Sovereign Account Protector FAQs

Enrolling in Sovereign Account Protector is an important decision. Sovereign strives to provide you with all the relative information to make an informed decision.

What is an overdraft?

An overdraft on your checking or money market savings account occurs when you do not have enough money in your account to cover a transaction, but the transaction is still processed by Sovereign. Under Sovereign Bank's standard account overdraft practices, a fee of up to $35 will be charged for each item that is presented against insufficient funds in your account. If your account is overdrawn for 6 or more consecutive business days, an additional $5 per day will be charged. There is a limit 6 overdraft fees per day for overdrawing your account.

What will happen?

If you enroll in Sovereign Account Protector, we may pay ATM withdrawals and transfers and one-time debit card transactions that overdraw your checking or money market savings account and charge you overdraft fees, as described above. If you do not enroll in Sovereign Account Protector, ATM withdrawals and transfers and one-time debit card transactions that would overdraw your checking or money market savings account will be declined and you will not be charged any overdraft fees on these types of transactions.

Will there be a fee associated with enrolling in Sovereign Account Protector?

While there is no enrollment fee for enrolling in Sovereign Account Protector, enrolling in Sovereign Account Protector means you are authorizing Sovereign to continue to process ATM withdrawals and transfers and one-time debit card transactions, and to charge an applicable fee (of up to $35 for each item that overdraws your account and a $5 sustained overdraft fee) for doing so.

Does the new federal regulation cover all overdrafts?

Sovereign may continue to pay overdrafts and assess fees for checks and other transactions, such as automatic bill payments, Online Banking payments and transfers, and recurring debit card transactions. Unless you establish an Overdraft Protection plan, however, overdrafts are always paid at our discretion, and we do not guarantee we will always authorize and pay any type of transaction. Only ATM and one-time debit card transactions are covered by Sovereign Account Protector.

When can I enroll in Sovereign Account Protector?

You can enroll in Sovereign Account Protector at any time.

If I enroll in Sovereign Account Protector, can I change my election?

At any time, you can change your Sovereign Account Protector election.

How are Sovereign Account Protector and Overdraft Protection plan different?

Sovereign Account Protector allows the bank to pay overdrafts and charge fees on your account. Our Overdraft Protection plan, in turn, allows you to establish a Sovereign Easy Access Line of Credit, if you qualify, or a savings account and link that account to your checking account so that funds are automatically transferred to your checking account to pay any item that is presented against insufficient funds, up to your available credit limit or the balance in your savings account. There is a transfer fee of $12 for each overdraft transfer and the Easy Access Line of Credit has an annual fee and finance charges. Your savings account may also incur monthly fees if you do not maintain the required minimum balance.

Even if you set up an Overdraft Protection plan, however, you can still enroll in Sovereign Account Protector and we may pay overdrafts even if you don't have any available credit or funds in your savings account. You can enroll in Sovereign Account Protector and establish an Overdraft Protection plan or use only one option or choose to use neither of these options.

Some customers may find that using an Overdraft Protection plan is less expensive than enrolling in Sovereign Account Protector or may decide to use these options together. Other customers may decide that they would prefer to have their ATM and one-time debit card purchases declined if they do not have enough funds in their account. It's up to you to decide how you want us to handle these types of transactions.