Payments Are Moving Faster

September 8, 2017

New regulations for the financial industry will affect the speed of electronic payments and access to financial information.

As our financial lives move faster than ever before, the expectation is increasing for faster payments and financial information. The financial industry has been working to modernize the systems which allow deposits and payments to move at the pace our customers expect. You may have already noticed a change in the times during the day that we apply electronic Direct Deposits to your account to provide you with faster access to your funds.

Beginning Friday, September 15^th, German American, along with every other financial institution in the country, will be required to follow new electronic payment regulations which will change the times that we apply certain electronic debit payments to your account. Under this new rule, ACH debits may post at any point during the day. For example, this means the payment you make to the utility company on Tuesday may come out of your account on Tuesday (not Wednesday) essentially eliminating any "float."

What this means to you.

1. Always ensure you have sufficient funds in your account to cover every payment you make, authorize, or initiate, and frequently review your account and transactions.
2. When you authorize a merchant or biller to debit your account (make a payment to that merchant or biller), the merchant or biller should include information or a statement about the timing of the payment. Merchants or billers may offer you the option to make a same-day payment or note that the funds for your payment will be collected as quickly as possible. This means that the payment you make on any given day may come out of your account on that same day, when historically, this same type of payment was pulled from your account on the next business day following your authorization.
3. If you have pre-authorized an electronic payment, such as a recurring mortgage or insurance payment, then very likely there will be no change to the time these payments are pulled from your account. As always, we will post these payments normally as designated by the transaction date you requested.

Your German American team is here to help. If you have any concerns or questions, please visit your nearest banking office or call our Customer Care team at 800-482-1314.

It is our pleasure to serve you.

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