Funds Availability Policy

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YOUR ABILITY TO WITHDRAW FUNDS

Our general policy is to make funds from your deposit of checks available to you on the first business day after the day we receive your deposit. At that time, you can withdraw the funds in cash and we will use the funds to pay checks that you have written. For determining the availability of your deposits at a branch, every day is a business day, except Saturdays, Sundays and federal holidays. If you make a deposit on a nonbusiness day, we will consider that the deposit was made on the next business day.

ATM deposits have a daily settlement time of 3:30 P.M. ATM deposits made before settlement Monday through Friday are available on the next business day. Deposits made after settlement and deposits on a Saturday, Sunday or federal holiday are available on the second business day following the day of deposit. All times are Eastern Time.

Same Day Availability

Funds from the following deposits will be available on the business day of your deposit: cash, wire transfers, electronic payments, including preauthorized credits such as Social Security benefits and payroll payments, and checks drawn on Salem Five Cents Savings Bank for which there are sufficient available funds on deposit.

Longer Delays May Apply

In some cases, we will not make all of the funds that you deposit by check available to you on the first business day after the day of your deposit. Depending on the type of check that you deposit, funds may not be available until the second business day after the day of your deposit. However, the first $225 of your deposits will be available on the first business day after the day of your deposit. If we are not going to make all the funds from your deposit available on the first business day, we will notify you at the time you make your deposit. We will also tell you when the funds will be available. If your deposit is not made directly to one of our tellers, or if we decide to take this action after you have left the premises, we will mail you the notice by the business day after we receive your deposit.

If you will need the funds from a deposit right away, you should ask us when the funds will be available.

In addition, funds you deposit by check may be delayed for a longer period under the following circumstances:

• We believe a check you deposit will not be paid.
  
  
• You deposit checks totaling more than $5,525 on any one day.
  
  
• You redeposit a check that has been returned unpaid.
  
  
• You have overdrawn your account repeatedly in the last six months.
  
  
• There is an emergency, such as failure of communications or computer equipment.

We will notify you if we delay your ability to withdraw funds for any of these reasons, and we will tell you when the funds will be available. They will generally be available no later than the fifth business day after the day of your deposit.

We may also, from time to time, need to temporarily suspend the processing of an ACH (automated clearing house) deposit received from or through another country (IAT) for further investigation; this additional required handling may delay settlement until the investigation is completed.

Holds on Other Funds

If we cash a check for you that is drawn on another bank, we may withhold the availability of a corresponding amount of funds that are already in your account. Those funds will be available at the time funds from the check we cashed would have been available if you had deposited it. You must therefore maintain an available account balance sufficient to cover any check you present for cashing.

If we accept for deposit a check that is drawn on another bank, we may make funds from the deposit available for withdrawal immediately by delaying your availability to withdraw a corresponding amount of funds that you have on deposit in another account with us. The funds in the other account would then not be available for withdrawal until the time periods that are described elsewhere in this disclosure for the type of check that you deposited.

Special Rules for New Accounts

If you are a new customer, the following special rules may apply during the first 30 days your account is open.

Funds from electronic direct deposits to your account will be available on the day we receive the deposit. The first $5,525 from the deposit of U.S. Treasury checks and checks drawn on a Federal Reserve Bank or Federal Home Loan Bank will be available on the first business day after the day of deposit. The excess over $5,525 will be available on the fifth business day after the day of your deposit. Funds from wire transfers into your account will be available on the first business day after the day we receive the transfer.

Funds from deposits of cash and the first $5,525 of a day’s total deposits of cashier’s checks, certified checks, teller’s checks, money orders, traveler’s checks, and Massachusetts state and local government checks will be available on the first business day after the day of your deposit if the deposit meets certain conditions. For example, the check must be payable to you. The excess over $5,525 will be available on the fifth business day after the day of your deposit. If you do not make the deposit in person to one of our tellers, the first $5,525 will not be available until the second business day after the day of your deposit. 

Funds from all other check deposits will be available on the fifth business day after the day of your deposit.

PLEASE NOTE: This Funds Availability Policy does not affect our right under this Agreement to charge back to your account, or otherwise obtain a refund from you for any item that is not finally paid for any reason.