Funds Availability Policy
YOUR ABILITY TO WITHDRAW FUNDS
This policy statement applies to “transaction” accounts. Transaction accounts, in general, are accounts which permit an unlimited number of payments to third persons and an unlimited number of telephone and preauthorized transfers to other accounts of yours with us. Checking accounts are the most common transaction accounts. Feel free to ask us whether any of your other accounts might also be under this policy.
Our policy is to make funds from your cash and check deposits available to you on the first business day after the day we receive your deposit. Electronic direct deposits will be available on the day we receive the deposit. Once the funds are available, you can withdraw them in cash and we will use the funds to pay checks that you have written.
Please remember that even after we have made funds available to you, and you have withdrawn the funds, you are still responsible for checks you deposit that are returned to us unpaid and for any other problems involving your deposit.
For determining the availability of your deposits, every day is a business day, except Saturdays, Sundays, and federal holidays.
If you make a deposit before closing on a business day that we are open, we will consider that day to be the day of your deposit. However, if you make a deposit after closing or on a day we are not open, we will consider that the deposit was made on the next business day we are open. If you make a deposit after the ATM cutoff time, we will consider the deposit to have been made on the next business day. The ATM screen will notify you of the cutoff time.
LONGER DELAYS MAY APPLY
Case-by-case delays. In some cases, we will not make all of the funds that you deposit by check available to you on the first business day after the day of your deposit. Depending on the type of check that you deposit, funds may not be available until the second business day after the day of your deposit. The first $225 of your deposits, however, will be available on the first business day.
If we are not going to make all of the funds from your deposit available on the first business day, we will notify you at the time you make your deposit.
We will also tell you when the funds will be available. If your deposit is not made directly to one of our employees, or if we decide to take this action after you have left the premises, we will mail you the notice by the day after we receive your deposit.
If you will need the funds from a deposit right away, you should ask us when the funds will be available.
Safeguard exceptions. In addition, funds you deposit by check may be delayed for a longer period under the following circumstances:
- We believe a check you deposit will not be paid.
- You deposit checks totaling more than $5,525 on any one day.
- You redeposit a check that has been returned unpaid.
- You have overdrawn your account repeatedly in the last six months.
- There is an emergency, such as failure of computer or communications equipment.
- We will notify you if we delay your ability to withdraw funds for any of these reasons, and we will tell you when the funds will be available. They will generally be available no later than the seventh business day after the day of your deposit.
SPECIAL RULES FOR NEW ACCOUNTS
If you are a new customer, the following special rules may apply during the first 30 days your account is open. Funds from electronic direct deposits to your account will be available on the day we receive the deposit. Funds from deposits of cash, wire transfers, and the first $5,525 of a day’s total deposits of cashier’s, certified, teller’s, traveler’s, and federal, state and local government checks will be available on the first business day after the day of your deposit if the deposit meets certain conditions. For example, the checks must be payable to you (and you may have to use a special deposit slip). The excess over $5,525 will be available on the ninth business day after the day of your deposit. If your deposit of these checks (other than a U.S. Treasury check) is not made in person to one of our employees, the first $5,525 will not be available until the second business day after the day of your deposit.
Funds from all other check deposits will be available on the ninth business day after the day of your deposit.
Substitute Checks and Your Rights
What is a substitute check?
To make check processing faster, federal law permits banks to replace original checks with “substitute checks.” These checks are similar in size to original checks with a slightly reduced image of the front and back of the original check. The front of a substitute check states: “This is a legal copy of your check. You can use it the same way you would use the original check.” You may use a substitute check as proof of payment just like the original check.
Some or all of the checks that you receive back from us may be substitute checks. This notice describes rights you have when you receive substitute checks from us. The rights in this notice do not apply to original checks or to electronic debits to your account. However, you have rights under other law with respect to those transactions.
What are my rights regarding substitute checks?
In certain cases, federal law provides a special procedure that allows you to request a refund for losses you suffer if a substitute check is posted to your account (for example, if you think that we withdrew the wrong amount from your account or that we withdrew money from your account more than once for the same check). The losses you may attempt to recover under this procedure may include the amount that was withdrawn from your account and fees that were charged as a result of the withdrawal (for example, bounced check fees).
