Overdraft Coverage Options
At Arvest Bank, we offer options for how you want to handle overdrafts on your checking account. An ”overdraft” occurs when the balance in your account after we post all credits and debits for the day (“Ledger Balance”) is less than the amount we need to pay a transaction, but we pay it anyway, up to your applicable overdraft limit.
You can choose SafetyLink, Basic Overdraft Coverage, Extended Overdraft Coverage, or No Overdraft Coverage. You should read and consider each option carefully before choosing an option, so you can choose the best option for your individual situation. We also offer several solutions that can help prevent overdrafts from happening on your account.
You may choose an option or change your prior election by calling us at (866) 952-9523, visiting your nearest Arvest Bank branch, or online at Arvest.com. Your checking account will receive the Basic Overdraft Coverage by default unless you tell us you do not want the Basic Overdraft Coverage or choose one of the other options available to you.
Introduction of Overdraft Coverage Options
| Coverage Type | Basic Overdraft Coverage | Extended Overdraft Coverage | No Overdraft Coverage | SafetyLink Program |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Description | We generally pay overdrafts for checks, automatic bill payments or other recurring debit card transactions and ACH transactions. Includes a fee. | We generally pay overdrafts for everything covered under Basic Coverage, as well as ATM transactions and everyday debit card transactions. Includes a fee. | We generally return items when your Ledger Balance cannot cover them, but may occasionally pay an overdraft from time to time. Can include a fee. | Automatically transfers money from your savings or money market account to cover overdrafts. Not available with Basic or Extended Overdraft Coverage or Bright Solutions Banking. |
| Check overdraft fee | $17 | $17 | $17 | No transfer fee* |
| ACH/Online Bill Pay overdraft fee | $17 | $17 | $17 | No transfer fee* |
| Everyday debit card transaction overdraft fee | No fee | $17 | No fee | No fee |
| ATM overdraft fee | No fee | $17 | No fee | No fee |
| Maximum number of overdraft fees | 4 overdrafts per day | 4 overdrafts per day | 4 overdrafts per day | See detailed description |
* If your SafetyLink Account does not have enough money to cover a transaction that overdrafts your checking account, we may still pay the transaction and charge you a $17 overdraft fee. See the detailed description for SafetyLink below for more information.
SafetyLink
We can set up an automatic transfer from your money market or savings account to cover overdrafts that may happen at no cost to you. SafetyLink can be a less expensive alternative to other overdraft options if you have a separate account with sufficient funds available to cover any overdrafts that occur on your checking account.
How Many SafetyLink Transfers May I Request?
You may request a maximum of six (6) SafetyLink transfers per month (that is, statement cycle), subject to other transactions in the month that may reduce that number, including telephone transfers, checks written on a money market account, preauthorized automatic withdrawals, debit card purchases, mobile banking transfers or online banking transfers. Once your savings or money market account reaches the monthly transfer limit, you may not request or initiate additional SafetyLink transfers until the next statement cycle, even if you overdraw your checking account and have set up SafetyLink. If your SafetyLink account reaches the monthly transfer limit, we will treat your checking account transactions as if you did not have SafetyLink. This means we may pay or return the transaction, in our sole discretion. If we return a transaction, we will not charge you a non-sufficient funds (NSF) fee, but merchant may charge you fees. If we pay the transaction and it overdrafts your account, we may charge you the applicable overdraft fee.
What Happens if My SafetyLink Account Does Not Have Enough Money to Cover an Overdraft Transaction?
When your SafetyLink account does not have enough money to cover each transaction that overdrafts your checking account, we will pay transactions according to our posting order until the SafetyLink account cannot pay an item in the posting order. When we cannot pay a transaction with a SafetyLink transfer, we may pay or return that transaction and the transactions that follow in the posting order, in our sole discretion. We will also not make any SafetyLink transfer.
If we return a transaction, we will not charge you an NSF fee, but the merchant may charge you fees. If we pay a transaction and it overdrafts your account, we may charge you a $17 overdraft fee.
Additional Important Information About SafetyLink
If you choose SafetyLink, you should be aware that we will only authorize debit card purchases you make up to the amount of money you have in your checking account at any given time that is available for you to use (“Available Balance”). We do not consider available funds in a SafetyLink account when we authorize or deny debit card, ATM, or other transactions. You cannot have Basic or Extended Overdraft Coverage if you have SafetyLink.
