plan for your unexpected.

An overdraft occurs when the available balance in your checking account is insufficient to cover a transaction, but we pay it anyway. Your account is considered overdrawn when the available balance in your account is negative.

If you apply and are qualified for one of our optional overdraft protection services, such as Transfer Overdraft Protection (where funds from another account, such as your savings account, are used for overdraft protection) or Line of Credit Overdraft Protection (where your line of credit is used for overdraft protection), we will look first to these services for overdraft protection before applying our Courtesy Pay program when your account is overdrawn.

When we determine that the available balance in your account is not sufficient to cover a check or other item presented for payment, we consider the check or other item an insufficient funds item. If you have enrolled in an optional overdraft protection plan and have enough available funds in the linked account, we will transfer funds to cover the item. Otherwise, without notice to you, we will either (i) authorize/pay the insufficient funds item and overdraw your account, and charge you a Courtesy Pay or Overdraft Fee (subject to any limitations we impose and special rules for everyday debit transactions, discussed above); or (ii) decline or return the insufficient funds item without payment, and charge you an Insufficient Funds Fee.

We use your available balance to determine whether you have sufficient funds in your account to cover a transaction. In determining the available balance in your account, we consider all transactions that have posted to your account, any holds that may be in place on deposits you have made, and any pending transactions that we have authorized but that have not yet posted to your account. For point-of-sale transactions, such as when you use your debit card with a merchant, we calculate your available balance at the time the transaction is authorized (subject to certain details regarding authorization holds). For ACH transactions or checks drawn on your account and presented by other financial institutions, we calculate your available balance at the time we post the transaction.

The amount we show as your available balance at any given time reflects the most current records we have about the funds that are available for withdrawal from your account at that time. However, for a variety of reasons, this amount might not represent the funds in your account that will actually be available to cover a particular transaction. For example, the amount shown as your available balance does not reflect outstanding checks you have written which have not yet been presented to us for payment, automatic bill payments you have authorized, or other outstanding transactions that have not been paid from your account. In addition, your available balance may not reflect all of your debit card transactions.  Depending on how and when these items are presented to us relative to a transaction you want to make, you may still overdraw your account even though the available balance appears to show there are sufficient funds to cover the transaction. It is your responsibility to record and track all of your transactions closely to ensure there are sufficient funds in your account.

When you make a purchase with your debit card, the merchant may seek our prior authorization for the transaction. In these situations, we generally place a temporary hold (called an “authorization hold”) against some or all of the funds in the account linked to your debit card. The amount of an authorization hold may differ from the actual transaction amount because the actual transaction amount may not yet be known to the merchant when the authorization request is submitted (such as a gas station purchase or hotel stay). The amount of the authorization hold will be subtracted from your available balance, generally in real time as received by us throughout each day.

We will release the authorization hold when the transaction clears or after two calendar days, whichever is first. If the merchant does not submit the transaction for payment and we release the authorization hold, your available balance will no longer reflect this transaction. We still must honor the prior authorization and pay the transaction from your account when the transaction is submitted for payment even after the hold has been released, even if it results in your account being overdrawn. If our system no longer reflects the hold at the time the transaction is submitted for payment, you may incur an overdraft fee, even if you had sufficient available balance at the time of authorization.

You may choose at any time to opt out and not participate in the Courtesy Pay program. If you chose to opt out of the entire Courtesy Pay program, and you have previously opted into Courtesy Pay for Everyday Debit Card Transactions, you will be automatically removed from Courtesy Pay for Everyday Debit Card Transactions. If you have previously opted into Courtesy Pay for Everyday Debit Card Transactions and you wish to opt out of that protection but maintain standard Courtesy Pay protection, you may do so at any time as well. To opt out, follow the links above, visit any Golden 1 branch, or contact a Member Service Representative at 1-877-GOLDEN 1 (1-877-465-3361).

For more information about our Courtesy Pay program and overdrafts and returned items, please see the section of your Membership Agreement and Disclosure of Account Information entitled “Overdrafts and Returned Items.”