Terms and Conditions of Your Deposit Account
Agreement
This Agreement is the contract that establishes the rules that control your account with us. Please read this Agreement carefully and retain it for your records. As used in this document, the words “we”, “our”, and “us” mean American Bank and the words “you” and “your” mean, for individuals, including sole proprietorships and fiduciaries, the person or persons authorized to sign on the account, and for partnerships, corporations, limited liability companies, limited liability partnerships, fiduciary accounts, and unincorporated associations, the entity in whose name the account is carried, as well as anyone else with the authority to deposit, withdraw or exercise control over the funds in the account. The headings in this document are for convenience or reference only and will not govern the interpretation of the provisions. Unless it would be inconsistent to do so, words and phrases used in this document should be construed so the singular includes the plural and the plural includes the singular.
By signing (manually, or if approved by us electronically) an account application, signature card or other American Bank form to open or request an account, or by otherwise opening or using an account with us or a product or service from us, you agree that you (and your heirs, successors, representatives and beneficiaries, if any) will be bound by this Agreement and all amendments that are in effect. The terms of your agreement include the terms contained in this Agreement and the terms of any additional agreements applicable to certain bank services and/or certain types of accounts that you may establish with us. An Electronic Fund Transfers, Funds Availability, Overdraft Protection, Privacy, and Truth-in-Savings disclosures (as they may be revised from time to time) are incorporated into this Agreement. You will receive a separate schedule of interest rates, qualifying balances, and fees for your account if they are not included in this document. If you have any questions, please call our Customer Service Department at 610.366.1800 or 888.366.6622.
This Agreement is subject to applicable federal laws and, to the extent not preempted by federal law, the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (except to the extent that this Agreement can and does vary such rules or laws).
If any provision of this Agreement is found to be unenforceable according to its terms, all remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect. We may change this Agreement or any other agreements, or change the terms of our deposit accounts at any time without notice. We will notify you of changes if and when required by law. Changes in the interest rate or method of computation may be made at any time without delayed effect or notice to you, to the extent permitted by law. Your continued use of your account constitutes your agreement to any such changes. No waiver of this Agreement or any part of this Agreement is valid unless it is in writing and signed by one of our authorized officers. Delayed enforcement of any part of this Agreement does not constitute a waiver. Waiver of any of the terms of this Agreement at any one time will not prevent us from exercising its terms at any other time.
UNLAWFUL INTERNET GAMBLING TRANSACTIONS PROHIBITED - If you are a commercial customer, this notice is to inform you that you are not permitted to engage in any activity or business that is unlawful under the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (the “UIGEA”). You may not use your Account or any other service we offer to receive any funds, transfer, credit, instrument or proceeds that arise out of a business that is unlawful under the UIGEA. If anyone asks us to process a transaction that we believe is restricted under UIGEA, we may block the transaction and take any other action we deem to be reasonable under the UIGEA and your Agreement.
BANK SECRECY ACT - The Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and its implementing regulation require a financial institution to maintain records and/or report certain transactions to federal government agencies. The act and regulation focus on issues such as anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing.
- USA PATRIOT ACT DISCLOSURE - To help the government fight the funding of terrorism and money laundering activities, federal law requires all financial institutions to obtain, verify, and record information that identifies each person who opens an account. What this means for you: when you open an account, we will ask for your name, physical address, date of birth, and other information that will allow us to identify you. We may also ask to see your driver's license or other identifying documents. You agree to provide us with, and consent to us obtaining from third parties, such requested information as a condition of opening any account. To the extent you fail to provide or to consent to providing any such information, that failure shall be grounds for us to not open your account and/or to close your account.
Existing customers: Even if you have been a customer of ours for many years, we may ask you to provide this kind of information and documentation because we may not have collected it from you in the past.
- REPORTING CERTAIN ACTIVITIES - Banks are required to file a report called a Currency Transaction Report (CTR) with the Internal Revenue Service whenever it has currency transactions that exceed $10,000 in one business day. This includes both single and multiple transactions, transactions to and from or on behalf of any one individual or other entity, or in or out of any one account, and exchanges of currency. Banks are also required to file other reports with the U.S. Treasury Department when a transaction is conducted or attempted by, at, or through a bank, involves or aggregates at least $5,000 in funds or other assets, and the bank knows, suspects or has reason to suspect that: (a) the transaction involves funds derived from illegal activities or intended or conducted in order to hide or disguise funds or assets derived from illegal activities (including, without limitation, the ownership, nature, source, location, or control of such funds or assets) as part of a plan to violate or evade any federal law or regulation or to avoid any transaction reporting requirement under federal law or regulation; (b) the transaction is designed to evade any requirements of this part or of any other regulations promulgated under the Bank Secrecy Act, or (c) the transaction has no business or apparent lawful purpose or is not the sort in which the particular customer would normally be expected to engage, and the Bank knows of no reasonable explanation for the transaction after examining the available facts, including the background and possible purpose of the transaction.
ACCOUNT DESCRIPTION, OWNERSHIP AND BENEFICIARY DESIGNATION
The rules that apply to your account depend on the form of ownership and beneficiary designation, if any, specified on the account records. We make no representations as to the appropriateness or effect of the ownership and beneficiary designations, except as they determine to whom we pay the account funds. Some forms of ownership may not be available to all accounts.
Temporary Account Agreement – If you instruct us to open a joint account in the names of two or more people, or a non-consumer account, and we do so, but later determine that one or more of such people, in the case of a joint account, or one or more authorized signers, in the case of a non-consumer account, have not completed our account opening documents, signed signature cards, or failed to comply with other of our requirements for establishing and maintaining such accounts, you agree to indemnify and hold us harmless for reliance on your instruction, and we will consider this to be a temporary account agreement. While the temporary account status exists, we may in our discretion for all purposes and circumstances (including determining ownership of the account following the death of any person in whose name the account was opened) either treat the account as being owned by all persons in whose names the account was opened or treat the account as being owned solely by the person(s) who have signed or completed our account opening documents or other requirements. If we treat the account as owned by all persons in whose names the account was opened, or as a valid non-consumer account, we may permit the non-signing person(s), in the case of joint accounts, or the authorized non-signing signers, in the case of a non-consumer account, to withdraw funds or take other action on the account without any liability to you. However, we may at some time in the future restrict or prohibit further use of the account, or close the account, if you fail to comply with the requirements we have imposed within a reasonable time after notice to you to comply with the requirements in our notice.
Individual Account –An account in the name of one person only. Funds may be paid only to that individual or someone to whom that individual has given a power of attorney, or as the individual or power of attorney directs, or as otherwise may be required or permitted by law.
Joint Account –with Right of Survivorship (And Not As Tenants in Common)– An account in the names of two or more persons. Each of you intends that when you die, the balance in the account (subject to any previous pledge to which we have agreed) will belong to the survivor(s). If two or more of you survive, the survivors will own the balance in the account as joint tenants with right of survivorship and not as tenants in common. By opening a Joint Account, each of you agrees that any one of you may make withdrawals without the signature of the others. Each of you appoints each other account owner with power of attorney to endorse any check or draft payable to any one or more of you and to cash or deposit the same. Each of you authorizes each other person signing the signature card to endorse any item payable to you or your order for deposit to your joint account.
When, the account owners are husband and wife, then the account ownership shall be deemed intended as Tenancy by the Entireties unless specifically indicated otherwise by the account owners.
Revocable Trust Account or Totten Trust Account (In Trust For) –This account may be opened by one or more persons who name another as a beneficiary. If two or more of you create this type of account, you own the account jointly with right of survivorship. The person(s) creating this account may: (1) change or delete beneficiaries, (2) change account types, or (3) withdraw all or part of the account funds at any time. Beneficiaries cannot withdraw unless: (1) all persons creating the account die, and (2) the beneficiary is then living, and (3) any required release-of-funds procedures have been completed. No more than two beneficiaries can be named on an account. When two beneficiaries are named and survive the death of all persons creating the account, the beneficiaries will own this account in equal shares, without right of survivorship.
