Frequently Asked Questions
What's a credit union?
A credit union is a cooperative, not-for-profit financial institution organized to promote thrift and provide credit to members.
It is member-owned and controlled through a board of members elected by the members.
The board serves on a volunteer basis and may hire a management team to run the credit union. The board also creates and revises policy, sets dividend and loan rates, and directs certain operations.
The result: members are provided with a safe, convenient place to save and borrow at reasonable rates at an institution which exists to benefit them, not to make a profit.
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Who owns a credit union?
Most financial institutions are owned by stockholders, who own a part of the institution
and intend on making money from their investment.
A credit union does not operate in this manner. Each credit union member owns one
share of the organization. The user of credit union services is also an owner, and
is even entitled to vote on important issues, such as the election of member representatives
to serve as board members.
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Are savings deposits insured?
Yes. All deposits are insured up to $250,000 by the NCUA (National Credit Union
Association) which is an agency of the federal government.
Additionally, each share account is insured by American Share Insurance for up to
$250,000 per account.
For more information on Excess Share Insurance,
click here.
This certifies that all share accounts are insured for up to $500,000.
Insurance for share accounts include Checking, Savings, IRAs, Certificates, Money
Market, and Christmas Club.
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Who can join Heritage South Credit Union?
Anyone who lives, works, worships, or attends school in Talladega, Shelby, Coosa,
Tallapoosa, or Chilton Counties is eligible
for membership at the credit union.
Click here to fill out a membership application.
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What is Excess Share Insurance?
Excess Share Insurance is offered by American Share Insurance (ASI), the nation's largest private provider of deposit insurance. For more than 32 years
the corporation has operated as an alternative source for insuring member deposits
in state chartered credit unions. Since 1983, the company has also provided excess
deposit coverage for both state and federally chartered credit unions.
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Can I make suggestions for changes to the website?
Yes, but don't limit yourself to the website. We welcome suggestions on how to improve
anything we do. We would like to hear any suggestion you may have to make improvements
to the credit union and serve the members more efficiently.
We will post the good suggestions on our website and let you know when you can expect
the change, or why we feel that the change would not work. So be sure to include
your name in the email so we know who to contact if we need to ask questions.
Click here to send us a suggestion.
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What is Verified by VISA?
Verified by VISA is a service offered by VISA to secure transactions online via debit card.
Verified by VISA allows the cardholder to add a secure password to their account to ensure privacy and to add another level of security when making purchases online.
This service works with your current card and is typically free of charge to credit union members.
You can be sure that your transaction is secure whereever you see the Verified by VISA logo below:
If you have any other questions,click here to see the frequently asked questions on VISA's website.
Click here to sign up for Verified by VISA and start securing your online transactions today!
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What is Regulation D?
REGULATION "D" IS A DIRECTIVE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, NOT OF YOUR CREDIT UNION.
Regulation D (Reg D), a regulation imposed by the Federal Reserve Board on ALL financial institutions (banks AND credit unions), sets limits on the number of monthly transfers and withdrawals that can occur for a Savings or Money Market Savings account. Members with Savings or Money Market Savings are limited by this federal regulation to making six (6) automatic withdrawals or transfers per account, per calendar month from any of these accounts (not including loan payments to Heritage South).
Once the limit has been reached, the system will no longer allow such a transaction and any automatic transfer may be returned as unpaid.
1. What is Regulation D?
Federal Regulation D places a monthly limit on the number of transfers you may make from your Savings Accounts or Money Market Accounts (MMAs) without your physical presence being required. Transfers affected by this regulation therefore include:
- Transfers
made using Internet Banking
- Transfers
made using Telephone Banking
- Overdraft
transfers (made automatically to cover insufficient funds in other accounts; see
below)
- Transfers
made by a Member Service Representative on your behalf
- Pre-authorized,
automatic, scheduled or recurring transfers (see below)
You are allowed six such transfers per month, per account, but only three of those may be made by check (Money Market accounts only). A check will count in the month in which it clears, not when it was written.
2. What transactions are not affected by Regulation D?
- ATM transactions.
