Credit Card Agreement
Visa® Credit Card Cardmember Agreement
In this Agreement the words "You", "Your" and "Yourself" mean each and all of those who apply for the card or who sign this Agreement. "Card" means the Visa® Credit Card and any duplicates and renewals We issue. Everyone who receives, signs or uses a card issued under this Agreement must be a member of this Credit Union. "Account" means Your Visa® Credit Card Line of Credit account with Us. "We," "Us", "Ours" and "Credit Union" means Johns Hopkins Federal Credit Union. You acknowledge that You are 21 years of age or older or that there is a person of at least that age who is a co-signer on this Account.
1. Responsibility: If We issue a card, You agree to repay all debts, fees and the FINANCE CHARGE arising from the use of the card and the card account. For example, You are responsible for charges made by Yourself, Your spouse and minor children and any charges that directly or indirectly benefit You or a member of Your immediate family. You are also responsible for charges made by anyone else to whom You give the card and this responsibility continues until the card is recovered. You cannot disclaim responsibility by notifying Us, but We will close the account for new transactions if You so request. Your obligation to pay the account balance continues even though an agreement, divorce decree or other court judgments to which We are not a party may direct You or one of the other persons responsible to pay the account. Any person using the card is jointly responsible to pay the account. Any person using the card is jointly responsible with You for charges he or she makes, but if that person signs the card, he or she becomes a party to this Agreement and is also jointly responsible for all charges on the account, including Yours. You agree to use the account for personal, family, household or charitable purposes. You will not use this account for any illegal transactions. Notice to any Account owner is considered notice to all Account owners.
If you are permitted to obtain cash advances on your account, we may, from time to time, issue convenience checks to you that may be drawn on your account. Convenience checks may not be used to make a payment on your account balance. If you use a convenience check, it will be posted to your account as a cash advance. We reserve the right to refuse to pay a convenience check drawn on your account for any reason and such refusal shall not constitute wrongful dishonor. You may not use a convenience check to pay any amount You owe under this Agreement. If You give Your account number to make a purchase or obtain a cash advance without presenting the card (such as for a mail order or telephone purchase), the legal effect will still be the same as if the card itself was used by You.
You may request that we stop the payment of a convenience check drawn on your account. You agree to pay any fee imposed to stop a payment on a convenience check issued on your account. You may make a stop payment request orally, if permitted, or in writing. Your request must be made with sufficient time in advance of the presentment of the check for payment to give us a reasonable opportunity to act on your request. In addition, your request must accurately describe the check including the exact account number, the payee, any check number that may be applicable, and the exact amount of the check. If permitted, you may make a stop payment request orally but such a request will expire after 14 days unless you confirm your request in writing within that time. Written stop payment orders are effective only for six (6) months and may be renewed for additional six month periods by requesting in writing that the stop payment order be renewed. We are not required to notify you when a stop payment order expires. If we re-credit your account after paying a check or draft over a valid and timely stop payment order, you agree to sign a statement describing the dispute with the payee, to assign to us all of your rights against the payee or other holders of the check or draft and to assist us in any legal action. You agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from all costs and expenses, including attorney's fees, damages, or claims, related to our honoring your stop payment request or in failing to stop payment of an item as a result of incorrect information provided to us or the giving of inadequate time to act upon a stop payment request.
2. Authorized Users: You may permit an authorized user to have access to the card or account number. However, if You do, You must pay Us for all charges made by those persons, including charges for which You may not have intended to be responsible. You must notify Us to revoke an authorized user’s account and issue a new card or cards with a different account number. You are responsible for the use of each card issued on Your account according to the terms of this agreement.
3. Using the Card: You understand that the use of your credit card will constitute acknowledgement of receipt and agreement to the terms of the Credit Card Agreement and Credit Card Account Opening Disclosure (Disclosure). You may use your card to make purchases from merchants and others who accept your card. The credit union is not responsible for the refusal of any merchant or 2
financial institution to honor your card. If you wish to pay for goods or services over the Internet, you may be required to provide card number security information before you will be permitted to complete the transaction. In addition, you may obtain cash advances from the Credit Union, from other financial institutions that accept your card, and from some automated teller machines (ATMs). Not all ATMs accept your card. If the credit union authorizes ATM transactions with your card, it will issue you a personal identification number (PIN). To obtain cash advances from an ATM, you must use the PIN 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. Even if you use your card for an illegal transaction, you will be responsible for all amounts and charges incurred in connection with the transaction. If you are permitted to obtain cash advances on your account, you may also use your card to purchase instruments and engage in transactions that we consider the equivalent of cash. Such transactions will be posted to your account as cash advances and include, but are not limited to, wire transfers, money orders, bets, lottery tickets, and casino gaming chips, as applicable. This paragraph shall not be interpreted as permitting or authorizing any transaction that is illegal. If you use your card for illegal transactions, you waive the right to sue us and agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from any suits or other legal action or liability, directly or indirectly resulting from such illegal use.