Fiduciary Account – Fiduciary accounts involve a legal arrangement or capacity in which one person or entity (the fiduciary) acts on behalf of another. Examples include, but are not limited to, personal representative, guardian, or conservator for a minor or other legally incompetent person and a trustee under a trust agreement or will. This account may be opened and maintained by a person(s) named as a trustee under a written trust agreement or as executor(s), administrator(s) or conservator(s) under court orders. You understand that by opening such an account, you certify that the funds offered for placement in the account, together with any additional funds for future deposit, are properly within your custody and may be lawfully invested in accordance with your authority as fiduciary. We may require that you provide a certified copy of any trust instrument, court order, or decree appointing you as fiduciary. We may rely upon the validity of your appointment until we receive actual notice of its revocation. You agree to immediately notify us of any changes in your authority as fiduciary. You also understand and agree that we are not acting in the capacity of a trustee or fiduciary in connection with the account, and we shall not have any obligation to monitor or enforce the terms of the trust or other fiduciary arrangement. Additionally, if you open a fiduciary account in connection with your service as a trustee under a written trust agreement, you represent that you are authorized under applicable law and the documents governing the trust arrangement to open the account in the name and manner requested. Further, we will have no duty to monitor the fiduciary account of the trustee and assume no liability for the administration of the trust.
PA Uniform Transfer to Minors Act (PUTMA) Account – A transferor, intending to make a gift to a minor under the Pennsylvania Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (20 Pa. C.S.A. Sections 5301 – 5320), may open a PUTMA account (“Custodial Account”) naming the transferor or another person as “custodian” and the minor as “beneficiary”. Upon opening a Custodial Account, the transferor makes a complete and irrevocable transfer of all funds in the Custodial Account to the minor. Under the PUTMA, the funds in the Custodial Account are owned irrevocably by the minor, but are controlled by the custodian. A custodian must be a U.S. resident, at least 18 years of age and have a valid U.S. social security number, or a resident alien with a U.S. mailing address and residential address (if different than mailing address), or a military address if in the armed forces. At all times, the Custodial Account may be accessed only by the custodian (or successor custodian). Only one custodian and one minor are allowed per Custodial Account. Although PUTMA permits funds in the Custodial Account to be used by the custodian for the benefit of the child only under certain circumstances, you (as the custodian) agree that we have no duty or agreement whatsoever to monitor or ensure that the use of any funds withdrawn by the custodian (or successor custodian) have been used in compliance with PUTMA. PUTMA imposes certain fiduciary and record keeping obligations on a custodian and requires that interest earnings are reported to the IRS under the minor's Social Security number. If you are not certain whether a Custodial Account is the right choice for you, we strongly urge that you first seek professional legal, tax, investment and/or estate planning advice. The offering of a Custodial Account should not be construed in any way as the providing of legal or tax advice by American Bank.
Power of Attorney – You may appoint an agent to conduct transactions on your account on your behalf. (We, however, have no duty or agreement whatsoever to monitor or ensure that the acts of the agent are for your benefit.) This may be accomplished by allowing your agent to sign in that capacity on a signature card or by separate form, such as a power of attorney or by providing a properly executed original power of attorney. We may refuse to accept the power of attorney (1) that requires multiple agents to act together; (2) if your signature has not been notarized; or (3) that is not in a form acceptable to us. We may require your agent to execute an affidavit attesting to certain facts, such as the fact that you are still alive and that the power of attorney has not been revoked, even if the power of attorney was recently executed. We may continue to honor the transactions of your agent until: (1) we have received written notice or have actual knowledge of the termination of the authority of your agent or the death of an account owner, and (2) we have had a reasonable opportunity to act on this notice or knowledge. You agree not to hold us responsible for any loss or damage you or your heirs may incur as a result of our following instructions given to an agent acting under a valid power of attorney.
Change of Ownership – The ownership of your account stays in effect until you request a change and we honor your request. For certificate of deposit (CD) accounts, also called “time deposits”, you may change the ownership within 10 days after maturity without incurring any penalties. If you choose to change the ownership during the term of your CD, your existing CD may be closed and a new CD may be opened and all applicable early withdrawal penalties may apply. For checking, savings and money market accounts, you may change the ownership at any time without penalty. To comply with certain changes, it may be necessary to close your existing account and open a new account. For any change of account ownership, all owners will be required to complete new signature documents.
Corporate, Partnership, and Other Organizational Accounts –We will usually require a separate authorization form designating the person permitted and conditions required for withdrawal from any account in the name of a legal entity such as a partnership, corporation, or other organization. We will honor such authorization according to its terms until it is amended or terminated in writing by the governing body of such organization.
DEPOSITS
Deposit Items – In receiving checks or other items for deposit or collection, we act only as your collecting agent and assume no responsibility beyond the exercise of ordinary care. Applicable law will govern the handling, collecting and holding of the items you deposit into your account. We may refuse to accept or pay any item, which has been altered or amended in any manner. Any items, other than cash, accepted for deposit (including items drawn "on us") will be given provisional credit only until collection is final (and actual credit for deposits of, or payable in, foreign currency will be at the exchange rate in effect on final collection in U.S. dollars). We are not responsible for transactions initiated by mail or outside depository until we actually receive them. All transactions received after our "daily cut-off time", on a business day (Monday through Friday, excluding federal holidays) we are open, or received on a day in which we are not open for business, will be treated and recorded as if initiated on the next following business day that we are open. At our discretion, we may refuse to accept a deposit or may return a deposit for any reason, including but not limited to: (1) checks with multiple payees or double endorsements, if the Bank is unable to verify both signatures, (2) checks payable to a business account rather than your personal account, (3) counter or “starter” checks, (4) credit card checks, and (5) checks which we have reason to doubt are collectible.
Incomplete Account Applications –If you submit an incomplete account application, we cannot process the application until we have received all necessary information from you. Any deposits received before your application is approved will be held (without processing) until the application is approved. If the application is not approved, the deposit will be returned to you without interest.
Deposit Verification – We rely upon the information you provide on your deposit slip when initially processing your deposit. Therefore, you have a duty to accurately record cash, each item being deposited, and the total amount of your deposit on your deposit slip or at an ATM. When we accept your deposit, we provisionally credit your account for the amount declared on your deposit slip. Nevertheless, all deposits we receive are subject to subsequent verification and correction, if necessary. Final credit to your account is based on the total sum of the cash and items actually received by us. If we determine that a deposit does not contain all items claimed to be deposited, we will correct the error and adjust the account balance, even if you have already withdrawn all or part of the deposit. You will have the burden of proving our records are erroneous with respect to any disputed items.
Deposit Reconciliation – Under our Deposit Reconciliation Policy, we identify and process any credit or debit adjustment for the exact dollar amount of the discrepancy. Generally, we do this on the same business day of the involved transaction, prior to any debit or end-of-day processing. We will ensure the adjustment made during the reconciliation process complies with our Expedited Funds Availability Policy (Regulation CC).
There may be circumstances when the error may not be corrected the same business day. Those errors may result from a poor image, power or system outage, etc. In those circumstances, the transaction will be dated as of the original transaction date rather than the date of correction. If the error involved an interest-bearing account, interest will be adjusted. We will refund fees when the error caused an overdraft and will honor any item(s) associated with the error when available funds are in the account.
Account Adjustments – We may make adjustments to your account from time to time to reflect corrections or changes to your balance, including deposit reconciliation adjustments. In the event of an error that has caused an overstated balance, you agree to reimburse us immediately for the overstated amount. You will be sent a notice of any adjustment we make to your account that is more than $10. Any correction made to your deposit of $10 or less will be reflected on your bank statement. You may confirm the final credit amount of your deposit and your account balance at any time. Under this Agreement, you are required to review your bank statement and report any errors within fifteen (15) calendar days after the statement has been made available to you. If you fail to notify us of any errors on your statement, it will be deemed final and correct.
