Sometimes you may make a purchase on your Debit Card for more than you have available in your checking account. If you have additional funds in other accounts, use Overdraft Protection to automatically transfer money into your checking from a linked account*. This service comes with a small Overdraft Transfer Fee charged to your account per occurrence. See Member Schedule of Current Charges. If you would like to avoid this fee in the future, it’s simple! You can transfer money between your accounts instantly in Online Banking or with the GTE Mobile App.
Tips to Avoid Fees
Avoid fees by staying engaged
We are Here to Help
We are committed to helping our members succeed financially, which is why we provide great tools and resources to aid in financial education. Many of our fees can be avoided simply by using Online Banking, or other virtual tools that we have developed. Here are some helpful tips on how you can avoid fees in the future:
Go Full Access Checking
The monthly fee of $4.95 can be waived by enrolling in eStatements AND making $500 in aggregate deposits per month OR making a combination of 15 monthly debit and/or credit card transactions. Only deposits from external accounts outside of GTE are valid towards the $500 requirement.
Go Further Checking
The monthly fee of $9.95 can be avoided by enrolling in eStatements, making $500 in aggregate deposits per month, AND making a combination of 15 monthly debit and/or credit card transactions.
Mailed Statement
Receive paper statements in the mail for $6 per month, or you can save by enrolling in free electronic statements! There are many benefits that come with enrolling in eStatements, you receive your statements faster, and in an eco-friendly manner, plus they are more secure! Enroll today in Online Banking to avoid the $6 monthly mailed statement fee.
ATM Inquiry
Members are charged a $1 fee when they check their account balances on a foreign ATM. With over 30,000 fee-free ATM locations available for our members, this fee is easy to avoid! If you would like to check a list of free-ATMs based on your location, you can do so on the GTE Mobile app or through the GTE website directly. If you are simply checking you balances, try through Online Banking or the GTE Mobile App instead!
Account Inactivity
Members are charged a $10 fee monthly when they have not had any activity on an account for a period of 6 months or greater. We want to ensure that you are utilizing all accounts that you open and that you are taking advantage of the many benefits that come along with it. This fee can be easily avoided by simply logging into Online Banking and completing a monetary transaction. Transferring money, making a purchase, making a loan payment, any monetary transaction on an account in which you're the primary owner of will prevent you from receiving this fee. If you have accounts you are no longer using, try consolidating to reduce the chance of being charged a fee.
Minimum Relationship Balance
The monthly relationship fee is charged to members that do not meet minimum balance requirements of $500 in loans or deposits with GTE. You may be charged a monthly fee of $7 if you have less than $500 combined in savings and loans. If you have not already, review our checking account offerings, this fee can be avoided completely if you have a checking account with us!
Overdraft Transfer
Negative Balance
We understand that sometimes members may spend more than they have available, it happens! That’s why we give members a few days to correct their negative balance, however if a member maintains a negative balance for 6 days, a fee of $6 will be charged to their account. Make sure that you are taking advantage of our virtual services to keep an eye on your balances! The GTE Mobile app allows you to view all your accounts and even deposit checks.
Non-Sufficient Funds
If you have been charged an NSF fee, you may be enrolled in our Courtesy Pay Program*. As a convenience, we automatically offer Courtesy Pay for check and Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions that may overdraw your account. You may have also enrolled in this service to cover your Debit Card transactions or ATM withdrawals. An NSF fee of $35 is charged when you have no money available in your accounts and you’d like GTE to cover the cost of your purchases. This service is meant to be used as a safeguard for rare or emergency occasions, versus habitual needs. To avoid this fee in the future, you can monitor your account balances in Online Banking and with the GTE Mobile app. If you decide you do not want your purchases to be paid for in the future, you may opt-out of Courtesy Pay at any time using the Mail-In or Online Banking Form. Please note, if you opt-out, and you have insufficient funds available in your account, your purchase will be declined.
Point of Sale Denial
Sometimes you may make a purchase on your debit card for more than you have available in your checking account. If the merchant runs a signature-based transaction and it is denied due to insufficient funds, you will be charged a $2 fee to your account. Make sure that you are taking advantage of our virtual services to keep an eye on your balances! The GTE Mobile app allows you to view all your accounts and even deposit checks.
*Additional terms and details can be found in our Account Disclosure and Member Schedule of Current Charges.