowest to highest.
Point of Sale (POS) Debit Card Transactions
These are transactions where you use your debit card and you enter your four-digit PIN number at the time of the sale. They are similar to ATM withdrawals because money is usually deducted from your account immediately at the time of the transaction. However, some POS transactions may not be presented for payment immediately; it depends on the merchant. POS items are paid in the order in which they are received.
Signature Debit Card Transactions
These are transactions where you make a purchase with your debit card and you do not enter a PIN but you are instead asked to sign for the purchase. As described previously, in these situations, the merchant sends us the amount, usually the purchase total, for authorization. This amount is placed on hold and removed from your available balance immediately. The hold is released after approximately 72 hours or when the transaction clears, whichever comes first. The hold helps determine the available balance on your account.
PLEASE BE AWARE – 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 the authorization request is submitted. For example, pursuant to the processing networks rules a merchant (hotel, pay at the pump gas stations, car rental company, retailer, etc.) may obtain authorization for up to 3 times the total estimated amount of your actual hotel stay, car rental, or purchase. This is deemed to be an “authorized amount” by you and the authorized amount will not be available via your account until after your bill is finally settled with such merchant(s), which can cause an overdraft in your account. Even if your bill is satisfied with another form of payment, the merchant/retailer may continue to hold the funds as originally authorized by you for these time periods. In order to avoid problems associated with these holds and authorizations; we recommend that you not use your debit card when checking into hotels or renting cars, as they are the primary source of such holds/authorizations. Remember, we cannot control how much a merchant asks us to authorize, or when a merchant submits a transaction for payment.