Return Deposit/Cashed Items – If a deposited or cashed item is returned to us by the bank on which it is drawn, we may accept that return and charge the item back against your account without regard to whether the other bank returned the item before its midnight deadline. At our option and without notice to you that the item has been returned, we may resubmit any returned item for payment. You waive notice of dishonor and protest, and agree that we will have no obligation to notify you of any deposited or cashed item that is returned to us. Unless prohibited by applicable law or regulation, we also reserve the right to charge back to your account, or to any other account(s) you have established with us if there are insufficient collected funds in your account with which to effect a charge back, the amount of any item deposited to your account or cashed, in whole or in part for you, which either was originally paid by the payor bank and which is later returned to us, or which was returned to us by the payor bank without settlement for the item, due to an allegedly forged, unauthorized or missing endorsement or drawer’s signature, claim of alteration, encoding error or other problem which in our judgment justifies reversal of the credit. We may process a copy or other evidence of a returned item in lieu of the original.
Night Depository – This service is available for business customers who arrange with us for night depository services. If you are a consumer and make a deposit at one of our night depository containers, we will attempt to process your deposit; however, you agree that we have no liability for processing such deposit in the event of a dispute between us. Business customers must follow two important rules. In addition, you must also comply with the rules in any separate night depository agreement with us.
(1) Use of Containers. You must use the night depository bags or envelopes we provide you and use them only for deposits you make with us.
(2) Care. You must take care when you put the container in our night depository or other facility. Our responsibility for the security of the container and the drawer or facility is to use reasonable care. This means we are not automatically liable for just any loss, only for losses that result from our own negligence, only to the extent we caused a loss, and reduced by your contribution to any loss. In legal terms, we are a "bailee" until the point:
(a) when we open the container and inventory its contents (if that is what we are asked to do); or
(b) until you sign the receipt for and take custody of the container (if we do not open the container).
ATM and Mobile Deposits –Please refer to the “Funds Availability Disclosure” for information regarding availability of ATM and mobile deposits.
Direct Deposits – The Federal Government or other persons may from time to time send a direct deposit to your account. If we receive notice to our satisfaction that such a deposit was made to a wrong account or that the deposit otherwise, for any reason, should be returned to the sender, you authorize us to deduct the amount of the deposit from the account or any other account you have with us, without prior notice and at any time, except as prohibited by law. We may also use any legal remedy to recover the amount of our liability.
Foreign Currency – Items payable in a foreign currency are accepted only for collection, and you will bear all exchange rate risk and collection costs. We have no control over the time required for the collection process to be completed. We will not credit your account until we receive the proceeds in U.S. dollars. Please refer to “Other Fees & Charges Disclosure”.
Endorsements – We may accept for deposit any item payable to you or your order, even if the item is not endorsed by you. We may endorse and/or collect items deposited to your account without your endorsement, or we may supply the endorsement, but we may, at our option, require you to personally endorse the item prior to accepting it for deposit. You warrant that all endorsements on items deposited by you are genuine and authorized.
FDIC INSURANCE
Funds in your account(s) with us are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. The amount of insurance coverage you have depends on the number of accounts and ownership of those accounts. For additional information, you may ask us or contact the FDIC on the Internet at https://www.fdic.gov/resources/deposit-insurance/.
WITHDRAWALS
General Information –Unless otherwise clearly indicated to the contrary, anyone who signs in the space designated for signatures on the signature card, including authorized signers, may withdraw or transfer all or any part of the account balance at any time on forms approved by us. Withdrawals will first be made from collected funds, and we may, unless prohibited by law or our written policy, refuse any withdrawal request against uncollected funds, even if our general practice is to the contrary.
Transaction Limitations – All withdrawals and transfers are subject to availability of funds in your account and to any special limitations which may apply to a particular type of account described elsewhere in this Agreement or in other disclosures you receive. If you request a large cash withdrawal at a branch office, we may require advance notification to ensure an adequate supply of cash is available at the branch. We may ask you to sign a cash withdrawal letter of indemnification or secure adequate security at your expense. We have no obligation to provide security to you should you choose to take a significant amount of cash.
We may refuse any withdrawal or transfer request which is attempted by any method not specifically permitted, which is for an amount less than any minimum withdrawal requirement. If we honor a nonconforming request, we are not required to do so later. We may treat continued abuse of the stated limitations (if any) as your act of closing the account.
Refer to the “Funds Availability Disclosure” for information about when you may withdraw funds from your deposit.
Withdrawal Limitations – While not our general practice, we are obliged by federal regulation to reserve the right to require not less than seven days’ notice of withdrawal from all savings and money market accounts. Even if we permit you to make withdrawals without giving notice, we may require notice at a later time.
Savings/Checking/Money Market Account Withdrawals – Withdrawals may be made in the following manner, although some means may not apply to all accounts: (1) Writing a check or signing a withdrawal ticket; (2) Debit Card purchase at a merchant location; (3) Automated Teller Machine (ATM); (4) Point-of-Sale (POS) terminal; (5) Online Banking; (6) By telephone; (7) Automated Clearing House (ACH); (8) Wire Transfer; and (9) Other pre-authorized withdrawal methods accepted by the Bank. We may debit your account for a check or other item drawn on your account on the earlier of either the day it is presented for payment or as early as the day we receive notice that the check or item has been deposited for collection at another financial institution or has been converted to an electronic debit and is being presented to us electronically. We will exercise ordinary care in processing and paying your checks.
You may not make withdrawals in excess of the available funds in your account. Available funds include the account balance less holds. Availability of funds will be verified once between presentment of a check and our midnight deadline for paying items. We will not be liable for dishonoring any checks that would exceed the available funds in your account. Refer to "Funds Availability Disclosure" for further details.
Good Faith Disbursement – You agree that we may disburse funds from your account in good faith when we are reliant on documentation presented to us which purports to give any individual or entity the right to receive such disbursement, and we will not be liable to you for any such good faith disbursement.
Telephone/PC Transfers –A transfer of funds from this account to another account with us by PC, including other personal computing devices, or telephone may be made by the same persons and under the same conditions generally applicable to withdrawals made in writing.
Deduction of Fees – Maintenance and activity fees and fees for returned items, overdrafts, stop payment orders, charges for check printing, and other service charges made in accordance with our rules (see “Other Fees & Charges Disclosure” section) shall be deducted from your account and may be posted prior to other debits. We shall not be liable for refusing to honor items presented for payment because of insufficient funds as a result of deducting such fees. Any fees (or portions thereof) that were not posted due to insufficient funds at the time of posting may be collected at a later date without prior notice when sufficient funds are available in the account.
Account Management – To keep the most accurate record of your account balance, it is important to keep track of all the individual transactions (each referred to as an “item”) involving your account. Items are such things as checks, drafts, electronic transfers, ACH debit card purchases, ATM withdrawals, and preauthorized withdrawals, including preauthorized or automatic transfers initiated by telephone, online banking, or similar order made by you and payable to third parties. It is also important that you know how different types of items are credited or charged (referred to as “post” or “posted”) to your account, and in what order. This is different from temporary holds that may be placed on your account for certain pending transactions that have not yet been submitted for actual payment. For example, as soon as we become aware that a transaction may be made to your account, we may place a hold on your account or place a temporary credit on your account in the case of a deposit. As a result, you may see a temporary hold or credit on your account that has not yet been posted. These pending debits and credits may be posted to your account on that business day or on a future date depending on the nature of the transaction.