4. Lost Card Notification: You agree to notify us immediately, orally or in writing, at 2027 East Monument Street, Baltimore, MD 21287 or by telephone (410) 534-4500 or toll-free at 1-800-543-2870. For after business hours, on weekends, and on holidays, call toll-free 1-800-472-3272. When reporting a lost or stolen Card, You must provide all pertinent information, including, but not limited to, Your Card number.
5. Liability for Unauthorized Use: You understand that You will not be liable to the Credit Union for any card transactions resulting from the loss, theft or other unauthorized use of the card unless You have been grossly negligent or engaged in fraud, in which case Your maximum liability shall not exceed $50.00 for any card transactions resulting from the loss, theft or unauthorized use of the card that occurs prior to the time You give notice to the Credit Union.
6. Credit Line: If We approve Your application, We will establish a self-replenishing Line of Credit for You and notify You of its amount when We issue the card. You agree not to let the account balance exceed this approved Credit Line. Each payment You make on the account will restore Your Credit Line by the amount of the payment which is applied to principal. You may request an increase in Your Credit Line by written application, or telephone call to Us at 410-534-4500, which must be approved by Us. By giving You written notice, We may reduce Your Credit Line from time to time, or, with good cause, revoke Your card and terminate this Agreement. Upon revocation of Your card any outstanding balance and FINANCE CHARGE shall immediately become due and payable. Good cause includes Your failure to comply with this Agreement, Our adverse reevaluation of Your creditworthiness or Your use of this card in furtherance of any purpose deemed to be illegal under state or federal law. You may also terminate this Agreement at any time, but termination by either of Us does not affect Your obligation to pay the account balance and FINANCE CHARGE arising from authorized use of the card. The cards remain Our property and You must recover and surrender to Us all cards upon Our request and upon termination of the Agreement.
7. Credit Information: You authorize Us to investigate Your credit standing when opening, renewing or reviewing Your account, and You authorize Us to disclose information regarding Your account to credit bureaus and other creditors who inquire of Us about Your credit standing.
8. Monthly Payment: We will send You a statement every month showing Your Previous Balances of purchases and cash advances, the current transactions on Your account, the remaining credit available under the Credit Line, the New Balances of purchases and cash advances, the Total New Balances, the FINANCE CHARGE due to date, any other billed fees and the Minimum Payment required. Each month, You must pay at least the Minimum Payment within 25 days of Your statement closing date. You may, of course, pay more frequently, pay more than the Minimum Payment, or pay the Total New Balance in full, and You will reduce the FINANCE CHARGE by doing so.
The Minimum Payment on Your account will be either (a) 2.0% of Your Total New Balance, or $30, whichever is greater, or (b) Your Total New Balance, if it is less than $30 plus (c) any portion of the Minimum Payment(s) shown on prior statement(s) which remains unpaid. In addition, at any time Your Total New Balance exceeds Your Credit Line, You must immediately pay the excess upon Our demand.
Subject to applicable law, your payments may be applied to what you owe the Credit Union in any manner the Credit Union chooses. However, in every case, in the event you make a payment in excess of the required minimum periodic payment, the Credit Union will allocate the excess amount first to the balance with the highest annual percentage rate and any remaining portion to the other balances in descending order based on applicable annual percentage rate.
9. Finance Charge: New purchases posted to your account during a billing cycle will not incur a finance charge for that billing cycle if you had a zero or credit balance at the beginning of that billing cycle, or you paid the entire new balance on the previous cycle's billing statement by the payment due date of that statement; otherwise a finance charge will accrue from the date a purchase is posted to your account. To avoid an additional finance charge on the balance of purchases, you must pay the entire new balance on the billing statement by the payment due date of that statement. A finance charge begins to accrue on cash advances and balance transfers from the date you get the cash advance. 3
The average daily balances for purchases, cash advances and balance transfers, are determined separately. Finance charges are imposed on purchases only if you do not pay in full the ending balance for purchases shown on your periodic statement by the payment due date which is at least 25 days after the billing date on the statement. Your account will be subject to a finance charge for purchases at an Annual Percentage Rate and corresponding monthly periodic rate as disclosed in the Disclosure. The finance charge on purchases is computed by applying the monthly periodic rate to the "Average Daily Balance for Purchases" in your account during the billing cycle covered by the periodic statement. To get your "Average Daily Balance of Purchases," we take the beginning balance of your purchases each day, add any new purchases and subtract any payment or credits and unpaid finance charges. This gives us the daily balance. Then, we add all the daily balances of purchases for the billing cycle together and divide the total by the number of days in the billing cycle. This gives us the "Average Daily Balance of Purchases."