The amount of your refund under this procedure is limited to the amount of your loss or the amount of the substitute check, whichever is less. You also are entitled to interest on the amount of your refund if your account is an interest-bearing account. If your loss exceeds the amount of the substitute check, you may be able to recover additional amounts under other law.
If you use this procedure, you may receive up to $2,500 of your refund (plus interest if your account earns interest) within 10 business days after we received your claim and the remainder of your refund (plus interest if your account earns interest) not later than 45 calendar days after we received your claim.
We may reverse the refund (including any interest on the refund) if we later are able to demonstrate that the substitute check was correctly posted to your account.
How do I make a claim for a refund?
If you believe that you have suffered a loss relating to a substitute check that you received and that was posted to your account, please contact us at:
Gulf Coast Bank & Trust Company
200 St. Charles Ave.
New Orleans, LA 70130
You must contact us within 40 calendar days of the date that we mailed (or otherwise delivered by a means to which you agreed) the substitute check in question or the account statement showing that the substitute check was posted to your account, whichever is later. We will extend this time period if you were not able to make a timely claim because of extraordinary circumstances.
Your claim must include:
- A description of why you have suffered a loss (for example, you think the amount withdrawn was incorrect);
- An estimate of the amount of your loss;
- An explanation of why the substitute check you received is insufficient to confirm that you suffered a loss; and
- A copy of the substitute check or the following information to help us identify the substitute check: Any additional information that the bank deems necessary (the check number, the name of the person to whom you wrote the check, etc.) to allow the bank to investigate the claim.
Discretionary Overdraft Privilege Policy
It is the policy of Gulf Coast Bank and Trust to comply with all applicable laws and regulations and to conduct business in accordance with applicable safety and soundness standards. The Deposit Account Agreement and Disclosure provided to you at the time you opened your account with us controls the duties, obligations and rights of the Depositor, the Authorized Signatories and Gulf Coast Bank and Trust with regard to your checking account. The Deposit Account Agreement (and all amendments thereto) and its terms shall control any possible conflict, if any, between any provision of this Discretionary Overdraft Privilege Policy and the Deposit Account Agreement and Disclosure. A copy of the Deposit Account Agreement and Disclosure is available to you on request from your Gulf Coast Bank and Trust officer.
Gulf Coast Bank’s Discretionary Overdraft Privilege Program is an Opt In program. It is not a line of credit. However, if you inadvertently overdraw your account, we will have the discretion to pay the overdraft, subject to the limit of your overdraft privilege and the amount of the overdraft fee. Gulf Coast Bank and Trust is not obligated to pay any item presented for payment if your account does not contain sufficient available funds. Gulf Coast Bank authorizes transactions using the available balance in your account. The Available Balance is the most current record we have about the funds that are available for your use or withdrawal. It includes all deposits and withdrawals that have been posted to your account then adjusts for any holds on recent deposits and any pending transactions that are known to the bank. This balance may not reflect all of your transactions, such as checks you have written or debit card transactions that have been authorized but not yet submitted for payment by the merchant. Gulf Coast Bank may place a hold on deposited funds in accordance with our Deposit Account Agreement and Disclosure, which will reduce the amount of your available balance. If you are participating in the Overdraft Privilege Plan, then your available balance will also include the limit of your plan and any other overdraft plan that you selected.
Gulf Coast Bank pays transactions using the ledger balance less any holds on deposited funds plus the amount of the Overdraft Privilege limit and any available Overdraft Protection. The ledger balance includes all deposits and withdrawals that have been posted to your account.
Gulf Coast Bank will place a hold on your account for any authorized debit card transaction until the transaction settles (usually within three business days) or as permitted by payment system rules. In some cases, the hold may exceed the amount of the transaction. When the hold ends the funds will be added to the available balance in your account. If your account is overdrawn after the held funds are added to the available balance and the transaction is posted to the available balance, an Overdraft Fee may be assessed. Any discretionary payment by Gulf Coast Bank and Trust of an overdraft check (or item,) does not obligate Gulf Coast Bank and Trust to pay any other overdraft check (or item), or to provide prior notice of its decision to refuse to pay such check (or item). It is Gulf Coast Bank and Trust’s practice to post Debit Items in the following order:
- On Us Over the Counter Items
- ATM Withdrawals
- Debit Card Transactions
- ACH Items
- In Clearing Checks.