The following describes how items post to your account and gives you details on the order in which items will be posted. Although generally we will follow the described posting order of items, we may not post items in the order in which they occurred. Also, we expressly reserve the right to post certain items to your account in order of lowest to highest dollar amount, and/or pursuant to any real time or chronological posting order. You agree that we may determine in our discretion the orders in which we post transactions to your account. You agree that we may determine in our discretion the categories, the transactions within a category, the order among categories, and the posting orders within a category. We sometimes add or delete categories, change posting orders within categories and move transaction types among categories. You agree that we may in our discretion make these changes at any time without notice to you.
You can avoid overdraft fees simply by making sure that your account always contains enough available funds to cover all of your transactions. Please remember, however, that when your account balance includes some funds that are subject to a hold, temporary credit, dispute, or legal process, those funds are not available to cover your transactions.
Posting Order of Items – The order in which transactions are posted to and paid from your account is important if there is not enough available funds in your account to pay all of the items that we receive for payment. The order can affect the number of items that overdraw your account or that are returned unpaid and the amount of fees you may have to pay. Transactions can be posted to your account in two different ways - in "real time" as the transaction occurs on a given banking day or in a group or "batch" at the end of each of our banking days, which in most cases is 5:00 p.m., ET.
- Posting in Real-Time – We post to your account the following credit and/or debit transactions in real time as the transactions occur on a given banking day:
- Teller transactions and mail deposits
- Online/mobile (Web) immediate transfers
- ATM (other than deposits) and POS (debit card) transactions
- Outgoing wire transfers (up to 4:00 p.m., ET)
- Incoming wire transfers
- Transaction fees, such as wire transfers, ATM, debit card and overdraft fees, and stop payment orders are posted directly following the transaction that generated the fee.
- Posting in Batch at the End of the Business Day – We post to your account the following transactions in a batch process at the end of each business day, 5:00 p.m., ET, unless otherwise noted. The order we use for posting these transactions in batch is as follows:
- Credits
We post all credit transactions to your account prior to posting the debit transactions described below, except for any monthly interest earnings on your account, which will post on the day of payment after all other credits and debits for that day have been posted. - Debits– Posting Order
- Pre-authorized loan payments to American Bank
- All checks presented for payment on the account
- ACH payment transactions
- Monthly and other recurring fees or payments, such as monthly maintenance fee, safe deposit payment and e-Deposit fees.
Overdraft Items – If a check you write, or any other item you have authorized for payment from your account (which includes all orders and instructions for the payment, transfer, or withdrawal of funds from your account, such as a substitute check, image replacement document, electronic item (such as an ACH, ATM, or Debit Card transaction), preauthorized payment, automatic transfer, telephone-initiated transfer, internet online banking transfer using a PC (including other personal computing devices) or bill payment instruction, withdrawal slip and in-person payment, transfer or withdrawal instruction) (collectively, an "Authorized Item") is presented for payment against your account, or if we receive notice of such check or Authorized Item, and there are not sufficient available funds in your account (due to insufficient funds, uncollected funds or otherwise) to pay the check or Authorized Item, the check or Authorized Item becomes an "Overdraft Item."
We may, without notice to you and in our sole discretion, either return or decline the overdraft item or pay the overdraft item and overdraw your account unless prohibited by law. If we pay or return the item, you may incur an insufficient funds fee as stated in “Other Fees & Charges Disclosure”. However, if the item consists of an ATM or one-time debit transaction using either an ATM Card or Debit Card, whether we pay it and overdraw your account or decline it, we will not charge you an insufficient funds fee. Because of IRS regulations, we will not pay any “Authorized Item” which will overdraw your HSA.
You agree to repay us immediately for the amount of the overdraft item we have paid, plus any applicable insufficient funds fee. We may use deposits you or others make to your account to pay any item and any insufficient funds fee you owe us. If we pay an item by overdrawing your account on one or more occasions, we are not obligated to continue paying any future overdraft item, and we may stop paying your overdraft items and return them unpaid without notice to you. When an item is returned unpaid, the other party may make additional attempts to collect by representing the item to us for payment. While we make every effort to charge only once per item, it is possible that one item could result in multiple insufficient funds fees. You are encouraged to keep good records and practice good account management.
Check Signature Verification and Notations – Checks written on and other items debited from your account may be processed on an automated basis based on information encoded on such checks or other items. Although we may visually review such checks and other items from time to time, you agree that we need not perform a review of the signature affixed to your checks or other items that are presented for payment. You further agree that this is a customary practice for commercial banks located in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with an asset size equal to or greater than that of the Bank. Finally, you further agree that the practice of such banks is the standard to be used in determining reasonable commercial banking practices. You agree, however, that we will not be liable to you for honoring any check or other item bearing a signature that, in our sole opinion, matches your signature specimen on file with us. If we do visually review any check or any other item, we may return it unpaid without liability to you if, in our opinion the item: (1) does not bear a signature matching the specimen signature we have on file for your account; (2) appears to be altered; or (3) is missing an endorsement or appears to contain an unauthorized endorsement. Even if we sight examine an item, we have no duty to review the paper stock of that item. You also agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from any and all losses, claims, damages, liability, costs and expenses arising directly or indirectly out of: (1) the misuse or unauthorized use of any facsimile signature used on a check or other item; or (2) the payment or acceptance of any item with restrictions or notations, whether you are the payee, payor, endorser, drawer or otherwise or to require multiple signers for any checks or other withdrawals or transfers. Therefore, checks and other withdrawal or transfer requests may be paid on one signature notwithstanding any instructions to the contrary, unless required by court order or other law or legal process.
Restrictive Legends – We shall not be required to honor any restrictive legend on checks you write unless we have agreed to the restriction in writing signed by an officer of the Bank. Examples of restrictive legends are "must be presented within 90 days" or "not valid for more than $1,000". We shall not be responsible for any losses, claims, damages, or expenses resulting from your placement of these legends or any other special instructions on your checks.
Facsimile Signatures – Unless you make advance arrangements with us, we have no obligation to honor facsimile signatures on your checks or debit or transfer requests or orders. If we do agree to honor items containing facsimile signatures or other non-manual form of signatures, you acknowledge this is solely for your benefit and convenience. You accept sole responsibility for maintaining security over any device affixing the signature. Such signature will be effective as your signature regardless of whether the person affixing it was authorized to do so. We will not be liable for honoring any item that bears or purports to bear a facsimile signature or other non-manual form of signature. You must notify us at once if you suspect that your facsimile signature or other non-manual signature is being or has been misused.
Processing Checks and Deposit Forms Ordered through Other Vendors – If you do not purchase your blank checks and deposit tickets from an authorized vendor, you must be certain that we approve the blank checks and deposit tickets you purchase. We may refuse any withdrawal or transfer request that you attempt on forms not approved by us or by any method we do not specifically permit. If we elect to honor a nonconforming check, you agree that we may impose a check-processing fee.
Your deposit must be accompanied by a deposit ticket that we approve. If your deposit ticket cannot be processed on our equipment or your deposit is not accompanied by a deposit ticket, we may impose a deposit processing fee. Please refer to “Other Fees & Charges Disclosure”.
Post-Dated Checks – We may pay any checks or other items presented against your account without regard to the date of the item.No special instructions or conditional terms placed on any item drawn against an account shall be binding upon us unless specifically agreed to by us in writing. Unless we have specifically agreed in writing to a specific item, you acknowledge and agree that we are under no obligation to verify the date of the check or other item, and you authorize us to pay the check or other item and debit your account for the amount, even if the check or item is presented for payment prior to the date written on the check or item. In the alternative, we may, in our sole discretion, return the post-dated check or item. You also acknowledge and agree that we will not be liable to you or any payee if we return a post-dated check or other item, or if we pay the check or item.
Stale-Dated Checks – We are not obligated to, but may at our option, pay a check presented for payment more than 6 months after its date. If you do not want us to pay a stale-dated check, you must place a stop payment order on the check in the manner we describe elsewhere in our Agreement.
Stop Payments – You must make the stop payment order in the manner required by us. We will accept a written, electronic, or oral stop payment order on any check drawn on, or an ACH debit from, your account. We will also accept stop payment orders on any money order you purchase from us. All such checks, ACH debits and/or money orders are referred to in this Stop Payments section individually as an "Item" and collectively as "Items."
