Catering to YOU with Courtesy Pay

What do you do to cover temporary cash shortages? Payday lenders? Bounce checks? BECU has come up with a better solution for our members: Courtesy Pay What is Courtesy Pay? As of May 15th, 2006, Courtesy Pay is an optional service for BECU members with share draft accounts. With this service, BECU will honor checks that would have previously been "bounced" for non-sufficient funds. What does it mean for me? By having Courtesy Pay service, you can relax knowing you will never have to suffer the cost and embarrassment of bouncing a check. BECU will honor certain withdrawals, allowing your account to go negative up to $500. Then, you can bring your account positive with your next deposit. What transactions are covered? BECU will honor any share drafts, debit card transactions when the system is unable to verify how much is in your account, and 3rd party withdrawals (such as when you pay a bill on-line). By covering these transactions, we will ensure that you never face the embarrassment and cost of bouncing a check or payment. How much does it cost? There is no monthly or annual fee to have Courtesy Pay service on your account. If you use Courtesy Pay, you are assessed the same fee as the fee for Non-Sufficient Funds. As of 4/4/2006, that fee is $18.00. That means you don’t pay for the service unless you use it! Who is eligible for Courtesy Pay service? All members who are in good standing, who have been members for more than 3 months, and are 18 or older are automatically given service. If you do not want Courtesy Pay service, just call the BECU Accounting Department at (423) 336-7268. Because this service is a courtesy provided to our membership and not a contractual agreement, you may opt out at any time. Likewise, BECU can refuse to provide Courtesy Pay service at any time. Why is BECU offering Courtesy Pay? Your family’s credit union knows that this is a service that will make life easier and more affordable for every member who takes advantage. Courtesy Pay will help you whenever you have a temporary cash shortage. BECU doesn’t want you to have the fees & credit damage associated with returned checks, and we don’t want members to have to resort to using payday lenders. Using payday lending for temporary cash shortages costs huge amounts of money, and can trap you in a debt cycle that is hard to escape. BECU offers free overdraft protection through my Share account and Personal Line of Credit - will this replace that? No, if you overdraw your share draft, BECU will look first to shares, and then a personal line of credit (if applicable), unless you have specified otherwise. After all of those efforts have been exhausted, BECU will use Courtesy Pay service and charge the applicable fee to each overdrawn item. How does it work? When you withdraw more money from your draft account than you have available, BECU will honor the withdrawal, as long as it is a covered transaction. You will be charged the equivalent of the NSF fee, which is currently $18, each item. Your account will be allowed to go negative up to $500, which includes fees. You will be notified by mail that Courtesy Pay has been used, and you have up to 30 days to bring your account positive. If your account is still negative after 30 days, Courtesy Pay privileges will be revoked. If the account is still negative after 45 days, your account will be closed and the action will be reported to TeleCheck. However, even if you take the full 30 days to bring your account back to positive, you will NOT be charged additional fees. This is not a loan, so there is no APR, and no finance charges. It is simply a one-time fee for each withdrawal that the credit union honors. For example: If a you have $20 in your Share Draft, and you write a draft for $50, BECU will honor the draft, and you will be negative $48 ($30 (the amount honored) + $18 (service fee)). If you write another draft for $100, BECU will honor the draft, and you will be negative a total of $166 ($100 + $30 + $18 + $18). You will be allowed to go negative up to $500. What if I don’t want Courtesy Pay service? If you do not want Courtesy Pay on your draft account, simply call us at (423) 336-7268 and tell us you wish to opt out of Courtesy Pay, and we will remove this service from your account. Please note, if you receive a direct deposit of your monthly Social Security payment into your checking account and do not want Courtesy Pay eligibility, you must advise us to stop us from paying your overdrafts with these funds. BECU is adding Courtesy Pay to its extensive list of services to help you and your family cover temporary cash shortages. We want you to be able to relax and rest easy that your credit and your pocket will not suffer in the event that you make an error or need aid between paychecks. Courtesy Pay is not designed to encourage members to handle their finances poorly. If you are having trouble balancing your checkbook, or budgeting for your monthly expenses, please call the