Overdraft Fees and Coverage Options

Managing your checking account balance can be a little overwhelming at times, which means finding a bank with overdraft protection is a great step in building your financial confidence. That's why we've created several overdraft coverage options for you including waiving any overdraft fees when your negative daily balance is $5 or less.

What is an Overdraft?

An overdraft happens when you don't have enough money available in your account to cover a transaction. As an example, a check for your car payment for $300 posts to your checking account but you only have $250 in your account.

When Could I be Charged a Fee?

Overdraft Fee

An Overdraft (OD) fee is charged when you attempt to make transactions greater than your available balance and the transaction is paid by the bank¹.The fee is $35 per OD/NSF Item, for a combined total of 4 Overdraft and/or NSF fees per business day².

NSF Fee

A Non-Sufficient Funds (NSF) 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 OD/NSF Item, for a combined total of 4 Overdraft and/or NSF fees per business day².

Continuous Overdraft Fee

If your account is overdrawn for more than 4 consecutive days, we will charge a Continuous Overdraft fee for each day your account remains overdrawn. The fee is $8 per business day.

What are Standard Overdraft Practices?

Standard Overdraft Coverage is when we 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 ACH transactions. And, we won't charge you overdraft fees when the negative daily balance is $5 or less.

We do not authorize and pay overdrafts for ATM and everyday debit card transactions unless you choose to opt in to overdraft coverage for these transactions. Here's a quick way to visualize:

If You Opt In

You may¹ have access to funds not currently available in your account. You will incur our standard overdraft fee if we honor your debit card purchase or ATM withdrawal.

If You Opt Out

Your debit card will be declined and you will not incur an overdraft fee. You will need to use another cash source or payment method in order to complete your purchase or withdrawal from another account.

For more information regarding overdraft coverage for debit cards and transactions, view the Debit Card Overdraft Authorization PDF.

What is Overdraft Protection?

Think of it like a backup plan - when you link your First Commonwealth checking account to another account like a savings, we simply transfer the funds from your linked account to cover the difference if you happen to overdraw. And the best part? The overdraft coverage costs nothing until you use the service to cover your transaction(s)³. Better yet, the fee is waived if the transfer amount is less than $25.

To add overdraft protection to your checking account, you can link from⁴:

A savings or money market account⁵
A line of credit account
A secondary checking account

What is the Overdraft Protection Transfer Fee?

The chart below shows how overdraft protection transfer fees are calculated based on your checking account type and the type of account that is linked for overdraft protection^3,4:

Checking Account Type	Hometown Savings⁵	Other Savings or Money Market Account⁵	Line of Credit	Secondary Checking Account
Hometown Checking	$0	$15	$15	$15
Hometown Checking + Interest	$0	$15	$15	$15
Hometown Checking + Interest + Solutions	$0	$0	$0	$0

How Does Overdraft Protection Work with Your Decision to Opt-In or Opt-Out?

The following chart explains how Overdraft Protection (ODP) will work with your decision to Opt-In or Opt-Out of coverage for everyday debit card and ATM withdrawal transactions:

Checking account with ODP	Opted-In	Opted-Out
Funds available in linked account	We will approve the transaction and make the transfer to cover the overdraft amount, and the $15 transfer fee may apply⁴
No funds available in linked account	You will incur an overdraft fee of $35 if we honor your debit card purchase or ATM withdrawal².	You will not incur an overdraft fee because your debit card purchase or ATM withdrawal will be declined.

Changing Your Opt-In or Opt-Out Selection or Signing Up for Overdraft Protection

You can change your opt-in/opt-out election for ATM and debit card transactions at any time or sign up for Overdraft Protection by calling our Engagement Center at 1-800-711-BANK (2265) or by visiting your local office.

African American Couple On Bench Looking At Phone

Tips and Tools for Avoiding Overdrafts

Learn more on how to avoid overdrafts.

Confidence Checking®

A checking account that offers greater control and no overdraft fees ever. Learn more.

Personal Savings

Learn more about savings.

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 combined daily limit of 4 Overdraft or Non-Sufficient Funds fees per day. Fees may be assessed for covering Non-Sufficient Funds or Overdraft items created by check, in-person withdrawal, ATM withdrawal, or other electronic means in accordance with your Account Agreement. Additionally, if your account is overdrawn for more than 4 consecutive days, we will charge a fee of up to $8 for each day that your account is overdrawn.

³ The $15 transfer fee is charged once per day. It’s waived if the transfer amount is less than $25.

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 4 per day. Add Overdraft Protection by calling 800-711-BANK (2265) or visiting a community office near you.

⁵ The number of free withdrawals or transfers from a savings or money market account to another bank account of yours or to a third party by means of a preauthorized agreement, by telephone, online banking or initiated by check, draft, debit card, or similar order to a third party are limited to six (6) per statement cycle. This includes online bill payments and overdraft transfers. An Excessive Transaction Fee of $6.00 may be charged to the savings or money market account for each debit paid in excess of six (6) during a statement cycle.