An insufficient balance can result from several events, such as (1) the payment of checks, electronic funds transfers or other withdrawal requests; (2) payments authorized by you; (3) the return of unpaid items deposited by you; (4) bank service charges; or (5) the deposit of items which, according to the bank’s Funds Availability Policy, are treated as not yet available or finally paid. We are not obligated to pay any item presented for payment if your account does not contain sufficient funds.
As long as you maintain your account in “good standing,” we may approve your overdraft items within your current available Check Protect limit as a non-contractual courtesy. For overdraft privilege consideration, your account is in “good standing” if you (1) make sufficient deposits to bring your account to a positive end-of-day balance at least once every 30 calendar days (including the payment of all bank fees and charges); (2) avoid excessive overdrafts suggesting the use of Check Protect as a continuing line of credit; and (3) there are no legal orders, levies or liens against your account.
In the normal course of business, we generally pay electronic transactions first and then checks in serial number order, per the bank’s policy. We reserve the right to change the order of payment without notice to you if we suspect fraud or possible illegal activity affecting your account. Also, please be aware that the order of item payment may create multiple overdraft items during a single banking day for which you will be charged our Non-Sufficient Funds (NSF) item paid fee of $31 for each overdraft item paid.
You may opt out of the privilege at any time, but you are responsible for any overdrawn balances at the time of opting out. Normally, we will not approve an overdraft for you in excess of the predetermined amount assigned to your account type. So as not to exceed your limit, please note that the amount of the overdraft plus the bank’s NSF item paid fee of $31 per item will be deducted from the overdraft limit.
We may refuse to pay an overdraft item at any time even though we may have previously paid overdrafts for you. For example, we typically do not pay overdraft items if your account is not in good standing as defined above, or if based upon our review of your account management, we determine that you have too many overdrafts or are using Check Protect as a regular line of credit. You will be charged a NSF item returned un-paid fee of $31 for each item returned.
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 overdraft including our NSF item paid fee of $31 and/or a NSF item returned un-paid fee of $31 that you owe us shall be due and payable upon demand, but if no demand is made, no later than 30 calendar days after the creation of the overdraft. If there is an overdraft on an account with more than one owner on the signature card, each owner and agent, if applicable, shall be jointly and severally liable for all overdrafts inclusive of fees.
Check Protect should not be viewed as an encouragement to overdraw your account. To avoid fees, we encourage you to keep track of your account balance by entering all items in your check register, reconcile your checkbook regularly, and manage your finances responsibly. If you would like to have this service removed from your account, please contact our Accounts Inquiry Department at (419) 625-4124 or (888) 383-5133.
Please note that your Check Protect limit may be available for covering overdrafts created at the teller window, ATM, through a POS transaction, Online Banking and Telephone Banking. The Available Balance is your current balance plus your Check Protect limit. Using your Available Balance will create a NSF item paid fee of $31 per item. Your limit will not be included in the current balance provided during an inquiry.
LIMITATIONS: Check Protect is a non-contractual courtesy that is available to individually/jointly owned accounts in good standing for personal or household use. The Citizens Banking Company reserves the right to limit participation to one account per household and to suspend, revoke, or discontinue this service without prior notice.
