Check Clearing Policies
Availability of funds and Collection of Checks

Your ability To Withdraw Funds

Like most financial institutions, our policy is to delay the availability of funds that you deposit in your account. During the delay, you may not withdraw the funds in cash and we will not use the funds to pay checks that you have written.
Please remember that even after we have made funds available to you, and you have withdrawn the funds, you are still responsible for checks you deposit that are returned to us unpaid and for any other problems involving your deposit. If you have any questions, be sure to ask us.

Determining the availability of a deposit

The length of the delay is counted in business days from the day of your deposit. Every day except Saturday, Sunday, and a federal holiday is a business day. If you make a deposit before 6:00 p.m. on a business day that we are open, we will consider that day to be the day of your deposit. However, if you make a deposit after the above-mentioned time or on a day we are not open, or a non-business day we are open, we will consider that the deposit was made on the next business day we are open. The length of the delay varies depending on the type of deposit and is explained below.

Immediate availability

Funds from the following deposits are available immediately:

• Cash.
• Wire transfers, including preauthorized credits, such as Social Security benefits and payroll payments.
• Checks drawn on us.
• U.S. Treasury checks that are payable to you.
• State and local government checks that are payable to you.

Next-day availability

Funds from the following deposits are available on the first business day after the day of your deposit:

• Cashier's, certified, and teller's checks that are payable to you.
• Federal Reserve Bank checks, Federal Home Loan Bank checks, and postal money orders, if these items are payable to you.

Other check deposits

To find out when funds from other check deposits will be available, look at the first four digits of the routing number on the check. Once you have determined the first four digits of the routing number, the following chart will show you when the funds from the check will be available:

If your deposit includes both local and non-local checks, only a total of $100 from the checks will be available on the first business day after the day of your deposit.

Payable through checks

We will treat "payable through checks" as a local check regardless of the routing number on the bottom of the check. For example, a credit union share draft will be treated as a local check even if the draft is payable through a bank that is located outside of our check processing region as determined by the routing number on the check. If you have any questions about a specific check, please ask us.

Deposits at automated teller machines

Funds from any deposits (cash or checks) made at automated teller machines (ATMs) we do not own or operate will not be available until the 5th business day after the day of your deposit.
All ATMs that we own or operate are identified as our machines.

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. For example, if we cash a $100 local check for you, $100 of funds already in your account will not be available until the 2nd business day after the day we cashed the check.
If we accept for deposit a check that is drawn on another bank, we may make funds from the deposit available for withdrawal immediately but delay 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.

Longer delays may apply

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 $5,000 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 9th business day after the day of your deposit.

Special rules for new accounts

If you are a new customer, the following special rules will apply during the first 30 days your account is open. If you open your new account with a check, and you have no other accounts with us, and you are not known by anyone in the Bank, a receipt will be given to you for the check(s) and the account will be opened within 24 hours. This will give us time to verify the information on the "New Account Application". You will lose no interest in your funds as the account will be effective dated to the day we received your check.
Funds from the deposit of cash, wire transfers, and on-us checks will be available immediately. The first $5,000 from a deposit of U.S. Treasury checks will be available on the first business day after the day of your deposit. The excess over $5,000 will be available on the ninth business day after the day of your deposit. The first $5,000 of a day's total deposits of cashiers, certified teller's, travelers, and 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 checks must be payable to you. The excess over $5,000 will be available on the ninth business day after the day of your deposit. Funds from all other check deposits will be available on the ninth business day after the day of your deposit.

Endorsement requirements

The Federal Reserve Board's Regulation CC, which implements the Expedited Funds Availability Act, reserves certain areas on the back of a check for the payee and depository bank endorsements. You will be responsible for any loss which results from a delay in return of a check due to endorsements that are unreadable because the back of your checks bear preprinted information or blacked out areas, contain certain contracts or loan agreements, or if your endorsements in any way obliterates a reserved portion of the back of the check other than that reserved for the payee. We reserve the right to refuse to accept a check whose back is unreasonably obscured.

Changes in our deposited funds availability policy

If a significant change is made to our Deposited Funds Availability policy, we will notify you in writing at least 30 days prior to the change. We also reserve the right to make exceptions to this policy on an as-requested basis and to grant such exceptions as seem to us reasonable and appropriate in the circumstances. It is also the policy of Ocean City Home Bank to operate, at all times, in complete compliance with the Federal Reserve Regulation CC (Availability of Funds and Collection of Checks).
If you need further explanation about specific deposits or have any questions about your account, please contact your local banking office. A representative will be happy to assist you.
Thank you for banking with Ocean City Home Bank.