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Courtesy Pay

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Courtesy Pay. SMCU Has You Covered.


When you forget to deposit a check or transfer funds or when the amount of funds in your checking account puts you at risk for a declined transaction, we’ve got you covered. Courtesy Pay approves the transactions and pays the amount so you can have peace of mind knowing that you’re covered.

Courtesy Pay is available in two levels of protection:
 
  • Standard – Included as a benefit with your SMCU checking account
  • Secondary – An add-on service that requires opting in
There is no charge for opting into coverage for Courtesy Pay. However, if there are insufficient funds in your account, you are charged a fee for using the service. A fee of $30 is incurred each time Courtesy Pay is used to approve and/or pay a transaction. For a complete list of all SMCU fees please refer to SMCU’s Cost Recovery/Fee Schedule.  
 
Courtesy Pay options for coverage may be selected or changed at any time by calling our Contact Center at (650) 363-1725 or visiting one of our branch locations.
 

 

Type of coverage how it works what it covers action required fee
Standard Courtesy Pay - Check and Electronic (ACH) Transactions Only Instead of a transaction being returned or declined, we pay the transaction on your behalf.
  • Checks
  • Automatic recurring debit card payments
  • Electronic transactions (ACH)
  • Bill Pay transactions
 This is included as an account benefit with no action required. $30 for each Check, ACH transfer or bill pay transaction
Secondary Courtesy Pay - All Services Instead of a transaction being returned or declined, we pay the transaction on your behalf. All the items above, plus:
 
  • Everyday Debit Card and POS purchases
  • ATM transactions
 This is a service offered to you. If you want this service, simply opt-in at account opening, or by contacting us. $30 for each transaction.  Debit Card/POS or ATM transaction
NOTE: You cannot choose to have Secondary Courtesy Pay (Debit Card/POS and ATM coverage) without Standard Courtesy Pay (Checks, ACH or Bill Pay transaction coverage).  No more than five (5) Courtesy Pay fees ($150.00 total) may be charged per day.
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You may elect to opt out of our Standard Courtesy Pay program. If you opt out of Standard Courtesy Pay, and funds in your account are not sufficient to cover the check or ACH payment, you will be charged a non-sufficient funds (NSF) fee of $30 AND your check or ACH payment will be returned unpaid to the person, merchant or financial institution (Payee).  The Payee may charge you for a returned item fee.

 
Type of coverage how it works action required fee
Standard Courtesy Pay - Check and Electronic (ACH) Transactions Only These items will be returned unpaid:
  • Checks
  • Automatic recurring debit card payments
  • Electronic transactions (ACH)
  • Bill Pay transactions
 You may elect to opt out of this automatic service at account opening, or by contacting us at any time. $30 NSF Fee for each item returned unpaid:
  • Checks
  • Automatic recurring Debit Card payments
  • ACH transactions
Secondary Courtesy Pay - All Services
  • Debit Card/POS transactions without funds available, will be declined at the point of sale or when you swipe and sign.
  • ATM transactions will be declined
 This service requires you to opt-in to add it.
If you previously opted in and no longer want this service, you can opt out  by contacting us.		 All debit card, ATM and bill payments are declined.
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Your “Actual Balance” or “Current Balance” is the amount of money in your account at the beginning of any day.  This amount does not include any pending deposits or withdrawals.  There is a difference between your Actual Balance/Current Balance and your Available Balance as shown in the examples below.
 
Your “Available Balance” is the current balance minus any pending Debit Card purchases, automatic drafts (ACH), processing checks or other debits to your account.  Available Balance is the amount available to you to make withdrawals or make payments.  We determine whether your account has a positive balance or (available funds), or if it is overdrawn, or if a transaction will overdraw the account, based on Available Balance.  It is important for you to keep track of your Available Balance, and any pending Merchant Authorizations (See Available Balance and Merchant Authorization Holds) before you conduct a transaction such as writing a check, or using your debit card, in order for you to know whether or not that transaction will overdraw your account. Available Balance is shown in online banking, mobile banking and displayed when you transact using an ATM.   
 
We will charge you a fee each time we pay an overdraft from any item shown in the above table under How Courtesy Pay Works, accordingly from your elected Standard Courtesy Pay (checks, ACH and bill pay) and Secondary Courtesy Pay (debit card and ATM).  As noted in the table titled OPTING OUT OF BOTH STANDARD AND SECONDARY COURTESY PAY, we will charge you a fee each time we pay an overdraft resulting from a check or ACH, and we will return it to the Payee who may charge an additional fee.  Any debit card or ATM transactions that may place may make your account negative or require an overdraft due to insufficient funds, due to your Available Balance, will be declined. 
 

Online Banking



 
 

Mobile Banking

 


 
For Debit Card and ATM transactions, your Available Balance is utilized at the time a transaction posts in order to determine when your account is overdrawn and whether fees will be charged.  For Debit Card transactions involving merchant authorization holds, such as securing a hotel room or purchasing fuel at a gas station, a longer delay may occur between an authorization hold being applied and the transaction posting. In such cases a debit transaction could delay posting and not be reflected in your Available Balance, at any point in time.  As a result, an overdraft or an insufficient Available Balance may occur when conducting another transaction (Debit Card, ATM withdrawal).  This is true even if your Available Balance shows you have enough funds to withdraw from your account.  It is very important for you to understand and record what you have purchased, authorized and the potential for that transaction to be pending as these items may not be reflected in your Available Balance.
 
Example:  You have an Available Balance of $100 that shows on an ATM machine.  However, twenty minutes ago you purchased fuel and a gas station where a Merchant Authorization hold of $80 was placed and is not yet reflected in your Available Balance. If you withdraw $100 at the ATM, the $80 Merchant Authorization can subsequently post and cause your account to go into overdraft of $80 and you will be charged a $30 Courtesy Pay fee.
 
Opting into Secondary Courtesy Pay can be done in three ways:
 
  • By calling our Contact Center at (650) 363-1725
  • Visiting one of our branch locations
 

Eligibility requirements and a membership in good standing apply to all credit union products and services. You must be 18 years of age to use Courtesy Pay, and SMCU reserves the right to decline any Courtesy Pay transaction at its discretion. There is a cap of (5) five overdraft transactions per day and maximum fee of $150.00 per day ($30 per occurrence) that SMCU charges for overdrawing your account.  Additional conditions and restrictions apply. Please ask an SMCU representative for full details.