You should review the SafetyLink Transfer Agreement for complete details on this program.
Basic and Extended Overdraft Coverage
If you do not choose to enroll in or are not eligible for SafetyLink, we offer two other types of Overdraft Coverage: Basic Overdraft Coverage and Extended Overdraft Coverage. You may also choose No Overdraft Coverage if you do not want us to cover overdrafts on your checking account.
Basic Overdraft Coverage
We provide Basic Overdraft Coverage on most checking accounts, typically between 30 and 120 days from when you open your account or request coverage. Basic Overdraft Coverage covers these types of transactions, which are examples only:
- Checks you write and checks initiated by BillPay online or via our mobile application
- ACH electronic payments for bills automatically deducted from your account
- Recurring debit card transactions, such as monthly memberships or subscriptions
Basic Overdraft Coverage does not cover everyday (that is, one-time) debit card transactions or ATM transactions that overdraft your account—you must choose to add Extended Overdraft Coverage to your account if you would like us to pay these types of overdrafts.
If you only have Basic Overdraft Coverage, we will generally decline everyday debit card and ATM transactions at the point of sale or ATM if your Available Balance is not sufficient to cover the transaction when you initiate it.
For all consumer accounts, if we pay a transaction covered under Basic Overdraft Coverage, we will charge you an overdraft fee of $17 per overdraft, for a maximum of four (4) overdraft fees per day, even if we pay more than 4 transactions.
You may decline Basic Overdraft Coverage at any time as explained in Section 2.2.4 (“Changing Your Overdraft Coverage”) . If you decline coverage, we may still pay overdrafts covered by Basic Overdraft Coverage. If we do this, we will charge you an overdraft fee of $17, subject to the 4 fees/day limit.
Extended Overdraft Coverage
If you ask us to add Extended Overdraft Coverage to your checking account, it covers these types of transactions, which are examples only:
- Everyday debit card purchases at stores or online
- ATM transactions (including cash withdrawals and transfers between accounts)
- One-time online debit card payments (including utilities, online shopping, and reservations)
You must have Basic Overdraft Coverage to request Extended Overdraft Coverage. For all consumer accounts, if we pay an overdraft covered under Extended Overdraft Coverage, we will charge you an overdraft fee of $17 per overdraft, for a maximum of four (4) overdraft fees per day, even if we pay more than 4 transactions.
You may decline Extended Overdraft Coverage at any time, as explained in Section 4 (“Choosing or Changing Your Overdraft Coverage”). If you decline coverage, we may still pay overdrafts covered by Extended Overdraft Coverage. If we do this, we will not charge you an overdraft fee.
No Overdraft Coverage
If you choose to have No Overdraft Coverage, we will generally return transactions when your Ledger Balance is not sufficient to cover them. If we return the transaction, we will not charge you an NSF fee, but the merchant may charge you fees.
From time to time, we may choose to pay an overdraft. If we pay an overdraft covered by Basic Overdraft Coverage, we will charge you an overdraft fee of $17 per overdraft, for a maximum of four (4) overdraft fees per day, even if we pay more than 4 transactions. If we pay an overdraft covered by Extended Overdraft Protection, we will not charge you an overdraft fee.
Additional Important Information About Overdraft Coverage
You are still responsible for paying overdraft amounts (along with applicable overdraft fees) and bringing your account to a positive balance, even if you have overdraft coverage. If you do not bring your account to a positive balance over an extended period of time we may remove your overdraft coverage or close your account. If you choose No Overdraft Coverage, we may still pay overdrafts, from time to time. If we do this, we may charge you the applicable overdraft fee.
We pay overdrafts in our sole discretion, which means we do not guarantee that we will always pay any type of transaction. We may choose to return the transaction instead of paying the overdraft, even if you have overdraft coverage. If we return an item, we will not charge you an NSF fee, but the merchant may charge you fees. If we pay an overdraft, we may charge you the applicable overdraft fee.
The order that we post items to your account depends on when the items are presented to us for payment. This is important if your Ledger Balance is not sufficient to pay all the transactions presented to us. This can also affect the number of transactions we pay as overdrafts or return, and the amount of fees you must pay. The type of overdraft coverage you have on your account can also impact the types of overdrafts we may pay.
