In your letter give us the following information:
Your name and account number.
The dollar amount of the suspected error.
Describe the error and explain, if you can, why you believe there is an error. If you need more information, describe the item(s) you are not sure about.
If you have authorized us to pay your credit card bill automatically from your savings or share draft account, you can stop the payment on any amount you think is wrong. To stop the payment your letter must reach us three (3) business days before the automatic payment is scheduled to occur.
YOUR RIGHTS AND OUR RESPONSIBILITIES AFTER WE RECEIVE YOUR WRITTEN NOTICE
We must acknowledge your letter within thirty (30) days, unless we have corrected the error by then. Within ninety (90) days, we must either correct the error or explain why we believe the bill was correct.
After we receive your letter, we cannot try to collect any amount you question, or report you as delinquent. We can continue to bill you for the amount you question, including finance charges, and we can apply an unpaid amount against your credit limit. You do not have to pay any questioned amount while we are investigating, but you are still obligated to pay the parts of your bill that are not in question.
If we find that we made a mistake on your bill, you will not have to pay any finance charges related to any questioned amount. If we didn't make a mistake, you may have to pay finance charges, and you will have to make up any missed payments on the questioned amount. In either case, we will send you a statement of the amount you owe and the date that it is due.
If you fail to pay the amount that we think you owe, we may report you as delinquent. However, if our explanation does not satisfy you and you write to us within ten (10) days telling us that you still refuse to pay, we must tell anyone we report you to that you have a question about your bill. And, we must tell you the name of anyone we reported you to. We must tell anyone we report you to that the matter has been settled between us when it finally is.
If we don't follow these rules, we can't collect the first $50 of the questioned amount, even if your bill was correct.
SPECIAL RULE FOR CREDIT CARD PURCHASES
If you have a problem with the quality of property or services that you purchased with a credit card, and you have tried in good faith to correct the problem with the merchant, you may have the right not to pay the remaining amount due on the property or services. There are two (2) limitations on this right:
(a) You must have made the purchase in your home state or, if not within your home state, within one hundred (100) miles of your current mailing address; and
(b) The purchase price must have been more than $50. These limitations do not apply if we own or operate the merchant, or if we mailed you the advertisement for the property or services.
VISA CREDIT CARD AGREEMENT
In this agreement the words 'you' and 'your' means the cardholder who opened the Account. 'Card' means the MECU VISA® Platinum Credit Card or the MECU VISA® Signature Credit Card and any duplicates, renewals or substitutions we issue. 'Account' means your VISA® Credit Card line of credit account with us. 'Credit Union' means the Credit Union whose name appears on this agreement or anyone whom the Credit Union transfers this agreement. 'We' , 'us' and 'ours' means MECU of Baltimore, Incorporated. This agreement is effective as of January 1, 2015.
USING YOUR ACCOUNT. If you are approved for an Account, the Credit Union will establish a line of credit for you and notify you of your credit limit. You agree that your credit limit is the maximum amount (purchases, cash advances, finance charges, plus 'other charges') that you will have outstanding on your Account at any time. If you are over your credit limit, you must pay the amount you are over before payments will begin to restore your credit limit. We may, from time to time, either upon your request or at our option, increase or decrease your credit limit, and we will notify you if we do. You may request an increase in your credit limit only by a method acceptable to the Credit Union. The Credit Union has the right to reduce your credit limit, refuse to make an advance and/or terminate your Account at any time for any reason not prohibited by law.
USING YOUR CARD. You may use your Card to make purchases from merchants and others who accept VISA® Cards. In addition, you may obtain cash advances from the Credit Union and from other financial institutions that accept VISA® Cards, and from some automated teller machines (ATMs). (Not all ATMs accept VISA® Cards.) To obtain cash advances from an ATM, you must use the Personal Identification Number (PIN) that is issued to you for use with your Card. You agree that you will not use your Card for any transaction that is illegal under applicable federal, state, or local law.
RESPONSIBILITY. You agree to pay all charges (purchases and cash advances) to your Account that are made by you or anyone whom you authorize to use your Account. You also agree to pay all finance charges and other charges added to your Account under the terms of this Agreement or another agreement you made with the Credit Union. If this is a Joint Account, Section 22 also applies to your Account.
RATE. We will use the following variable rate formula for Variable Standard Rates, Variable Defaults Rates and Variable Promotional Rates. All variable rates are calculated by adding together an index and a margin. This index is determined on the last business day of each month and is the US Prime Rate as published in The Wall Street Journal on the last publication of each month. The margin used to determine your APR is listed in the Disclosure that accompanied your New Card Documentation.
An increase or decrease in the index will cause a corresponding increase or decrease in your variable rate on the first day of your billing cycle that begins in the same month as the determination date. An increase in the index means that you will pay higher periodic rate finance charges and have a higher total minimum payment due. If The Wall Street Journal does not publish the US Prime Rate or if it changes the definiton of the US Prime Rate, we may at our sole discretion, substitute another index.
