What is Overdraft Protection?
Overdraft protection is an account feature. Instead of being charged for bouncing a check (NSF fee), overdraft
protection will move money from another of your Credit Union accounts to cover the transaction. While SCCU charges a
fee for overdraft protection when it kicks in, it is significantly less than the bounced check fee.
You may avoid being charged for Overdraft Protection by ensuring there are adequate funds available in the checking
account before issuing checks or making transactions. Transfers may be completed by members through our Online Banking
site free of charge.
What is a UCF charge?
UCF stands for Uncollected Funds. This fee occurs when funds are not available in the account when the check is presented
because a deposit has a hold on it due to authorized debit charges that have not cleared yet or a check deposit was held
according to our hold policy.
For example, most ATM deposits are held for two-days for verification. This fee would be charged to your account if a
check or electronic payment in excess of your available balance is returned due to the funds that are on hold.
If you have questions or concerns about a potential hold on a deposit, please speak with a Member Service Specialist in
a branch.
What is an NSF charge?
NSF is an acronym for a Non-Sufficient Funds returned check charge. An NSF occurs when funds are not available in the account
when the check is presented to clear the account. Besides paying SCCU’s non-sufficient funds fee, you may also have to pay
a fee to the retailer or business you paid for the bounced check.
What is a paid NSF service?
While SCCU does not have a Courtesy Pay Program, we do believe there are certain situations when it is beneficial to a member
for SCCU to approve payment on an item that, when paid, places a member’s account into the negative. SCCU provides a
Paid Non-Sufficient Funds (NSF) service for this purpose on a case-by-case basis. Members must be in good standing and display
a strong account history in order to qualify. SCCU grants overdraft payments in limited situations and charges a fee for each
instance of overdrawn transactions. Payment is a discretionary benefit to the member, and is not a right or obligation. For more
information on our Paid NSF service, please contact our Member Service Center.
What is a Courtesy Pay Fee?
Courtesy pay allows customers to access an overdrawn account, while the financial institution charges customers a fee for
covering these transactions. The most popular courtesy pay fee in the industry today focuses on PIN-based or Point of Sale
transactions. In these situations, customers can continue to complete PIN-based transactions, even after being in the red, and
the bank allows customers to keep “spending” while the account becomes further and further overdrawn.
For customers who expect a card to be declined when there is not enough money in an account, the courtesy pay feature can cause a
significant financial burden since each negative PIN transaction is associated with a large fee (in some cases more than $35,
plus daily fees until the account is back in positive territory). Some courtesy fee programs even add in an “allowed” overdraft
amount to a customer’s balance when they check it at an ATM, causing customers to think they have more money in their account
than is actually there.
SCCU does not do this. We do not have a courtesy pay program that approves PIN transactions if there is not enough
money in the account. We do not authorize PIN transactions beyond what you have available in your balance.