Choosing or Changing your Overdraft Coverage
You can choose or change your overdraft coverage at any time by contacting us in any of the following ways:
- Online using our Choose Your Overdraft Coverage Options request process at arvest.com
- In the Arvest Go mobile banking app under Settings
- Call our customer service department at (866) 952-9523
- Visit your local Arvest Bank branch location
How Long Does It Take to Remove Basic or Extended Overdraft Coverage?
We process and apply requests to remove Basic or Extended Overdraft Coverage the business day following your request.
How Long Does It Take to Add Basic or Extended Overdraft Coverage?
We process requests to add Basic or Extended Overdraft Coverage to your account if you currently have No Overdraft Coverage within 30 to 120 days of your request.
How Long Does It Take to Add Extended Overdraft Coverage if I Currently Only Have Basic Overdraft Coverage?
We process requests to add Extended Overdraft Coverage to accounts with Basic Overdraft Coverage the business day following your request. While we process your request to add overdraft coverage to your account, we may pay overdrafts in our sole discretion and may not provide you with the overdraft coverage you request, or any overdraft coverage.
If you recently requested to convert your account to another account type, such as a myBlue account to an Arvest Club account, you may be subject to a waiting period before you will be permitted to add Extended Overdraft Coverage. Please contact us at (866) 952-9523 for more information.
Overdraft Coverage and Zelle and TransferNow transfers
Unless you make your Zelle or TransferNow transfer using the standard 3-day delivery option, Basic and Extended Overdraft Coverage generally do not cover Zelle or TransferNow transfers that result in overdrafts to your checking account. This means that even if you have Basic or Extended Overdraft Coverage, we will typically decline Zelle and TransferNow transfers that overdraft your account. While we may choose to pay a Zelle or TransferNow transfer that overdrafts your account from time to time, we will not charge you an overdraft fee if we do. You must pay the overdraft amount any time your account is overdrawn.
Basic Overdraft Coverage does cover Zelle or Transfer Now transfers sent using the standard 3-day delivery option, because these transactions are processed as ACH transactions. If we pay a Zelle or TransferNow transfer that is processed as an ACH transaction, which overdrafts your account, we will charge you an overdraft fee of $17 subject to the 4 fees/day limit.
Options that Can Help You Reduce Overdrafts and Overdraft Fees
We offer several options that you can use to help manage your checking account balance and avoid overdrafts. Monitoring your account balance may help you prevent overdraft fees. It may also alert you to fraudulent activity on your account. We are happy to help you get set up with any of these services:
24-Hour Account Info Line – Automated account information available by phone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This service allows you to transfer funds between accounts. Any transactions you initiate that have not yet been presented to us for payment are not reflected in the Available Balance information.
Arvest Online Banking – You can use Arvest Online Banking to monitor account activity and Available Balance information each day for transactions that have been presented to us for payment. You can also use Arvest Online Banking to transfer funds between accounts and to initiate electronic bill payments through our Online BillPay service. Any transactions you initiate that have not yet been presented to us are not reflected in your Available Balance information. While Online Banking can be one tool to monitor account activity, you should not rely on your Available Balance to determine the actual amount of money in your account as it may not reflect all transactions you have authorized that we are not aware of.
Arvest Mobile Banking – You can use Arvest Mobile Banking to monitor account activity and Available Balance information each day for transactions that have been presented to us for payment. You can also use Arvest Mobile Banking to transfer funds between accounts. In addition, with a smart phone app you can deposit checks into your account without making a trip to the bank. Any transactions you initiate that have not yet been presented to us for payment may not be reflected in your Available Balance information. While Mobile Banking can be one tool to monitor account activity, you should not rely upon your Available Balance to determine the actual amount of money in your account.
Text Alerts – Customers with Arvest Mobile Banking can also sign up for SMS text alerts or push notifications regarding specific account transactions, including deposit posting, withdrawals over a set limit, account balances dropping below a predetermined balance threshold or an overdraft fee posting.
Email Balance Alerts – Set up email alerts through Arvest Online Banking that will notify you when your account reaches a specific balance amount.
Arvest Bright Solutions™ Banking
Focus less on preventing overdraft fees, and more on simple budgeting and money management. Bright Solutions™ Banking is a completely different banking product meant for customers not interested in overdraft fees. Please consult your Arvest Customer Service Representative for additional information about this product.
In addition, we offer online assistance at practicalmoneyskills.com. This website has resources to assist you with managing your money such as setting budgets, managing credit and several other areas of financial management. If you do not have access to the internet, come visit us at your local branch for assistance in using these valuable resources.
