Answers to Your Top 2 Questions About Overdraft Protection: Everything You Need to Know

It’s easy to get caught up in day-to-day routines and lose track of your detailed finances. With your busy schedule, sometimes accidents can happen, including overdrafts on your account. We can help with solutions that can save you money when overdrafts occur.

At Needham Bank, we want to help you take charge of your finances, which is why we asked our Senior Vice President-Director of Retail Banking, Carrie Vargas, to answer the most common questions we hear about overdraft protection to help you understand what it is and how you can avoid overdraft fees.

1. What is overdraft protection?

Overdraft protection prevents charges to a bank account from being rejected. In the event that your account does not have adequate funds available, there are services you can put in place to avoid overdraft fees on debit card purchases, checks, online bill payments and other electronic payments.

Without overdraft protection, transactions that have insufficient funds to cover them will be returned unpaid.

2. How do I avoid overdraft fees?

You have several different options to choose from when it comes to avoiding overdraft fees, including:

Savings Transfer

We offer a free Savings as Overdraft feature, which automatically transfers money from your savings account to cover an overdraft. To enroll in this feature, all account signers for the draw account must sign off acknowledging the transfer access.

To learn more, call our Customer Care Center at 781-444-2100.

Online and Mobile Banking Alerts

Establishing online and mobile banking alerts allows you to keep your bank account in good standing, avoid unnecessary fees and protect yourself from fraud.

Ultimately, the alerts you choose to activate are up to you and your banking needs, including:

Balance Notifications

Keep a pulse on the funds in your account by setting up weekly balance alerts, as well as low balance and high balance alerts.

Specifically, setting up alerts for low balances will allow you to get notified when your account goes below a predetermined threshold that you select to prevent you from incurring expensive overdraft fees.

Transaction Alerts

Be notified when a large withdrawal and large deposit occur, as well as when a check clears in your account.

Reminders

Create a safety net by activating loan payment due and overdue notifications, as well as a customized personal message alert.

Discover the nine specific alerts we offer, the benefits of each alert and how to enroll.

Online and Mobile Banking Transfer

You can personally transfer money from your savings account to your checking account using Online or Mobile Banking to avoid overdraft fees and make a payment.

In Online Banking, click the “Accounts” widget on the homepage or select “Move Money” from the top toolbar and then “Make Transfer.” In Mobile Banking, transfers can be completed by selecting “Transfers” from the bottom toolbar and then selecting “Transfers” again.

Overdraft Line of Credit

Cover your expenses and get peace-of-mind with our Overdraft Protection Line of Credit. This product protects your account from overdrafts when linked with your NB Checking account. The line of payment ensures you’ll never bounce checks, miss payments or have your debit card denied, as long as you don’t exceed your available line of credit.

Learn more and apply online for your Overdraft Protection Line of Credit.

If you want to learn more about overdraft protection, please contact our Customer Care Center at 781-444-2100.