By requesting or accepting any Platinum Mastercard ® or Cash Back World Mastercard ® account (individually or collectively called 'Credit Card account' or 'Account') with Bank of the West, you agree to be bound by all the terms of this Agreement and as applicable, the Bank of the West Cash Back Rewards Program Rules. In this Agreement, the words 'you' or 'your' mean everyone who has requested or accepted a Credit Card account with us. The words 'we,' 'us,' 'our,' or 'Bank' mean Bank of the West. If you do not accept this Agreement or Program Rules, you must notify us in writing within 5 days after receipt. Use of your card or any feature (including a balance transfer) of your Credit Card Agreement shall constitute acceptance of this Agreement and Program Rules.
Use. Your Platinum Mastercard or Cash Back World Mastercard (individually or collectively called 'Card') may be used as a credit card for purchases of goods or services from participating merchants ('Purchases') or to get Cash Advances from us or any other financial institution displaying the 'MasterCard' logo, or to purchase certain items such as traveler's cheques, foreign currency, money orders, wire transfers, lottery tickets, and (except as noted below) funds to be used for wagers or gambling (all of which are collectively referred to as 'Cash Advances') up to your Credit Limit; provided, however, you may not use your Card (i) to make Purchases or obtain Cash Advances for any illegal transaction, or (ii) for any internet or online gambling transactions. Transactions for online or internet gambling will not be approved. If you use your Card for any illegal or prohibited transaction, this Agreement also applies to such transaction and you agree to pay any and all amounts related to such transaction pursuant to the terms of this Agreement. We may, in our sole discretion, restrict the use of or terminate your Card if we notice excessive use of your Card or other suspicious activities or if we reasonably believe the Card is or has been used for one or more illegal or prohibited transactions. You can also obtain a Cash Advance by writing a special Mastercard check ('Convenience Check'). The Cash Advance will be posted to your Credit Card account when the Convenience Check reaches us. If you stop payment on a Convenience Check, your Credit Card account will be charged $16.00 (or as permitted by law) for each stop payment. We may designate that only a portion of your Credit Limit is available for Cash Advances. In addition, you may request that we pay other creditors on your behalf and transfer approved amounts to your Account ('Balance Transfers').
Your Card may also be used in certain automated terminals to gain access to your Credit Card accounts. We have no responsibility for the failure of any machine, merchant, financial institution, or any other party to honor your Card. Your Card and Credit Card account may be used only for valid and lawful purposes. If you use or allow someone else to use the Card or Credit Card account for any other purpose, you will be responsible for such use and may be required to reimburse us for all amounts or expenses we pay as a result of such use.
2. Credit Limit. We will notify you of the Credit Limit for each Credit Card account you have with us. You agree that your total charges, including Purchases, Cash Advances, Balance Transfers, INTEREST CHARGES, and fees that may be due will not exceed your Credit Limit. If you do go over your Credit Limit, you must repay the excess amount immediately, and we may reduce the available Credit Limit of any other Credit Card account you have with us until such time the excess amount is repaid. You may apply to increase your Credit Limit at any time but we are not obligated to increase your Credit Limit at any time. Furthermore, we reserve the right to lower your Credit Limit at any time. For security reasons, we may limit the number or amount of transactions that may be accomplished with your Card or Credit Card account, and we have the right to limit authorizations to make transactions if we consider it
CREDIT CARD AGREEMENT
(Personal Accounts)
necessary to verify Payments received on your Credit Card account. If we accept a payment from you in excess of your outstanding balance, your available Credit Limit will not be increased by the amount of the overpayment nor will we be required to authorize transactions for an amount in excess of your Credit Limit.
Temporary Reduction of Credit Limit. Merchants, such as car rental companies and hotels, may request prior credit approval from us for an estimated amount of your Purchases, even if you ultimately do not pay by credit. If our approval is granted, your available Credit Limit will temporarily be reduced by the amount authorized by us. If you do not ultimately use your Credit Card account to pay for your Purchases or if the actual amount of Purchases posted to your Credit Card account varies from the estimated amount approved by us, it is the responsibility of the merchant, not us, to cancel the prior credit approval based on the estimated amount. The failure of the merchant to cancel a prior credit approval may result in a temporary reduction of your available Credit Limit, but will not increase the amount you owe us under this Agreement.
Agreement to Pay. When you use your Card or Credit Card account, or when you permit anyone to use it, you agree to pay the amount of any and all transactions (including any which may have been made in violation of this Agreement), and the INTEREST CHARGES, and fees that may become due as shown on the periodic statement. You agree that we may change or cancel your Credit Card account at any time without affecting your obligation to pay the amounts that you owe under this Agreement.
Periodic Statement. Each month we will send you a periodic statement for each Credit Card account you have with us covering the previous billing period. We may not send you a statement if your balance is less than $1 and there were no transactions during the billing period. The statement will have a 'Statement Period Date', 'Statement Closing Date' and a 'Payment Due Date,' and will show, among other things, your 'Previous Balance,' your 'New Balance,' and your minimum monthly payment, which will be shown as 'Minimum Payment Due.'
Payment. You must make a payment by the 'Payment Due Date.' You have two choices: You may pay the entire 'New Balance' or you may pay in installments by paying at least the 'Minimum Payment Due.' When your payment is properly received, we will allocate your payment in a manner we determine except as otherwise required by law. The Minimum Payment is applied first to fees, then to INTEREST CHARGES and finally to principal. We apply the Minimum Payment to balances with lower APRs, including introductory APRs, before balances with higher APRs. Payments made in excess of the Minimum Payment will be applied first to balances with the highest ANNUAL PERCENTAGE RATE (APR) and then to each successive balance bearing the next highest ANNUAL PERCENTAGE RATE.
Payments must be mailed to the BankCard Center address specified in your periodic statement and reach the BankCard Center during our regular business day by 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time for the payment to be credited the same business day. Payments made in person at one of our branches, or made by telephone, or made through our website or another website controlled by a third party on our behalf must be received by 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time to be credited the same business day. Payments received after the cutoff time of 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time are credited as of the following business day. If you fail to properly make payments, crediting of such payments may be delayed and you may incur late charges and additional interest as a result of the delay. Even when your payment is credited to your Account, we may delay the availability of part or all of your payment amount as credit for up to 15 days.
If a payment is returned to us for any reason, we may apply a Returned Payment Fee of $27 for the first violation and $38 for each subsequent violation within the next six billing cycles. The Returned Payment Fee for Iowa residents is $27 for the first violation and $30 for each subsequent violation within the next six billing cycles. If the Returned Payment Fee is greater than the Minimum Payment Due, the fee will be equal to the Minimum Payment Due.
