Overdrafts

Overdraft Practices for Rewards Accounts

We save our members over $10.5 million a year in overdraft fees.*

Overdrafts can happen to even the most careful of people, and unlike most financial institutions, we’ve designed our overdraft business practices and services so that you can keep more of what you earn. For your protection and peace of mind, we offer a consumer-friendly1 line-up of overdraft protection options:

Transfer from Savings

If a transfer from your savings would prevent an overdraft, we’ll automatically transfer the money in $100 increments for a $5 transfer fee.2

Reserve Line of Credit

If you have a Reserve Line of Credit and there isn’t enough available balance in your savings, we’ll automatically transfer the money in $100 increments up to your credit limit for a $5 transfer fee.2

Basic Reserve

As a last defense, all checking accounts open over 90 days have Basic Reserve3 (paid overdraft) coverage. There’s a $5 charge for this service, but you’ll avoid hassles and save the fees charged by merchants.

More Information

Young man walking outside while viewing his UW Credit Union checking account on his mobile device

Overdraft Practices for Clear, Launch and Encore Accounts

We have designed our Clear, Launch and Encore accounts to avoid any overdrafts.

However, there are two possible ways in which an account can become overdrawn. In both cases, we will not charge a fee for the overdraft or the resulting negative balance:

  1. You deposit a check that is later returned to us because the person or company who wrote it had insufficient funds or declined payment on it. This may make your balance go negative if you already spent the check and don’t have sufficient funds to return it.
  2. You use your debit card to purchase gas at the pump and the payment is authorized for a small amount (usually $1), but your final charge is more than you have available in your account at the time.

If either of these overdrafts occur, you will be notified in Web Branch and be given 45 days to bring your balance positive. If the negative balance is not repaid in that time, your account may be closed.