The current political climate has caused a rash of potential and enacted legislation rushed through the system. It seems that anti banking sentiments have caused the pendulum to shift to the side of stricter legislation. The problem is that in the rush to pass this legislation, unintended side effects are not account for or thought through. One such issue currently being discussed is Courtesy Pay. Due to the practices of some greedy institutions, the whole concept of Courtesy Pay is in jeopardy.
Courtesy Pay provides members peace of mind because those that opt into our program know that we will pay any items that try to clear up to an aggregate amount of $500. There is a fee for this service but the item gets paid rather than returned to the merchant's financial institution. For example, if a member writes a rent check and by the time the check is presented and the member is short by $50, the credit union pays the item instead of retunring it. Not only can the member breathe easy, but the credit union has saved them the fee on the merchant side which in the case of most apartment complexes is well over $75.
Now, in the rush to create legislation, that feature may be under threat. If we did not have a Courtesy Pay program that the member could choose to opt into, lets look at what would have happened in the case of the rent check. The credit union would have returned the item and charged the normal NSF fee (ours is $20 which is among the lowest you can find). On top of that, the member would have to deal with the $75 plus fee of the apartment complex and might not be allowed to pay rent with checks in the future. Not only has the member lost money, but they then lose the time and convenience of not being allowed to pay with checks.
If you want to voice your opinion regarding this issue to our elected officials, we invite you to visit http://www.capwiz.com/tcul/issues/alert/?alertid=14104801&type=CO
