Sample text: Checks. Please note that the text highlighted in red will vary based on the response you select.
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}.
Sample text: ACH Payments. Please note that the text highlighted in red will vary based on the response you select.
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}.
Sample text: Signature-Based Debit Card Purchase Transactions. Please note that the text highlighted in red will vary based on the response you select.
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. This is referred to as an "authorization hold." An 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. The amount of an authorization hold may also differ from the final transaction amount when 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.
For debit card transactions involving merchant authorization holds, there may be a delay between the hold being applied and the transaction posting to your account. During the delay, intervening transactions may impact the available balance in your account. It is important to keep in mind that we check your available balance both at the time the merchant's authorization request is received and again when the transaction settles and posts to your account. If your available balance is insufficient to cover the amount of the merchant's authorization request, we will decline the request. If your available balance is sufficient to cover the merchant's authorization request, the request will be approved, and an authorization hold in the amount of the request will be placed on your account. When the hold ends, the held funds will be released and added back to your available balance. The merchant will process the transaction and submit it to us for payment. If your account is overdrawn after any held funds are added back to your account's available balance and the transaction settles and is posted to your account (i.e., posting the transaction results in an available balance of less than $0), we may charge you a fee for overdrawing your account, even though the available balance in your account was sufficient to cover the transaction at the time it was authorized.
The following example illustrates how this works:
Assume your actual and available balances are both $40, and you use your debit card at a restaurant to pay your bill totaling $30. If the restaurant requests authorization in the amount of $30, an authorization hold is placed on $30 in your account. Your available balance is only $10, but the actual balance remains $40. Before the restaurant charge is sent to us for payment, a check that you wrote for $40 is presented for payment. Because your available balance is only $10 due to the $30 authorization hold, your account will be overdrawn by $30 when the check transaction is posted to your account even though your actual balance is $40. In this example, if we pay the $40 check in accordance with our standard overdraft services, we will charge you a fee for overdrawing your account as disclosed in the Schedule of Fees and Charges. The fee will also be deducted from your account, further increasing the overdrawn amount. In addition, when the restaurant charge is finally submitted to us for payment, we will release the authorization hold and pay the transaction amount to the restaurant. The transaction amount may be $30 or a different amount (for example, if you added a tip). Because the amount of the restaurant charge exceeds your available balance at the time the charge is settled (i.e., at the time the merchant or its financial institution requests payment or the transaction posts to your account), we may charge you another fee for overdrawing your account, even though you had a sufficient available balance in your account at the time the restaurant charge was authorized and approved.
