Important Information for our Customers

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.

Funds from electronic direct deposits to your account will be available on the day we receive the deposit. Funds from deposits of cash, wire transfers, and the first $5,000 of a day's total deposits of cashier's, certified, teller's, traveler's, and federal, 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 (and you may have to use a special deposit slip). The excess over $5,000 will be available on the ninth business day after the day of your deposit. If your deposit of these checks (other than a U.S. Treasury check) is not made in person to one of our employees, the first $5,000 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 eleventh business day after the day of your deposit.

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Substitute Checks and Your Rights

First State Bank
33 SH 75 North
PO Box 478
Huntsville, TX 77320
(936)295-2224

As an account holder, you may see substitute checks from time to time, such as when you receive your account statement with copies of your checks, when you view your account information online, or when you request a copy of your original check for proof of payment. The following substitute check disclosure provides information about substitute checks and your rights.

What is a substitute check?

To make check processing faster, federal law permits banks to replace original checks with "substitute checks." These checks are similar in size to original checks with a slightly reduced image of the front and back of the original check. The front of a substitute check states: "This is a legal copy of your check. You can use it the same way you would use the original check." You may use a substitute check as proof of payment just like the original check.
Some or all of the checks that you receive back from us may be substitute checks. This notice describes rights you have when you receive substitute checks from us. The rights in this notice do not apply to original checks or to electronic debits to your account. However, you have rights under other law with respect to those transactions.

What are my rights regarding substitute checks?

In certain cases, federal law provides a special procedure that allows you to request a refund for losses you suffer if a substitute check is posted to your account (for example, if you think that we withdrew the wrong amount from your account or that we withdrew money from your account more than once for the same check). The losses you may attempt to recover under this procedure may include the amount that was withdrawn from your account and fees that were charged as a result of the withdrawal (for example, bounced check fees).

The amount of your refund under this procedure is limited to the amount of your loss or the amount of the substitute check, whichever is less. You also are entitled to interest on the amount of your refund if your account is an interest-bearing account. If your loss exceeds the amount of the substitute check, you may be able to recover additional amounts under other law.
If you use this procedure, you may receive up to $2,500.00 of your refund (plus interest if your account earns interest) within 10 business day(s) after we received your claim and the remainder of your refund (plus interest if your account earns interest) not later than 45 calendar day(s) after we received your claim.

We may reverse the refund (including any interest on the refund) if we later are able to demonstrate that the substitute check was correctly posted to your account.

How do I make a claim for a refund?

If you believe that you have suffered a loss relating to a substitute check that you received and that was posted to your account, please contact us at:

First State Bank
33 SH 75 North
PO Box 478
Huntsville, TX 77320
Phone: (936)295-2224

You must contact us within 40 calendar days of the date that we mailed (or otherwise delivered by a means to which you agreed) the substitute check in question or the account statement showing that the substitute check was posted to your account, whichever is later. We will extend this time period if you were not able to make a timely claim because of extraordinary circumstances.

Your claim must include--

A description of why you have suffered a loss (for example, you think the amount withdrawn was incorrect);
An estimate of the amount of your loss;
An explanation of why the substitute check you received is insufficient to confirm that you suffered a loss; and
A copy of the substitute check and/or the following information to help us identify the substitute check: the check number, the amount of the check and the name of the person to whom you wrote the check.

Substitute check image:

An image of the original check appears in the upper right-hand corner of the substitute check.
A substitute check is the same size as a standard business check.
The information in asterisks relates to the "reconverting bank" - the financial institution that created the substitute check.
The information in brackets (appears sideways facing check image) relates to the "truncating bank" - the financial institution that took the original check out of the check processing system.
The Legal Legend states: This is a legal copy of your check. You may use it the same way you would use the original check.
The MICR lines at the bottom of the image of the original and at the bottom of the substitute check are the same except for the "4" at the beginning of the substitute check number, which indicates that it is a substitute check being moved forward for collection purposes. It is also possible for a substitute check number to begin with a "5" if the item is being returned. The rest of the MICR line is the same as the original check to ensure that it is processed as though it were the original.

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Your Ability to Withdraw Funds

This policy statement applies to "transaction" accounts. Transaction accounts, in general, are accounts which permit an unlimited number of payments to third persons and an unlimited number of telephone and preauthorized transfers to other accounts of yours with us. Checking accounts are the most common transaction accounts. Feel free to ask us whether any of your other accounts might also be under this policy.

Our policy is to make funds from your cash and check deposits available to you on the first business day after the day we receive your deposit. Electronic direct deposits will be available on the day we receive the deposit. Once the funds are available, you can withdraw them in cash and we will 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.

Determining the Availability of a Deposit

For determining the availability of your deposits, every day is a business day, except Saturdays, Sundays, and federal holidays. If you make a deposit before 2:00 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 2:00 p.m. or on a day we are not open, we will consider that the deposit was made on the next business day we are open. If you make a deposit at an ATM before 2:00 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 at an ATM after 2:00 p.m. or on a day we are not open, we will consider that the deposit was made on the next business day we are open.

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 one of your accounts. Those funds will be available at the time funds from the check we cashed would have been available if you had deposited it.

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

Case-By-Case Delays - 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 fifth business day after the day of your deposit. The first $100 of your deposits, however, may be available on the first business day.

If we are not going to make all of the funds from your deposit available on the first business day, after we receive your deposit, 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 employees, or if we decide to take this action after you have left the premises, we will mail you the notice by the first 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.

Safeguard Exception Delays - 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 $5,000 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 computer or communications 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 eleventh business day after the day of your deposit.

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