- Transfers made to HSCU loans.
- Transactions done in person at a branch (including Shared branches).
- Transactions sent in by mail, or Night Drop with an original signature
3. What are my options once an account has reached its Regulation D limit?
You may complete withdrawals and transfers in person, by mail, or at an ATM.
4. If an account used for Overdraft Protection has reached its Regulation D limit, will overdraft requests be honored?
No, if the Overdraft Protection account is a Savings Account or MMA. In that case, you will receive a notice by mail and incur an Insufficient Funds change for every overdraft attempted beyond your monthly limit. However, if the Overdraft Protection account is a Line-Of-Credit loan (which is not affected by Regulation D) the overdraft will complete normally. To apply for a Line-of Credit loan, contact us.
5. I have authorized a merchant to automatically withdraw payments from my Savings Account or MMA; do these count against my monthly limit?
Yes. These payments (which you might know as "ACH" or "EFT" transactions) follow Regulation D limitations. Any withdrawals attempted beyond your monthly limit will not be honored, and you will receive a notice by mail and incur an Insufficient Funds charge. To avoid this situation, make automatic payments using something other than a Savings Account or MMA, such as a checking account. Contact the merchant to arrange this change, and be aware that your request could take more than a month to go into effect.
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What are reloadable debit cards?
1.1 What Is The CUMONEY Card?
The CUMONEY Card is a prepaid debit card that allows members to make purchases at merchants, get cash at the ATM and reload funds to the card through an easy-to-use website. The CUMONEY Card is branded with VISA, Plus and Interlink, making it possible to use this card at thousands of locations worldwide.
1.2 What Makes The CUMONEY Card So Special?
The CUMONEY Card offers members all the advantages of using a debit card and can be used as a financial management tool for members that may not qualify for other card programs or even students.
1.3 How Does It Work?
Normal Debit Cards are funded from the members’ share or share draft account at the credit union. The CUMONEY Card is not linked to the members savings or share draft account.
1.4 Funding A Prepaid Card
Funds can be loaded from home if you have a bank account to draft the funds from or you can visit any of our locations to reload using the card number.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Funds loaded at the credit union are not available immediately but usually take only a few hours to be put on the card. Members will be able to reload funds to the card by visiting www.cumoney.com. A three-day-hold will be placed on funds loaded by the members at the www.cumoney.com website. Some fees may apply and rules and restrictions are available at the credit union for review.
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What does it mean when my debit card has been compromised?
When a debit card is compromised, it does NOT mean that your credit union's information has been hacked.
Debit card information is usually compromised by the mishandling of your payment information at a merchant or payment processor.
For instance, when you make a purchase at Wal-Mart, CVS, McDonald's, gas stations, etc. and swipe your debit card the payment information is sent
by the retailer to a payment processor (i.e. Heartland Payment Systems).
As a result of a security breach or mishandled information, someone can gain access to payment information that is
stored in their database (NOT the credit union) for anyone that has shopped at those retailers.
We are alerted of these situations through fraud-alert monitors associated with VISA so that we can proactively capture (or block) activity on the cards of our members that have shopped at those retailers
to protect their account and prevent fraudulent activity from occurring. These incidents involve multiple banks and credit unions and it is left up to the institution on how they handle the compromised cards.
In the past, Heritage South Credit Union has proudly taken an aggressive stance to protect our members from possible fraudulent activity by blocking activity and automatically reordering new cards. As a result of this we experience very few instances of fraudulent activity due to compromised debit cards.
If you have any further questions, feel free to call the office during normal business hours at 256-245-4776.
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Can I use my debit card in a foreign country?
As an added precaution to our members, we have blocked all activity on our debit cards from foreign countries unless we are notified.
In the midst of global concern over card theft and fraud, we feel this proactive measure will serve to protect our members from fraud generated in foreign countries.
Debit card access while visiting foreign countries may be turned on for a member's cards if they are traveling to another country however the member should contact us before they leave to turn on access.
Simply stop by one of our branches to have this featured turned back on before you leave for your trip.
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