Overdraft Services

Man turns out his empty pockets

Almost everyone’s checking account goes negative at some point.

Except maybe the Queen. We’re pretty sure it’s never happened to her.

If/when your checking account gets overdrawn, there are a few different overdraft protection options available to give you a back-up source of funds, which may help you avoid paying the $30+tax Non-Sufficient Funds fee for each transaction.


Linked Accounts

Linking your accounts together will let your other account(s) cover a negative balance in your checking account. You can designate which accounts you’d like us to draw funds from and in which order you’d like us to do so.

So, say you wrote a check for $325 more than you actually had in your checking account. If your first choice is for us to transfer funds from your savings account, we’ll take a look to see if there’s $325 in your savings account to transfer. If not, we’ll move on to your next designated account. You can list as many accounts as you like, as long as you’re a primary or joint owner on the accounts. These transfers cost only $4+tax per transaction.

If you don’t remember designating an account, your checking account is probably set up to transfer funds from your savings account, since that’s pretty standard. It’s also possible that you opted out of this service. If you’d like to adjust how your linked accounts work, please contact us, and we’ll be happy to make the changes.


Credit Card Reserve Checking

This option is available to all members who have a Linn Area Credit Union credit card. When your checking account goes negative, we will do a cash advance on your card in $100 increments to cover the amount that is overdrawn. This is still subject to the card’s credit limit as well as the standard cash advance fees. To set up this service, please contact us.


Courtesy Pay

This service is offered to members for personal checking accounts. It is issued automatically to accounts over 90 days old in good standing (unless you choose to opt out of this service or have had it revoked due to abuse). It allows your checking account to go negative by up to $500 but must be paid back within 30 days.

Linn Area Credit Union may subtract an overdraft fee of $30+tax for each overdraft honored. Primary and all other owners shall be jointly and completely responsible for the overdraft, including the overdraft fee. There is no interest charged on any overdraft or unpaid overdraft charge, nor will there be any late charges or other fees beyond this overdraft charge.

The following transactions may be covered by Courtesy Pay:

  • Withdrawals, cashed checks, and other transactions at the teller counter
  • Transfers done via phone, electronically or any other method
  • Debit card transactions
  • Point-of-sale transactions
  • ATM withdrawals
  • Certain loan payments
  • Pre-authorized, recurring automatic debits
  • One-time automatic debits
  • Checks you’ve written
  • Bill Payer debits

Linn Area Credit Union has the right to:

  • Refuse coverage of any overdraft
  • Withdraw any account from this program based on poor performance
  • Discontinue this program at any time

If you do not want Courtesy Pay on your checking account, please contact us.


BALANCING YOUR CHECKBOOK – This portion of our Learn section could be helpful. Check out the calculator on the page, too.

*Iowa sales tax will be added.
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