Stop payment orders by all customers (consumer and non-consumer) for checks and money orders will remain in effect until the earlier of: (1) you withdraw the stop payment order; (2) payment of the item has been stopped; or (3) 6 months after the date accepted and will automatically expire after that period unless renewed.
Stop payment orders by consumer customers for ACH Pre-Authorized Payments will remain in effect until the earlier of: (1) you withdraw the stop payment order; (2) the return of the debit entry; or (3) where a stop payment order is applied to more than one debit entry under a specific authorization involving a specific originator, the return of all such debit entries.
Stop Payment orders by non-consumer customers for ACH Pre-Authorized Payments will remain in effect until the earlier of: (1) you withdraw the stop payment order; (2) the return of the debit entry; (3) 6 months after the date accepted and will automatically expire after that period unless renewed.
If you provide us with incorrect or incomplete information about the Item, even if the information you provided is a close approximation of the actual information, we will not be liable for the payment of the Item. We must receive the stop payment request in time to give us a reasonable opportunity to act on it before our stop payment cut-off time. Our stop payment cut-off time is one hour after the opening of the next banking day after the banking day on which we receive the Item. Additional limitations on our obligation to stop payment are provided by law (e.g., we paid the Item in cash; the Item is being presented by a holder in due course; etc.). We will honor a stop payment request or release a stop payment request by the person who signed or authorized the particular Item or ACH debit, and by any other person who has a right to withdraw from the account upon which the Item to be stopped was drawn. You shall indemnify us for all losses we may suffer and amounts we may have to pay, including reasonable attorneys' fees, in connection with our refusal to pay any Item against which you have placed a stop payment order, or in the event you make a claim against us if we conclude that we have to pay such Item or are lawfully required to pay the Item. If you place a stop payment order, you agree to pay a fee for each stop payment in the amount disclosed in the “Other Fees & Charges Disclosure” section.
Stop Payments Against our Treasurer Checks –As used in this section, the term “Treasurer Check” means any check, whether or not labeled as such, both drawn on and payable by American Bank. Examples include: loan proceeds checks, certificate of deposit interest earnings checks, or any “Treasurer Check” labeled as such. You do not have the right to stop the payment of a Treasurer Check that we issued to you or to a third party on your behalf. For example, if you obtain a Treasurer Check from us, deliver it to a third party in payment of an obligation, and have a dispute with that third party over the underlying obligation, we cannot assist you in resolving your dispute, such as by stopping payment on the Treasurer Check.
However, if a Treasurer Check you have obtained from us, whether made payable to you or to someone designated by you as the payee, is lost, stolen or destroyed, and you or the payee of the Treasurer Check, if delivery of the Treasurer Check to the payee has occurred (in either case, the "Claimant"), advise us in writing of the factual circumstances of the loss, destruction or theft of the Treasurer Check by completing our form of "Declaration of Loss," which may include an indemnification in a form acceptable to us, and thereby assert a claim to the amount of the Treasurer Check (the "Claim"), the following rules apply: (1) the Claim does not become enforceable until the later of (a) the date it is asserted or (b) 90 days after the date we issued the Treasurer Check; (2) until the Claim becomes enforceable, it has no legal effect, and we may pay the Treasurer Check to a person entitled to enforce it; (3) if the Claim becomes enforceable before the Treasurer Check is presented to us for payment, we are not obliged to pay the Treasurer Check; (4) after the Claim becomes enforceable, if we have not already paid the Treasurer Check to a person entitled to enforce it, we will pay the amount of the Treasurer Check to the Claimant; and (5) if we pay a Claim and subsequently a person having the rights of a holder in due course presents the Treasurer Check for payment, the Claimant must either refund to us the amount we paid on the Claim or pay the amount of the Treasurer Check to the person having the rights of a holder in due course. If we are required to pursue a refund from the Claimant, we will also be entitled to recover all cost and expenses in doing so, including our attorney’s fees.
Preauthorized Drafts – If we are unable to enforce presentment and transfer warranties on remotely created checks under the Funds Availability Disclosure, then if you voluntarily give information about your Account (such as our routing number and your account number) to a party who is seeking to sell you goods or services and you do not physically deliver a check to the party, any debit to your account initiated by the party to whom you gave the information is deemed authorized by you.
Electronic Check Conversion a/k/a Point-of-Purchase (POP) entry
These are one-time electronic debit entries that merchants and service providers originate to consumer accounts to facilitate in-store purchases of goods and services. Your check is used as a source of information for your account number, the check number, check amount and the number that identifies our financial institution. Generally, the merchant then voids the check and returns it to the customer. The transaction is electronically transferred through the ACH system and the funds will be debited from your account and deposited automatically into the merchant’s account. A description of the transaction will appear on your monthly statement from us. Checks used in these types of transactions will not be forwarded to the Bank. If you are a consumer and you authorize a merchant to use your check for this type of transaction the transfer is governed by the Electronic Fund Transfers Act and subject to the Electronic Fund Transfers Disclosure.
Re-presented Checks (RCK) entry
These are debit entries used by merchants and their third-party service providers to re-present certain insufficient or uncollected funds checks. The merchant must provide notice to you, before accepting your check, that your returned check may be collected electronically. Checks used in these types of transactions will not be forwarded to the bank. When a merchant or third-party provider re-presents a check electronically, that transaction is not covered by the Electronic Fund Transfers Act. However, if the merchant or third-party provider charges you a fee as a result of the returned check and that fee is electronically debited from your account, that transfer will be covered under the Electronic Fund Transfers Act and subject to the Electronic Fund Transfers Disclosure.
Internet-Initiated Entries (WEB)
These are ACH entries by a third party to debit your checking account that you authorized through the internet. The accountholder authenticates their identity by entering a pin code.
Telephone-Initiated Entries (TEL)
These are ACH entries by a third party to debit your checking account that you authorized via the telephone.
Account Receivable Entries (ARC)
These are consumer checks converted to an ACH entry by a lockbox or drop box operator. The consumer is notified in advance that his/her check will be converted.
If you are a business and you do not want your check to be electronically converted: (1) contact the originator directly and Opt-Out of ARC transactions; (2) refuse to sign a POP authorization at the point-of-sale; or (3) change your check stock to larger checks that contain an Auxiliary On-Us field.
Use of Check Images and Substitute Checks – For each original check that you deposit, you hereby authorize us (and any collecting bank, returning bank, Reserve Bank or processor which subsequently receives the original check) to create an electronic image (“check image”) of the original check, and to process that check image for collection, payment and return. You further authorize the destruction of the original check that has been imaged. We may in our sole discretion determine the manner in which to collect or return a check image. We may: (1) present or transfer the check image to the paying bank, a Federal Reserve Bank, a check clearing house, image exchange network, or other collecting bank or returning bank; or (2) create a substitute check and collect such substitute check (governed by the Check Collection for the 21st Century Act referred to here as the “Check 21 Act”) instead of the check image.
A check image or a substitute check may be collected through one or more check clearinghouses, one or more Federal Reserve Banks, or pursuant to an exchange agreement with another depository institution. In such cases, you agree that the check image or substitute check is subject to the rules of that clearinghouse, Federal Reserve Bank, or exchange agreement.
You agree that we may debit your Account for any of the following items: (1) a check image of an original check drawn on your Account and presented for payment or collection, or (2) a returned check image of an original check that was deposited by you. In these situations, we may debit your Account without receipt of, or review of, the original check associated with the check image. In our sole discretion we may return to a presenting bank, returning bank or paying bank or post to your Account, a paper copy or paper representation of an original check (including without limitation an image replacement document or IRD, or a photocopy) drawn on or returned to your Account that does not otherwise meet the technical or legal requirements for a substitute check.