Finance charges on cash advances and balance transfers are imposed from the transaction date until the cash advance and/or the balance transfer is paid in full. The finance charge for cash advances/balance transfers is computed by multiplying the "Average Daily Balance of Cash Advances" by the daily periodic rate then multiplying the result by the number of days in the cycle. To get your "Average Daily Balance of Cash Advances," we take the beginning balance of cash advances/balance transfers each day, add any new cash advances/balance transfers, and subtract any payments or credits and any unpaid finance charges. This gives us the daily balance. Then, we add up all the daily balances of cash advances/balance transfers for the billing cycle and divide the total by the number of days in the billing cycle. This gives us the "Average Daily Balance of Cash Advances."
10. Annual Percentage Rate: Your Annual Percentage Rate is provided in Your Visa® Credit Card Approval Letter (the "stated rate"). This rate is subject to change. Your Annual Percentage Rate may also change in the event that You request and are approved for an increase or decrease in Your Credit Line, or request and are approved to change Your credit product.
11. Late Charge: In addition to the continued accrual of the FINANCE CHARGE at the daily rate, if You fail to pay at least the Minimum Payment within 15 days after it is due, We may assess a late charge of $29 per month.
12. Fees: In addition to the periodic rate, the following additional fees may be imposed on your account. If applicable to your account, the fee amounts and explanations are disclosed on the Disclosure. Your account may also be subject to additional fees as set forth on the Disclosure accompanying this Agreement.
a. Cash Advance Fee (Finance Charge). If your account is subject to a Cash Advance Fee (finance charge), the fee will be charged to your account.
b. Foreign Transaction Fee (Finance Charge). If your account is subject to a Foreign Transaction Fee (finance charge), a fee may be charged to your account for transactions made outside of the United States or in a foreign currency.
c. Late Payment Fee. If your account is subject to a Late Payment Fee, the fee will be charged to your account when you do not make the required minimum payment by or within the number of days of the statement payment due date set forth on the Disclosure accompanying this Agreement.
d. Statement Copy Fee. If your account is subject to a Statement Copy Fee, except as limited by applicable law and when the request is made in connection with a billing error made by Us, a fee may be charged to your account for each copy of a sales draft or statement that you request as set forth on the Disclosure accompanying this Agreement.
e. Card Replacement Fee. If your account is subject to a Card Replacement Fee, a fee will be charged for each replacement card that is issued to you for any reason as set forth on the Disclosure accompanying this Agreement.
13. Default: You will be in default if You fail to make the minimum payment within 25 days after Your monthly statement closing date. You will also be in default if (a) You breach any other conditions of the Agreement, (b) bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings are started by You or against You, (c) if We determine Your credit-worthiness (which includes Your ability to repay Us) has become unsatisfactory due to change in employment, increase in Your other obligations, or because of any other reason, (d) in the event of Your death, or (e) Your use of the card in furtherance of any purpose deemed to be illegal under state or federal law.
In the event this Agreement is terminated by You or by Us for any reason, the entire balance on the Account becomes due and payable forthwith. You also agree that, in case of default, You will pay all usual and customary costs of collection permitted by law, including court costs and reasonable attorney fees. You agree that the jurisdiction in any dispute or for any collection purposes will be in the State of Maryland.
14. Returns and Adjustments: Merchants and others who honor the card may give credit for returns or adjustments, and they will do so by sending Us a credit slip which will be posted to Your account. If Your credits and payments exceed what You owe Us, We will hold and apply this credit balance against future purchases and cash advances, or refund it on Your written request if it is $1 or more.
15. Foreign Transactions: Purchases and cash advances made in foreign countries and foreign currencies will be billed to You in U.S. dollars. The conversion rate to dollars and the fees for all international transactions will be in accordance with the operating regulations of Visa® USA, Inc. The exchange rate between the transaction currency and the billing currency used for processing international transactions is a rate selected by Visa® from the range of rates available in wholesale currency markets for the applicable central processing date, which rate may vary from the rate Visa® itself receives, or the government-mandated rate in effect for the applicable 4
processing date. In addition, a fee of 1% of the transaction amount will be charged on all international transactions regardless of whether or not currency conversion is involved.
