Understanding Overdraft Protection
Think of Overdraft Protection as insurance for your transactions. It ensures that even if funds are low, your essential payments aren’t compromised. At First Service, we prioritize your financial security. Our diverse solutions, including the Courtesy Pay program1 and Overdraft Transfer,2 are designed to offer flexibility and peace of mind.
Compare Overdraft Protection Options
All eligible accounts are automatically opted in to Courtesy Pay for checks, electronic payments, and transactions processed through the Automatic Clearing House (ACH). If you would like Courtesy Pay to also pay one-time debit and ATM transactions, all you have to do is opt in.
Select and combine one or more Overdraft Protection programs to ensure adequate coverage and peace of mind. If you have Overdraft Transfer combined with Courtesy Pay, we will always pay the overdraft by transfer method before using Courtesy Pay. Courtesy Pay fees are waived on all transactions of $5.00 or less.
Overdraft Transfer | Courtesy Pay (Standard) | Courtesy Pay (Additional) | |
How It Works | If your account is overdrawn, we'll automatically transfer funds from your savings account or line of credit to pay checks, online bill payments, debit card purchases, and ATM withdrawals. | This option is included with your account if you meet certain criteria. We generally let your online bill payments and checks go through but decline debit card transactions and ATM withdrawals. | If you select this option, we may authorize debit card transactions and ATM withdrawals that overdraw your account. |
ATM Overdrafts | Covered for $5.00 | Declined | Covered for $30.00 |
Debit Card Overdrafts | Covered for $5.00 | Declined | Covered for $30.00 |
Online Bill Payment Overdrafts | Covered for $5.00 | Covered for $30.00 | Covered for $30.00 |
Check Overdrafts | Covered for $5.00 | Covered for $30.00 | Covered for $30.00 |
ACH Transaction Overdrafts | Covered for $5.00 | Covered for $30.00 | Covered for $30.00 |
Courtesy Pay Grace Period
Courtesy Pay Grace Period is here to lend you a helping hand when you overdraft your account, because we know life happens!
Overdraft Protection FAQs
Yes. You can combine Overdraft Protection programs to ensure adequate coverage and peace of mind. If you have Overdraft Transfer protection combined with Courtesy Pay, we will always pay the overdraft by transfer method before using Courtesy Pay.
- Once you’ve logged in to digital banking, navigate to Overdraft Transfer Protection under Accounts.
- You will see a dropdown menu that shows all of your accounts that are eligible for overdraft protection.
- Select the account for which you'd like to set up overdraft protection.
- Once you've selected an account, you can Add, Delete, or Arrange the overdraft settings by following the prompts on screen.
Courtesy Pay is a service offered to checking account members and provides a limited level of protection from non-sufficient fund (NSF) fees for returned checks and declined ATM or debit card transactions. It is not a loan — it is a courtesy extended to qualified members in good standing to cover items, up to your eligible limit. We pay overdrafts at our discretion, which means that we do not guarantee that we will always authorize and pay any type of transactions.
Checks and other transactions on a checking account with us are paid based on your available balance, and not the actual balance.
Your actual balance is the actual amount of funds in the account (based on credits and debits posted to the account at that time).
Your available balance is generally equal to the actual balance, less the amount of any holds placed on recent deposits, holds placed for other reasons, and holds for pending transactions (such as debit card purchases) that we have authorized but that have not yet posted to the account.
If an item presented for payment against your account exceeds the available balance, we will treat it as an overdraft even if the actual balance exceeds the amount of the item.
- Click on Additional Services in the menu under Settings.
- Click Courtesy Pay to see an explanation of the service, and a list of any accounts eligible for Courtesy Pay with an on/off switch to the right of each one. The toggle will be gray if the account has not “Opted In.”
- Click on the accounts that you want to “Opt In” and the toggles will turn green.
- After you’ve made your selections, check the box to agree to the terms and click Save Changes to enroll the account(s) into Courtesy Pay.
The total amount you can overdraw using Courtesy Pay will depend on how long you have been a member and whether you have a direct deposit set up on your checking account.
Courtesy Pay Limits
Account Type |
Length of Membership |
Direct Deposit |
Courtesy Pay Limit |
---|---|---|---|
Checking Account |
Less than 1 Month |
N/A |
$0 |
Less than 1 Year |
No |
$500 |
|
Yes |
$750 |
||
More than 1 Year |
No |
$1000 |
|
Yes |
$1300 |
This is how Courtesy Pay will work:
- You use your debit card or write a check from your checking account.
- If funds are not available, and you have exhausted your other overdraft resources, Courtesy Pay will allow transactions to clear your account up to your eligible amount.
- We will assess a $30 service charge for each transaction covered by Courtesy Pay.
With Courtesy Pay, you can avoid any inconvenience or fees from merchants when you make a mistake in your checkbook, have an unplanned expense, or run short on cash between paydays. Instead of returning transactions unpaid, First Service may automatically pay them and assess a $30.00 Courtesy Pay service charge for charges of $5.00 or more. If you do not opt in to Courtesy Pay or do not qualify, First Service will return any transactions unpaid and assess a $30.00 NSF service charge.
The Courtesy Pay service charge will not be applied to transactions of $5.00 or less that overdraw your account.
You can avoid paying the Courtesy Pay service charge if you bring your account positive within 24 hours of the negative transaction.
You can avoid paying the $30 Courtesy Pay fee by making sure your account is positive within 24-hours of the negative transaction.