You agree that a check image that is received or created by the Bank in the check deposit, collection or return process shall be considered a “check” and/or an “item” for all purposes under this Agreement and applicable law.
In addition, a check that you deposit with us, or that you draw on your Account, may be truncated in the check collection process and replaced with a substitute check. You authorize us to pay, process or return a substitute check in the same manner as “check” or “item” under this Agreement. Substitute checks are governed under the Check 21 Act and the terms of this Agreement, to the extent not modified by the Check 21 Act.
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless us, our employees and agents from any loss, claim, damage or expense that you or any other person may incur directly or indirectly as a result of any action taken by us to process a check image or substitute check instead of the original check, including the destruction of the original check, as described above, to the extent permitted by applicable law.
Remotely Created Checks – If you deposit a “remotely created check” with us, you represent and warrant to us that the check is authorized to be paid in the amount stated on the check and to the payee named on the check. A “remotely created check” is a check that you are authorized to create and present for payment by an authorized signer on the account on which the check is drawn, and which does not bear the signature of an authorized signer on that account and includes checks that are defined in applicable law as “remotely created checks”. In addition to the foregoing, we may honor “remotely created checks” authorized in the amount stated on the check and to the payee named on the check, by you or a joint owner of your account.
You agree to indemnify us for any loss that we may incur directly or indirectly from your deposit of a “remotely created check” in violation of the terms set forth in this paragraph. You further agree that all of the terms in this Agreement and under applicable law that apply to a “check” and/or “item” apply to “remotely created checks”, including without limitation substitute checks created from “remotely created checks” and check images of “remotely created checks”, except that “remotely created checks” will not be signed by an authorized signer on the account on which the check is drawn.
YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES
Security – You agree to exercise reasonable control over all bank checks; unused checks; certificates of deposit (CDs); Personal Identification Numbers (PINs); ATM Card; Debit Card; Sign-On IDs; passwords; and any other item, instrument, access device, or card related to your account. You agree to notify us immediately if any of these things are or may be lost, stolen, or used without your authorization, or if you believe there is an error on your periodic account statement. We may issue replacements for lost or stolen checks; CDs; PINs; ATM Card; Debit Cards or other items, instruments, access devices, or cards, but only after you have provided such proof of loss, and sufficient security or indemnification of us, as we may require. In addition, you acknowledge that we may close your account to prevent future losses.
Travel Outside of the United States – If you are planning to travel outside of the U.S., we recommend contacting us with the dates and locations of your travel plans to assist us in analyzing the legitimacy of your account activity, which includes, but is not limited to, online banking, Debit Card, credit card and ATM card activity. You may also want to update the Bank's records to include a phone number where you can be reached while traveling. To update your contact information: 1) send us a Message through the ‘Messages’ function after you sign on to AmericanBank Online; or 2) provide us with a written request either by mail or in-person.
Truncation – You authorize us to retain and image (i.e., truncate) all of your checks, drafts, debits, and credit advices for your account, and you understand that by our doing so, your original checks will not be returned to you with your statement. After the original documents have been imaged, they will be destroyed but will be available online for a period of 2 years. Copies of items are maintained by us for 7 years and are available upon request. Fees for such copies may apply. Please refer to “Other Fees & Charges Disclosure”. The same restrictions for notifying us about an unauthorized signature, unauthorized endorsement, or alteration, as indicated below, apply to electronic statements. You agree that our retention of checks and other items does not alter or waive your responsibility to examine your statements promptly or change the time limits for notifying us of any errors. You are responsible for promptly examining and reconciling your statement each statement period and reporting any irregularities to us immediately upon discovery of an error or within the time limits stated below, whichever is earlier. If another bank, credit union, financial institution or clearing house truncates your check you understand that we have no means by which to view and verify your signature on the item and you agree that we will not be liable for any forgery or alteration on the item unless we fail to act with ordinary care with the information we have available.
Reviewing Account Statements – You will receive periodic statements of all transactions and activity in your deposit accounts during each statement period. Unless you have access to your periodic statement through our website, AMBK.com, your periodic statement will be sent to your address as it is shown on our records. All deposits and other credits, withdrawals and other debits, transfers, payments of interest, and impositions of applicable fees will appear on your statement. You agree that your statements provide sufficient information to determine the identification and authenticity of any transaction including without limit, whether any are forged, altered or unauthorized if the statement includes the item number, amount and the date the item posted to your account.
You also agree that you are in the best position to detect problems and unauthorized transactions on your account, which include suspected fraud; missing deposits; unauthorized electronic transfers; missing, stolen, or unauthorized checks or other withdrawal orders; checks or other withdrawal orders bearing an unauthorized signature, endorsement or alteration; illegible images; encoding errors made by you or us; and counterfeit checks. This is not a complete list. As a result, you are responsible for promptly examining and reconciling your statement each statement period and reporting any irregularities or problems to us immediately. Unless otherwise provided by applicable law, the periodic statement will be considered correct for all purposes and we will not be liable for any payment made and charged to your account unless you notify us in writing promptly upon discovery of the error or within 15 calendar days after the statement and checks are made available to you, whichever is earlier. We will not be liable for any check that is altered or any signature that is forged unless you notify us promptly upon discovery of the error or within 15 calendar days after the statement and the altered or forged item(s) are made available, whichever is earlier. We will not be liable for any subsequent items paid, in good faith, containing an unauthorized signature or alteration by the same wrongdoer unless you notify the Bank within 15 calendar days after the statement and first altered or forged item is made available. If you fail to notify us within the time limit stated above, you agree to accept the stated balance as correct and to assume responsibility for and indemnify, defend and hold us harmless from, the payment of any check reported on your account statement. You also release us from all liability for payment of such checks. We will not be liable if items are forged or altered so cleverly, such as the unauthorized use of a facsimile signature machine, that the fraud could not be detected by a reasonable banking institution. You must also report any other account problem promptly upon discovery of the error or within 15 calendar days, whichever is earlier, or lose your right to assert a claim against us.
If we act in good faith but fail to exercise ordinary care in paying an item or other withdrawal request with an unauthorized signature or alteration on the face of the item or other withdrawal request, any loss arising from the unauthorized transaction is allocated between you and us according to the extent to which your failure to timely notify us of the unauthorized transaction and our failure to use ordinary care in paying the unauthorized item contributed to the loss. If you prove that we did not pay the item in good faith, then you are not precluded from establishing your loss against us even if you fail to timely notify us of the unauthorized transaction.
Regardless of our lack of good faith or ordinary care in paying an item or honoring a withdrawal request, if you do not notify us of alterations or any unauthorized signature on the front of an item or other withdrawal request within 1 year of our furnishing to you account statements or other evidence of its occurrence, or if you do not notify us of an unauthorized endorsement on the back of an item or other withdrawal request within 3 years of our making available to you account statements or other evidence of its occurrence, you are precluded from asserting the alteration, unauthorized signature, or endorsement, as applicable.
Because we employ high speed check processing equipment to reduce costs, we may not perform a review of the signatures affixed to your checks or other items which are presented for payment from your account. You agree that this is the customary practice for commercial banks located in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. You further agree that the practice of such banks is the standard to be used in determining reasonable commercial banking practices. You agree to safeguard your checks which are magnetically encoded with your unique account number. You agree to assume full responsibility for the unauthorized use of your checks, including unauthorized signatures and alterations, where you did not use ordinary care in controlling access to your checks, promptly reviewing your bank statement for unauthorized activity, or where your lack of the use of ordinary care otherwise contributed to the unauthorized use of your account. You agree to be responsible for the acts of your agents, employees and any other party authorized to have access to your account.