5. FINANCE CHARGES. APPLICATION OF PAYMENTS: Your payments will be applied by us in the following manner. (1) If your payment is large enough, we will apply it to pay your Total New Balance in full. If your payment is greater than your Total New Balance we will apply the excess first to pay new cash advances and next to pay new purchases occurring after the Closing Date shown on your billing statement. If you make no new cash advances or purchases, the excess will be shown as a credit balance on your next billing statement for which you may, by written request, get a refund; or (2) If your payment is less than the Total New Balance, we will apply the payment first to any unpaid FINANCE CHARGE, with the balance, if any, first to the entire cash advance balance and next to the entire purchase balance.
FINANCE CHARGE ON PURCHASES: The periodic rate applicable to purchases are disclosed on the disclosures that accompanied your New Card Documentation. A FINANCE CHARGE will be imposed on credit Purchases only if you elect not to pay the entire New Balance shown on your monthly statement for the previous billing cycle within twenty five (25) days from the closing date of that statement. If you elect not to pay the entire New Balance shown on your previous monthly statement within that twenty five (25) day period a FINANCE CHARGE will be imposed on the unpaid average daily balance of such credit purchases from the previous statement closing date and on new credit purchases from the date of posting to your account during the current billing cycle and will continue to accrue until the closing date of the billing cycle preceding the date on which the entire New Balance is paid in full or until the date of payment if more than twenty five (25) days from the closing date.
The FINANCE CHARGE for a billing cycle is computed by applying the monthly Periodic Rate to the average daily balance of credit purchases, which is determined by dividing the sum of the daily balances during the billing cycle by the number of days in the cycle. Each daily balance of credit purchases is determined by adding to the outstanding unpaid balance of credit Purchases at the beginning of the billing cycle any new credit Purchases posted to your account and subtracting any payments received or credits posted to your account but excluding any unpaid FINANCE CHARGE.
FINANCE CHARGE ON CASH ADVANCES: The periodic rate applicable to cash advances are disclosed on the disclosures that accompanied your New Card Documentation. A FINANCE CHARGE will be imposed on Cash Advances from the date made or from the first day of the billing cycle in which the Cash Advance is posted to your account, whichever is later, and will continue to accrue on the unpaid average daily balance of such Cash Advances until the date of the billing payment if paid during the same billing cycle, or until the closing date of the billing cycle preceding the date on which the entire New Balance is paid in full or until the date of payment if more than twenty five (25) days from the closing date. If the New Balance shown on your monthly statement for the prior billing cycle is paid in full within twenty five (25) days from the closing date of that statement, no FINANCE CHARGES will be imposed during the current billing cycle for Cash Advances posted to your account during previous billing cycles. The FINANCE CHARGE for a billing cycle is computed by applying the monthly Periodic Rate to the average daily balance of Cash Advances, which is determined by dividing the sum of the daily balances by the number of days in the billing cycle. Each daily balance of Cash Advances is determined by adding to the outstanding unpaid balance of Cash Advances at the beginning of the billing cycle any new Cash Advances posted to your account, and subtracting any payments received or credits posted to you, but excluding any unpaid FINANCE CHARGES.
OTHER CHARGES. The following other charges (fees) will be added to your Account, as applicable:
a. Late Payment Fee: Payments which are received fifteen (15) days past due will be subject to a Late Payment Fee up to $24.00, dependent upon outstanding balance.
b. Return Check Fee: If a check or share draft used to make a payment on your account is returned unpaid, you will be charged a fee of up to $15.00 for each item returned dependent upon your outstanding balance.
c. Effect of Default: If you are in default under this Cardholder Agreement, at our option we can require immediate payments of all amounts you owe under your account. If we refer your account to any attorney for collection, you will have to pay an attorney or collection fee of 15% of the amount owing, plus all court costs.
d. Foreign Transaction Fee: Refer to Section 19.
e. If applicable, there will be a $5 charge assessed to your credit card statement for each expedited telephone payment initiated by the cardholder through 24/7 Cardholder Services.
f. Lost Card Replacement Fee: If your card is lost and you order a replacement, you will be charged a lost card fee of $10 per card.
g. Express Delivery Fee: If you request Express Delivery of a replacement card, you will be charged an Express Delivery fee of $10 per delivery.
PAYMENTS. Each month you must pay at least the minimum payment shown on your statement by the date specified on the statement or no later than twenty-five (25) days from the statement closing date, whichever is later. If your statement says the payment is 'Now Due,' your payment is due no later than twenty-five (25) days from the statement closing date. You may pay more frequently, pay more than the minimum payment or pay the Total New Balance in full. If you make extra or larger payments, you are still required to make at least the minimum payment each month your Account has a balance (other than a credit balance). The minimum payment for the MECU Platinum and Signature card is 2% of your Total New Balance for purchases and cash advances, or $10.00, whichever is greater, plus the amount of any prior minimum payments that you have not made, and any amount you are over your credit limit. The Credit Union also has the right to demand immediate payment of any amount by which you are over your credit limit. The current minimum payment will be rounded off to the next whole dollar. The credit union may, at our discretion, delay in restoring your available credit limit up to the amount of the payment(s) in order to assure that the check or other payment instrument is honored.
