Overdraft Information
Understanding overdrafts is important to help you manage your money and avoid potential fees.
An overdraft occurs when you spend more money than is available in your checking or savings account. This could be because of an ATM withdrawal, debit card, or check written from the account. An example would be making a purchase using your debit card for $50 when your available account balance is $35.
Overdraft Fee
An overdraft fee is charged to your account when you attempt to make transactions greater than your available balance and the transaction is paid by the bank (1). The fee is $35 per overdraft/non-sufficient funds item, for a total of five overdraft and/or non-sufficient fees per day (2).
Non-Sufficient Funds (NSF) Fee
A Non-Sufficient Funds fee is charged when you attempt to make transactions greater than your available balance and the transaction is not paid by the bank. The fee is $35 per overdraft/non-sufficient funds item, for a total of five overdraft and/or non-sufficient fees per day (2).
Avoiding Overdraft Fees
The best way to avoid overdraft fees is to not spend more than is available in your account. That seems simplistic, but the difficulty arises when reviewing your balance on online, mobile, or ATM banking and your balance does not include all the transactions you’ve conducted. For instance, you may check your balance at an ATM, which shows $100 available. However, if you’ve previously written a check (for example for $65) but the recipient hasn’t cashed the check, your real balance is $35. If you withdraw $50 from the ATM without remembering the check you wrote, the check may be NSF when it is presented for payment.
Standard Overdraft Coverage
Standard Overdraft Coverage is provided by Mars Bank to pay overdrafts against your account at our discretion. We can’t guarantee we’ll always authorize and pay any transaction, but it’s nice to know that we may authorize and pay overdrafts for checks, automatic bill payments, and automated clearing house (ACH) transactions.
Overdraft Protection
Overdraft protection means providing a second source of funds to cover any overdrafts on a Mars Bank account. The second source account is a backup for your primary account. For instance, the bank can transfer funds from a savings account to cover an overdraft of a checking account. The linked account covers the overdraft amount. To add overdraft protection to your checking account, you can link from (4):
- A savings or money market account
- A second checking account
- A line of credit account
Overdraft Protection Fees
This chart shows overdraft protection transfer fees (3), (4):
| Checking Account | Savings or Money Market Account6 | Line of Credit | Secondary Checking Account |
|---|---|---|---|
| Perfect Fit Account (5) | NA | NA | NA |
| Basic Checking | $7 | $7 | $7 |
| Regular Checking | $7 | $7 | $7 |
| Now Account | $7 | $7 | $7 |
For more information, please consult our account terms and conditions and terms and conditions overdraft addendum. For more information about overdraft protection, click here or contact a branch location.
(1) We pay overdrafts at our discretion, which means we do not guarantee that we will always authorize and pay any type of transaction. If we do not authorize and pay an overdraft, your transaction will be declined.
(2) We will charge a fee of up to $35 each time we pay an overdraft or return an item for non-sufficient funds. There is a daily limit of 5 overdraft or nonsufficient funds fees per day. You may be charged multiple NSF fees in connection with a single debit that has been returned for insufficient funds. You must immediately pay the amount of any overdraft along with any fees that apply.
(3) The $7 transfer fee is charged once per day.
(4) Overdraft transfer services are limited to the available balance in the linked account. If the funds are not available in the linked account, the $35.00 fee for Non-Sufficient Funds or Overdraft may be assessed per item, up to 5 per day. Add Overdraft Protection by contacting a branch location.
(5) The Perfect Fit Account is a digital-first deposit account that does not incur overdraft fees. For more information or to apply online, click here.