Claim of Loss – If you orally report to us that an unauthorized transaction has occurred on your account, we may require you to confirm your report in writing. We may also require that you give us a statement or affidavit, under penalty of perjury, about the facts and circumstances relating to your report and provide such other information and proof as we may reasonably request. If you assert a claim for a credit or refund regarding a problem with your account resulting in a loss, you must cooperate with us in the investigation and prosecution of your claim and any attempt to recover funds. You also agree to assist us in identifying and in seeking criminal and civil penalties against any person responsible. You must also file reports and complaints with appropriate law enforcement authorities. If you fail or refuse to do these things, we will consider your failure or refusal to be your ratification of the defect in the statement or item, unauthorized transaction or other problem and your agreement that we can charge the full amount to your account.
We will have a reasonable period of time to investigate the facts and circumstances surrounding any claim of loss. Unless we have acted in bad faith, in no event will we be liable for special or consequential damages including loss of profits or opportunity, or for attorney fees incurred by you, regardless of the foreseeability of such damages, loss of profits or opportunity, or for attorney fees.
You will not waive any rights you have to recover your loss against anyone who is obligated to repay, insure, or otherwise reimburse you for your loss. You will pursue your rights, or at our option, assign them to us so that we may pursue them. Our liability will be reduced by the amount you recover or are entitled to recover from these other sources.
Address or Name Changes – You are responsible for notifying us of any change in your physical residence, mailing address, e-mail address or your name. Unless we agree otherwise, change of address or name (verifying documents may be required) must be made in writing, by each account holder. A change of address may be submitted by mail or electronically by completing the Contact Information Form found on our website, AMBK.com, under Resources, and uploading the completed form after signing on to your online banking. Informing us of your address or name change on a check reorder form is not sufficient. We will attempt to communicate with you only by use of the most recent physical address or e-mail address you have provided to us. You agree that any notice or communication sent to you at the address noted in our records shall be effective until we have received an address change from you and have had a reasonable opportunity to act on it. If provided elsewhere, we may impose a service fee if we attempt to locate you. If you fail to notify us of a change of address or for any other reason a statement is returned to us, we may destroy the statement and any accompanying items that are returned to us.
Dormant Accounts – If we are unable to contact you through the U.S. mail and you do not initiate activity in the account for a period of time, which may be defined by applicable law or regulation, we may treat the account as being dormant. You agree that we may charge inactivity fees on the account, in addition to any regular maintenance and other applicable fees, except as limited by law. Unless otherwise required by law you will not be entitled to recover any such fees, in the event that you reestablish contact with us. In order to protect your funds, you agree that if we have deemed your account to be dormant, we may refuse to pay items drawn or payable out of the account until you have reestablished contact with us. After your account has been dormant for a certain period of time, as determined by the applicable state law, the balance in your dormant account will be escheated to the state agency administering unclaimed property. Once your funds are escheated, we no longer have any liability or responsibility with respect to the funds. You must contact the state agency administrating unclaimed property in order to reclaim your escheated funds. Please refer to“Other Fees & Charges Disclosure” for additional information about applicable fees and charges.
Suspicious or Fraudulent Activity – If you notice suspicious or fraudulent activity on your account, immediately contact our Customer Service Department at 610.366.1800 or 888.366.6622 to advise us of the nature of the transactions. If necessary, we can restrict access to your account, change your account password, issue a new ATM Card or Debit Card, or close your account if there is evidence your account has been the target of criminal activity. In most cases, we will ask you to provide us with an Affidavit of Identity, copy of the police report and any other documentation necessary to assist in our investigation. You agree to cooperate with us in prosecuting the perpetrator to the fullest extent of the law.
MISCELLANEOUS
Monitoring and Recording Telephone Calls
We may monitor or record calls for security reasons and to ensure that you receive courteous and efficient service. You consent in advance to any such recording. We need not remind you of our recording before each telephone conversation.
Account Transfer
None of your accounts may be transferred or assigned without our prior written consent. We must approve any pledge of your account and any such pledge remains subject to any right we have under this Agreement and applicable state and federal law. If ownership is proposed to be transferred, we may require the account be closed and a new account opened in the name of the transferee or pledgee.
Amendments
We may amend this Agreement at any time. Our rules regarding changes in interest rates appear elsewhere in this Agreement or have been provided to you in a separate document. Notice of changes to this Agreement shall be provided either (1) where required by law or regulation by mailing any such required notice in the manner so required to your last known address on our records and may be included in your account statement or in a separate mailing; (2) by posting such notice in our branches; or (3) by providing electronic notice. Changes will be effective on the date listed in the change notice. You may also obtain a copy of the most current Deposit Account Agreement at our branch or by contacting us at American Bank, Attention: Customer Service, 4029 West Tilghman Street, Allentown, PA 18104, by emailing us at service@ambk.com, on our website AmericanBank Online at AMBK.com or by calling our Customer Service Department at 610.366.1800 or 888.366.6622 any business days, which are Monday through Friday excluding federal holidays.
Right to Close Account
You or we may close your account with or without cause at any time. We will give you either oral or written (includes electronic) notice of our intention to close the account. If we believe that it is necessary to close your account immediately in order to limit losses by you or us, we may close your account prior to providing notice to you. Notice from us to any one of you is notice to all of you. We will not be liable for dishonoring any items initiated after the date of the notice. In the event that you have not closed your account, we will close the account and mail you a check for the remaining balance in the account after deducting any applicable fees and charges. Closing the account does not release you from the payment of accrued fees or liability for items in process.
We may in our discretion close your account without prior notice if the account has a zero or negative balance, or if we believe it is necessary to protect us, our employees or others from risk, harm or loss. Any waiver by us of our right to close an account for cause shall not be a waiver of our right at a later time to close your account for the same or similar reasons. We reserve the right to reject any deposit that is made to a closed account by returning the item or by crediting the item to another active account of yours. We reserve this right notwithstanding that the deposit may have been processed and/or that you were given a receipt for the deposit. The deposit receipt shall not constitute acceptance of funds in such instance and we will have no liability for any items returned unpaid which are drawn on a closed account even if you attempt to make a deposit to the account.
You may close your account at any time but must first notify us in writing, sending a request through the Message function within AmericanBank Online or by contacting branch personnel in person, of your intent to close the account. Your failure to notify us may result in additional fees or charges on the account and you remain liable for any items in process. A notation written on the face of a check does not constitute the required notification to us. We reserve the right to re-open a closed account to permit a deposit or credit entry to post to the account. If you owe us money, the funds may be used to satisfy the debt owed to us. We may report your account to a consumer reporting agency if it is closed due to a negative balance, fraud, or other inappropriate activity.
Internet Consolidation Sites or Account Aggregators
There are a number of Internet Websites not affiliated with American Bank that offer to consolidate all of your financial information on just one website. Although this may seem very convenient, we recommend that you exercise caution before using account aggregator or consolidation sites. You may also want to consider using personal financial software such as Quicken® or Microsoft Money instead of the online account aggregators. This disclosure addresses your use of these third-party companies and your liability in connection with their activities on your accounts and loans.
Prior to enrolling in aggregation services, you should carefully read the terms and conditions the aggregator provides to you. Be certain you understand these terms and conditions before giving the aggregator your Sign-on ID, Password, or any other verification code necessary to access your deposit accounts with American Bank (collectively, your "Bank Account Access Method"). American Bank shall have no responsibility for any use or misuse of your account data by any third party to whom you have provided your account information, and Bank Account Access Method. This means, among other things, that you are liable for all transactions conducted by the account aggregator on your behalf or with the use of your Bank Account Access Method. In addition, American Bank cannot ensure the accuracy of the information provided to you by a third-party aggregator, and American Bank cannot guarantee the ability of the third party to perform any type of banking transaction on your behalf, including but not limited to, verification of credits or debits, transfer of funds, and bill payment. If you experience any problems with a third-party account aggregator, to whom you provided your account information and Bank Account Access Method, you will have to resolve the problem directly with that third party. You agree that American Bank shall have no responsibility for any losses or damages you suffer, or fees you incur that are assessed by another company or institution caused by the involvement of a third-party account aggregator, and any other third party to whom you have disclosed your Bank Account Access Method.