Within each Item category transactions will post from low to high dollar amount. Pursuant to Gulf Coast Bank and Trust’s commitment to always provide you with the best level of service. If you enrolled in our Discretionary Overdraft Privilege program for a consumer account (primarily used for personal and household purposes), or your business/Commercial Account, you must maintain your account in good standing, which includes at least but not limited to:
A) Bringing your account to a positive balance within every thirty (30) day period for a minimum period of 24 hours;
B) Not being in default on any legal or administrative order, levy or garnishment;
C) No bankruptcies;
D) Current mailing address with Gulf Coast Bank and Trust;
E) An active account, which is defined as having credit and/or debit activity in the last 12 months;
Gulf Coast Bank and Trust will have the discretion to pay overdrafts within the overdraft privilege limits, but payment by Gulf Coast Bank and Trust is a discretionary courtesy and not a right of the Customer or an obligation of Gulf Coast Bank and Trust. This privilege for checking accounts will change daily based on but not limited to the following criteria: age of account, number and dollar amount of deposits and repayment patterns. Any and all fees and charges, including without limitation the non-sufficient funds fees (as set forth in our fee schedules and deposit account agreement and disclosure), will be included as part of this daily limit amount. It may be possible that your account will become overdrawn in excess of the overdraft privilege amount as a result of the assessment of a fee. Refer to the Notice of Disclosure for Service and Fees for information about fees that may apply for NSF/Overdraft items.
Customers with consumer accounts who experience six (6) overdraft occurrences in a rolling twelve months in which the item was paid and an NSF/Overdraft Paid fee was charged will be considered excessive. After each six (6) occurrences the customer will be contacted by a Bank employee to discuss the alternative Overdraft services and Bank products available to assist them in avoiding continued overdrafts.
Discretionary Overdraft Privilege may be revoked by Gulf Coast Bank or by the customer at any time. If the service is revoked by the bank or customer for any reason, the Discretionary Overdraft Privilege will only be reinstated upon re-enrollment by customer and only if it is determined that the account meets all the requirements of the program. If the service is reinstated the customer will receive a notice informing customer of such. If the debit card has been revoked, a new card will need to be requested and there is a fee associated for reissued debit cards. (See Notice of Disclosure for Services and Fees)
The total of the Discretionary Overdraft Privilege (negative) balance, which includes any and all fees and charges, including all non-sufficient funds/overdraft fees is due and payable upon demand, and Depositor and each Authorized Signatory will continue to be liable, jointly and severally, for all such amounts, as described in the Deposit Account Terms and Conditions Agreement and Disclosure with a maximum repayment period of 60 days. If after 60 days your account balance has not been brought to a positive status, then we may refer your account to a collection agency and your account will be charged off.
Our standard NSF/Overdraft paid fee will be imposed for paid overdraft items created by checks, ACH, ATM withdrawals, debit card transactions, in-person withdrawals, or by other electronic means (See Notice of Disclosure for Services and Fees). Transactions may not be processed in the order in which they occurred, and the order in which transactions are received and processed may impact the total amount of fees incurred.
While Gulf Coast Bank and Trust will have the discretion to pay overdrafts on accounts in good standing (as described above), any such payment is a discretionary courtesy, and not a right of the Customer or an obligation of Gulf Coast Bank and Trust and Gulf Coast Bank and Trust in its sole and absolute discretion, can cease paying overdrafts at any time without prior notice of reason or cause. If an item is not paid for any reason, your account will be assessed our standard NSF/Overdraft return fee each time the item is presented for payment (See Notice of Disclosure for Services and Fees).
In order to take full advantage of the dynamic limits associated with the Discretionary Privilege Program:
- Continue to make deposits consistent with your past practices.
- Bring your account to a positive balance in a timely manner.
For our consumer customers Gulf Coast Bank and Trust will not pay overdrafts for ATM or everyday debit card transactions unless Gulf Coast Bank and Trust has provided you with the notice required by section 1005.17(b) of Regulation E and you have opted in to the payment of these overdrafts. In addition, for both consumer and commercial accounts, you may opt out of the Discretionary Overdraft Privilege Program for check, ACH, recurring debit card, and bill payment transactions at any time by contacting one of our Account Services Representatives.