16. Plan Merchant Disputes: We are not responsible for the refusal of any plan merchant or financial institution to honor Your card. We are subject to claims and defenses (other than tort claims) arising out of goods or services You purchase with the card only if You have made a good faith attempt, but have been unable to obtain satisfaction from the plan merchant, and: (a) Your purchase was made in response to an advertisement We sent or participated in sending You; or (b) Your purchase cost more than $50 and was made from a plan merchant in Your state or within 100 miles of Your home. Any other disputes You must resolve directly with the plan merchant.
17. Security Interest: To secure your account, you grant us a purchase money security interest under the Uniform Commercial Code in any goods you purchase through the account. If you default, we will have the right to recover any of these goods which have not been paid for through our application of your payments in the manner described under the paragraph "Monthly Payment" as provided in this agreement.
18. Effect of Agreement: This Agreement is the contract which applies to all transactions of Your account even though the sales, cash advance, credit or other slips You sign may contain different terms. We may amend this Agreement from time to time by sending You the advance written notice required by law. Your use of the card thereafter will indicate Your agreement to the amendments. To the extent the law permits, and We indicate in Our notice, amendments will apply to Your existing account balance as well as to future transactions.
19. Debt Protection: Loan Protection is not required to obtain credit. If loan protection is offered on Your account and You request loan protection, the fee will be calculated monthly by multiplying the fee rate by the outstanding balance of each account. The fee rates per $1,000.00 of the monthly outstanding balance are disclosed to You in the Visa® Credit Card application. Fees will be posted at or after the end of each month. The fees for Your loan protection will be added to Your outstanding balance each month, upon which they will accrue interest. Although such protection is freely cancelable, it will be retained in effect until You have notified the Credit Union in writing of Your intention to cancel. If You are late in paying or fail to pay Your periodic payment, the Credit Union may advance funds on Your behalf to pay such fees and the Credit Union may impose additional finance charges on the amount financed.
20. Notices: We will send statements and notices to You at the most recent address You have given the Credit Union. If this is a joint account, We can send statements and notices to either of You and will be considered notice to all. You promise to notify Us promptly in writing of any changes in Your address.
21. No Waiver: The Credit Union can delay enforcing any of its rights any number of times without waiving them.
22. Illegal Transactions Prohibited: You agree that you will not use your card for any transaction that is illegal under applicable federal, state, or local law.
23. Special Promotions: From time to time, we may offer special promotions, under which purchases of goods or services, balance transfers or cash advances transactions may be billed to your account with special promotional terms. The finance charges, minimum payment, application on payments and other terms for special promotions may differ from the standard terms described in this Agreement and as may be shown on your account statement.
24. Reward Program: There's no annual fee to participate in the program. The following rules apply only to the program as offered to Johns Hopkins Federal Credit Union Reward cardholders.
Every dollar in qualifying purchases (net of returns) that "participants" charge to their credit card account eligible in this rewards program ("program") earns participants one point as provided for in these rules. No points are earned for finance charges, fees, cash advances, convenience checks, foreign transaction currency conversion charges or insurance charges posted to their account. Charges or transactions may be added to, or removed from, the above lists of eligible charges and transactions from time to time at the sole discretion of the program provider. Any questions as to what constitutes an eligible charge shall be resolved at the sole discretion of the program provider. Points for this program begin to accumulate with purchase participants make beginning on the first day of the billing cycle in which their program begins and ending on the last day of the last billing cycle of the announced duration of their program. Points earned from net purchases and point adjustments made between billing cycles will be deemed as earned after being posted to participant’s next monthly card statement.
Points can be used to order the gift awards described in the current brochure or on the program’s website. Participants may select gift awards from any level, subject to availability, as long as participant has the necessary number of points posted to their account as of their previous month’s account statement. Point requirements assigned to any award are subject to change from time to time without notice, and gift awards may be substituted at any time.
Points have no cash value. Points in this program cannot be exchanged for cash or credit, cannot be combined with cash to obtain gift awards, cannot be earned from or transferred to or combined with any other credit card account’s points for redemption. The participant’s periodic statement will normally include the number of points earned subject to adjustment as provided for in these rules. Points will be deducted from the total points available for redemption for any returns or credits reflected on the credit card account 5
billing statement. Accounts must be open (not canceled or terminated by either party) at time of redemption. Awards are not available when the cardholder is in default under the card agreement. The credit union reserves the right to suspend the cardholder’s participation in the program until the account is in good standing. Unused points expire at the end of the third calendar year. Points may be forfeited due to rules violations. This program is void where prohibited or restricted by law. The program provider reserves the right to terminate the programs or portions thereof at any time without restriction or penalty. This means that regardless of a participant’s level of activity in the program, the ability to accumulate points or claim awards can be terminated with or without prior notice. The participant’s use of their Card following receipt of these rules will indicate their agreement to comply with and abide by these rules.