Right to Freeze
If at any time we believe that your account may be subject to fraudulent or illegal activity, we may, in our sole discretion, freeze the funds in the account until such time as we are able to complete our investigation of the account and the transactions. If we do freeze your account funds, we will provide notice to you as soon as reasonably possible. We may not provide this notice to you prior to freezing the account if we believe that advance notice could result in a security risk to us or to the owner of the funds.
Set Off
If you ever owe us money in any capacity and it becomes due, we have the right under law (called “set off”) and under this Agreement to use the money from any of your accounts with us to pay the debt without advance notice. We may, without prior notice and when permitted by law, set off the funds in any of your accounts against any due and payable debt owed to us now or in the future. We may use the money from your accounts to pay the debt even if our withdrawal of the money from your accounts results in a loss of interest, an interest penalty or dishonor of checks. We may use the money in any of your accounts with us to reimburse us for amounts owed to us by you, whether that amount is owed with respect to your deposit transactions with us, your loan transactions with us, or otherwise. If the account is a joint or a multiple-party account, each holder authorizes us to exercise our right to set off against any and all accounts each account holder has with us.
This right of set off does not apply to your account if: (a) it is an IRA or other tax-deferred retirement account; or (b) the debt is created by a consumer credit transaction under a credit card plan (but this does not affect our rights under any consensual security interest); or (c) the debtors right of withdrawal arises only in a representative capacity. We will not be liable for the dishonor of any check because we set off a debt against your account. You agree to hold us harmless from any claim arising as a result of our exercise of our right of set off.
Liability
By using any account, you agree for yourself (and for the person or entity you represent, if you sign as a representative of another) to the terms of this Agreement, as amended from time to time.
You authorize us to deduct directly from your account balance all fees and charges referenced in this Agreement and the Other Fees & Charges Disclosure, as well as any fees and charges otherwise disclosed to you. You also agree to pay upon demand any other fees and charges for services.
You agree to be jointly and severally liable for any account shortage resulting from charges or overdrafts, whether caused by you or another with access to the account. This liability is due immediately and can be deducted directly from your account balance whenever sufficient funds are available or may be set off against other funds you may have on deposit with us (refer to the “Set Off” section for additional information). You have no right to defer payment of this liability, and you are liable regardless of whether you signed the item, requested the debit or withdrawal, or benefited from the charge or overdraft. Your liability includes our costs to collect any account deficit, also including, to the extent permitted by law, our attorney’s fees.
Limit of Liability
You agree that the amount of any claim you have against us in connection with any account or banking transaction with us, whether brought as a warranty, negligence, wrongful dishonor, or other action, is subject to reduction on the basis of failure on your part (or on the part of your agents) to use reasonable care. YOU FURTHER AGREE THAT OUR LIABILITY WITH RESPECT TO SUCH CLAIM WILL BE LIMITED TO THE FACE VALUE OF AN ITEM IMPROPERLY DISHONORED OR THE ACTUAL VALUE OF ANY DEPOSITS NOT PROPERLY CREDITED, AND THAT NO LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES WILL EXIST OR CAN BE ASSERTED BY YOU AGAINST US.
Legal Actions Affecting Your Account
We may accept and comply with any legal process that we believe to be valid and binding without any liability by us to you. We may accept and comply with the legal process whether served in person, by mail, by facsimile transmission, or by other means, at locations other than the banking office at which the account, property or records are held. You direct us not to contest the legal process. We generally give you notice of the legal process but we are not required to give you notice and will not do so if prohibited by law.
"Legal process" includes a writ of attachment, execution, garnishment, tax withholding order, levy, restraining order, subpoena, warrant, injunction, government agency request for information, search warrant, forfeiture or other similar order.
We will hold and turn over funds or other property to the court or creditor as directed by the legal process. Any legal process directing us to hold or turn over funds is subject to our right of setoff and any security interest we have in the account. We are not liable to you for not paying items or refusing withdrawals as a result of holding or turning over funds. We do not pay interest on the funds during the period we hold them. If we use funds from a time deposit account, we may impose an early withdrawal penalty.
We may charge your account a legal process fee for each order. Please refer to "Other Fees & Charges Disclosure". You agree to pay our fees and expenses for research and copying of documents and all other expenses, including administrative expenses, that we incur in responding to any legal process related to your account. These may include attorneys' fees. We may deduct these fees and expenses from any of your account(s) without prior notice to you.
If a subpoena or other legal process directs us to release information about an account that is reported on a combined statement, we may release the entire combined statement, even if other accounts on the combined statement are not covered by the legal process. If the legal process requests information about one account owner or signer, we may release information about other co-owners or signers on the account, even if the other co-owners or signers are not covered by the legal process.
Attorneys’ Fees and Costs
In the event we have to institute legal action to enforce our rights under this Agreement and we prevail, you must pay us our reasonable attorneys' fees and costs, including fees on any appeal. In addition, we reserve the right to recover attorneys' fees and costs we incur when we reasonably determine that the assistance of an attorney is needed in connection with any deposit account dispute or litigation, or when assistance is needed to collect any amounts you are obligated to pay us.
Credit Verification/Consumer Reports
By requesting to open an account with us or to add a new service to an existing account, such as, Visa® Debit Card or Checking Overdraft Protection, or by agreeing to be a signer on an account or obtaining any other service from us, you (and, if acting in a representative capacity, individually for such entity) authorize us to obtain credit and employment information by any means, including obtaining information from check or credit-reporting agencies and/or other sources. You also authorize us to obtain consumer reports on any of you from time to time in the future when updating, renewing, or extending your account. We may do so at the time you open your account, at any time while your account is open, or after your account is closed if you owe us any amount related to your account. Upon your request and if we are unable to grant your request for a new or additional product due to information contained in your consumer report, we will notify you whether we obtained a consumer credit report and the names and addresses of any consumer-reporting agency that provided such reports.
Backup Withholding/TIN Certification
Federal tax law may require us to report to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) interest and certain other payments we make to you from time to time, and to include your Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) on the report. Generally for individuals, the TIN is your social security number. Therefore, we require you to provide us with your TIN and to certify that it is correct.
Features of Certain Accounts
Checking accounts consist of a checking sub-account and a savings sub-account. The Bank may periodically transfer funds between these two sub-accounts. If your checking account is a Plan on which interest is paid, your interest calculation will remain the same. Otherwise, the savings sub-account will be non-interest bearing. The savings sub-account will be governed by the rules governing our other savings accounts. This process will not affect your available balance, the interest you earn, FDIC insurance protection, or your monthly statement.
Automated Clearing House
From time to time you may be a party to an Automated Clearing House (ACH) entry which may be credited or charged to your account. You agree to be bound by the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA) operating rules in effect for ACH transactions that you authorize. Under NACHA rules we are not required to give you next day notice of receipt of an ACH item and we will not do so. However, we will continue to notify you of the receipt of payments in periodic statements we provide to you.
Credit given by us to you with respect to an ACH entry is provisional until we receive final settlement for such entry through a Federal Reserve Bank. If we do not receive such final settlement, you are hereby notified and agree that we are entitled to a refund of the amount credited to you in connection with such entry, and the party making payment to you via such entry (i.e. the originator of the entry) shall not be deemed to have paid you in the amount of such entry.
You agree that payment of ACH entries will be processed on the basis of the identifying number for the ACH, even if the identifying number identifies a financial institution, person or entity different from the named party in the transaction. You have 60 days from the time we send or make your statement available to notify us of unauthorized ACH debits to your account.
You agree that we may act on your behalf to accept payments to your account which have been transmitted through one or more ACH networks and which are not subject to the Electronic Fund Transfers Act. Your rights and obligations with respect to such payments shall be construed in accordance with and governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as provided by the NACHA operating rules, which are applicable to ACH transactions involving your account.
Rev 01.23
- Credits