Pinnacle’s Updated Overdraft Services Program

Pinnacle’s Overdraft Services Program

Overview

Overdrafts and bounced checks happen to the best of us. Accidents, mistakes, not watching your account balance or just coming up a little short—no matter the cause, these fees can be frustrating and cause strain on tight budgets.

To help, we’ve updated our Overdraft Services Program to completely eliminate one fee, reduce others and give you more grace when they do occur. We will continue to pay for transactions when account balances are low, a service we are happy to provide if you opt into it.

  • We've eliminated Non-sufficient Funds (NSF) Returned Item fees for consumer clients and lowered them from $38 to $30 for business clients.
  • We've lowered Overdraft Paid Item fees from $38 to $30 for all clients. 
  • We've introduced an overdraft cushion of $15 for consumer clients. 
  • For consumer clients, we've reduced the maximum number of Overdraft Paid Item fees from five per day to three.

 

Watch this to learn more about how Pinnacle's overdraft services work.

What are NSF/Overdraft fees, and how have they changed?

All changes shown here took effect Aug. 1, 2022. 

Non-sufficient Funds (NSF) Returned Item Fees
A Returned Item fee is charged when we return a check or ACH transaction due to insufficient funds in the account. An ACH transaction is an electronic transfer of funds, like paying your bills with auto draft or Online Bill Pay.

  • We eliminated Returned Item fees for consumer clients. The previous fee of $38 is now $0.
  • For business clients, the fee was reduced from $38 to $30.

Overdraft Paid Item Fees
This is the fee we charge for the service to pay a transaction even though the client does not have enough funds in the account.

  • Paid Item fees for both consumer and business clients were reduced from $38 to $30.

Introducing Overdraft Cushion for Consumers
We know that accidents happen and not everyone keeps a sharp eye on their account balance. So we want to give you some grace with Paid Item fees.

  • Consumer accounts can be overdrawn by up to $15 before a fee is charged. As a result, clients won’t be charged a Paid Item fee until a payment causes the account to be overdrawn by more than $15.

Reducing the Overdraft Fee Max
Paid Item fees are charged per individual transaction, and they can add up, compounding their impact on accounts that are already low.

  • The maximum number of Paid Item charges allowed per day on consumer accounts was reduced from five to three.
  • By reducing the amount of the fee and the cap, the maximum possible charge per day was reduced from $190 to $90.

If you have questions about these changes and how they affect you, please reach out to your financial advisor or call our Client Service Center

How to Avoid NSF and Overdraft Paid Item Fees

Enroll in Overdraft Protection
Pinnacle offers Overdraft Protection on all checking accounts. Overdraft Protection allows you to link deposit accounts so if one is overdrawn, it can pull funds from the other to cover it. This protects you from the frustration and embarrassment of an overdraft and prevents you from being charged overdraft fees. We can even connect your account to an overdraft line of credit, pending credit approval. Funds are transferred in $100 increments to cover what you need to buy.

Monitor Account Activity
Pinnacle’s Online Banking and the mobile app are the quickest and easiest ways to closely monitor your balance, see real-time transactions and transfer funds between accounts.

You can also call our Pinnacle Anytime automated system to review balances and transactions. If you’d rather speak with someone, our Client Service Center is available 24 hours a day with a Pinnacle associate who can answer your questions.

  • Pinnacle Anytime
    • Tennessee and Atlanta Toll-Free: 866.755.5428
    • Carolinas and Virginia Toll-Free: 877.842.4180
  • Client Service Center
    • Tennessee, Atlanta and Alabama Toll-Free: 800.264.3613
    • Carolinas and Virginia Toll-Free: 800.262.7175

Get Balance Alerts
Within Pinnacle’s Online Banking, you can sign up to get email and text alerts that tell you when your balance is low, your account is overdrawn or just to give you the balance.

Keep a Budget
Yes, this is very basic advice. Sometimes, though, we all need a reminder. Writing and sticking to a household budget is the most fundamental way to prevent unnecessary overdraft fees.

More Tools and Resources

Seven Tips to Avoid Overdraft Fees
Most overdraft fees are avoidable. The best way to avoid fees is to manage your account so you don't overdraw it. Read this article for account management tips and ways to stay away from fees.

Pros and Cons of Standard Overdraft Privilege
Most banks have a standard overdraft service designed to cover you in the case you do not have enough funds in your account. There are mixed views on overdraft privilege services. Let us help clarify.

Alternatives to Standard Overdraft Privilege
We want to remind you of several programs and options that would likely reduce the cost of using your account. These options may be less expensive than our standard overdraft privilege.

How to Opt Out of Overdraft Privilege
While there are pros and cons to our standard overdraft privilege, you may have decided it’s not right for you. There are two easy ways to opt out.

MyMoney.gov
Created by the government's Financial Literacy and Education Commission, this site has information, calculators and budgeting worksheets based on your life stage.

Money Matters
This site is managed by the Federal Trade Commission with many good ideas on how to better manage your finances.

Approved Credit Counseling Agencies
The Department of Justice produces a list of organizations authorized to provide credit counseling in Tennessee. While we do not recommend any specific partner, we do urge you to use an approved agency and avoid organizations that seem too good to be true. For more information about credit counseling and debt settlement, visit the FTC consumer education site.