Your Billing Rights: Keep this document for future use
This notice tells You about Your rights and Our responsibilities under the Fair Credit Billing Act.
What to Do If You Find a Mistake on Your Statement?
If You think there is an error on Your statement, write to Us at: Johns Hopkins Federal Credit Union, 2027 East Monument Street, Baltimore, MD 21287.
In Your letter, give Us the following information:
- Account information: Your name and account number.
- Dollar amount: The dollar amount of the suspected error.
- Description of problem: If You think there is an error on Your bill, describe what You believe is wrong and why You believe it is a mistake.
You must contact Us:
- Within 60 days after the error appeared on Your statement.
- At least 3 business days before an automated payment is scheduled, if You want to stop payment on the amount You think is wrong.
You must notify Us of any potential errors in writing. You may call Us, but if You do We are not required to investigate any potential errors and You may have to pay the amount in question.
What Will Happen After We Receive Your Letter?
When We receive Your letter, We must do two things:
- Within 30 days of receiving Your letter, We must tell You that We received Your letter. We will also tell You if We have already corrected the error.
- Within 90 days of receiving Your letter, We must either correct the error or explain to You why We believe the bill is correct.
While We investigate whether or not there has been an error:
- We cannot try to collect the amount in question, or report You as delinquent on that amount.
- The charge in question may remain on Your statement, and We may continue to charge You interest on that amount.
- While You do not have to pay the amount in question, You are responsible for the remainder of Your balance.
- We can apply any unpaid amount against Your credit limit.
After We finish Our investigation, one of two things will happen:
- If We made a mistake: You will not have to pay the amount in question or any interest or other fees related to that amount.
- If We do not believe there was a mistake: You will have to pay the amount in question, along with applicable interest and fees. We will send You a statement of the amount You owe and the date payment is due. We may then report You as delinquent if You do not pay the amount We think You owe.
If You receive Our explanation but still believe Your bill is wrong, You must write to Us within 10 days telling Us that You still refuse to pay. If You do so, We cannot report You as delinquent without also reporting that You are questioning Your bill. We must tell You the name of anyone to whom We reported You as delinquent, and We must let those organizations know when the matter has been settled between Us.
If We do not follow all of the rules above, You do not have to pay the first $50 of the amount You question even if Your bill is 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 limitations on this right: (a) You must have made the purchase in your home state or, if not within your home state, within 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. 6
In case of errors or questions about Your electronic funds transfer
(Federal Electronic Funds Transfer Act) Telephone Us at (410) 534-4500 or toll-free at 1-800-543-2870. Or write Us at Johns Hopkins Federal Credit Union, 2027 East Monument Street, Baltimore, MD 21287, as soon as You can, if You think Your statement or receipt is wrong or if You need more information about a transfer listed on the statement or receipt. We must hear from You no later than 60 days after We sent the FIRST statement on which the problem or error appeared.
- Tell Us Your name and account number (if any).
- Describe the error or the transfer You are unsure about, and explain as clearly as You can why You believe it is an error or why You need more information.
- Tell Us the dollar amount of the suspected error.
If You tell Us orally, We may require that You send Us Your complaint or question in writing within ten (10) business days. We will determine whether an error occurred within ten (10) business days (20 business days if the transfer involved a new account) after We hear from You and will correct any error promptly. If We need more time, however, We may take up to 45 days (90 days if the transfer involved a new account, or a foreign initiated transfer) to investigate Your complaint or question. If We decide to do this, We will credit Your account within 5 business days (20 days if the transfer involved a new account) for the amount You think is in error, so that You will have the use of the money during the time it takes Us to complete Our investigation. If We ask You to put Your complaint or question in writing and We do not receive it within 10 business days, We may not credit Your account. An account is considered a new account for 30 days after the first deposit is made, if You are a new member.
We will tell You the results within three business days after completing Our investigation. If We decide that there was no error, We will send You a written explanation. You may ask for copies of the documents that We used in Our investigation.
Automatic Payment Transfers
If You have authorized Us to pay Your credit card bill automatically from Your Share or Checking account, You can stop the payment on any amount You think is wrong. To stop the payment Your letter must reach Us three business days before the automatic payment is scheduled to occur.