credit union and ask for help. We are always happy to have a chance to educate the membership, and make your life better in any way we can. Full Courtesy Pay Policy: Courtesy Pay is an optional service for share draft accounts where BECU will honor share drafts, ACH debits, and other withdrawals that would have previously been dishonored for non-sufficient funds. Eligibility: Courtesy Pay is automatically implemented for all members in good standing who are age 18 or older and have been members for more than 90 days. Courtesy Pay privileges may be cancelled or denied for any member or any specific account, at any time and without prior notice to the member, under the following circumstances: 1) If the credit union has sustained a loss on the member in the past. 2) If the member is more than 15 days delinquent on a loan. 3) If the member is frequently "hopping" back and forth between using/not using the service. 4) If any other circumstances exist that pose the risk of loss to the credit union. Members may opt out of Courtesy Pay at any time, and then opt back in at a later date. Exception: Point-of-Sale transactions are approved at the POS terminal so they cannot be dishonored; POS items that reject for non-sufficient funds will be force-posted and the NSF fee will be assessed. Fees: The fee assessed for each use of Courtesy Pay (i.e. each transaction posted for which funds are not available) shall be equal to the fee assessed for non-sufficient funds. There are no annual, monthly, or maintenance fees for the privilege of having Courtesy Pay available on an account. Fees are incurred only when Courtesy Pay is used. Repayment of Balance: A member must bring the affected account to a balance of zero or greater within 45 days or the negative balance will be charged off and the account will be closed. Bringing the account to zero requires the member deposit money for all honored checks and all fees assessed. Members may repay by cash or through a loan if approved. Once a negative balance has been charged off, the member may repay through a plan agreed upon by the member and the Collections Department. Limits: Per member: Negative balance limit (after items are posted and fees assessed) will be $500. Management may approve higher limits, up to $1,500, on a case-by-case basis. Overall for Credit Union: The sum of all negative balances on member accounts any given day will be limited to five percent (5%) of the previous day’s total share draft account balances. If this limit is reached, Courtesy Pay will be temporarily suspended for all members. Transactions Eligible for Courtesy Pay: Courtesy Pay may be used on X7 accounts to pay share drafts, ACH debits, and POS transactions. The credit union will honor these items and charge the fee(s) accordingly, until the negative balance reaches the account’s Courtesy Pay limit. The fee for any item paid will be posted before the next item is considered for payment. Items will be considered for payment in the order of smallest to largest amounts, so that the largest number of items possible may be honored. Manual Transaction Processing Using Courtesy Pay: For manually posted transactions, Courtesy Pay shall be invoked for eligible members under the following conditions: 1) If the member is present, Courtesy Pay shall be invoked if the member agrees after being informed of the applicable fees. 2) If the member is not present, Courtesy Pay shall be invoked unless the member has opted out of the service. Member Notifications: Notices will be mailed to members no later than one business day following the use of Courtesy Pay. Members will be notified in writing at 15 days if the account balance remains negative at that time. At 30 days the member will be notified in writing that if they do not cover the negative balance by the 45th calendar day after the initial use of Courtesy Pay, the account will be closed and such action reported to Telecheck. Bankruptcy: Members who file for bankruptcy will become ineligible for Courtesy Pay until the member has resolved the bankruptcy, repaid the Credit Union, and/or Credit Union management determines that the member no longer poses an undue risk for the Credit Union.

Gold Interest Checking Pot o' Gold Drawing Official Rules:
All entrants, as a condition of entry, agree to hold harmless BECU from any and all damages or events that may occur while taking advantage of this offer.   The odds of winning depend upon the number of entries received.  The winner will be drawn on March 31st of each year.  BECU employees, immediate family, and anyone living in the same household of such employees are not eligible.  No purchase neccessary.  Each member with a Gold Interest Checking Account will be entered automatically.  Any member may enter by mailing a postcard with: Name, Account Number, address, and phone number to Contest Entry, BECU, PO Box 359, Calhoun, TN 37309.  Incomplete entries will not be processed.  All entries must be received by March 30th.  One entry per member.