(updated and containing all amendments through September 15, 2008)
Printable Version
Introduction:
This Online Personal Banking Agreement applies to the Online Personal Banking and Bill Payment Services you receive from Bank Rhode Island. By using Online Personal Banking or Bill Payment Services, you agree to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, which supplement the terms and conditions in the Personal Deposit Account Agreement that governs your deposit accounts. You should read this agreement carefully to fully understand how our online services and features work, as well as your rights and obligations if you register for and use these online services.
Under this agreement, “we”, “us,” “our” the “Bank” and “BankRI” denote Bank Rhode Island. “You” and “your” refer to each accountholder that has requested this service.
Agreeing to the terms and conditions of this Agreement:
By applying for and using the Online Personal Banking or Bill Payment Service, you acknowledge that you have received and understand the terms of this Agreement and agree to be bound by the provisions of this Agreement and any amendments that are made from time to time.
You should print and retain a copy of this Agreement for your records. If you are unable to print, we will mail you a paper copy of this Agreement at your request. You agree that e-mail or other electronic communications viewed or transmitted between us through the Online Personal Banking Service shall be treated as “writing” and shall bind each of us in the same way as a written communication. Unless otherwise provided under applicable law, any electronic communication you send to us will not be effective until we receive it and have had reasonable opportunity to act on it.
Accessing your Accounts through Online Banking:
Account and System requirements:
To access your accounts through Online Personal Banking, you must maintain an active BankRI deposit Account, Access ID, and Password. Your “Primary Account” will be the account that you specifically identify as such. Your “Access ID” will be your sign on identification code. Your “Password” will be an access code that you select, which must be 8 to 17 characters in length and contain at least one letter and one number.
In addition to your Primary Account, you may designate other checking, money market, savings, retirement, certificates of deposit, and consumer loan accounts that you wish to access through the Online Personal Banking Service. The accounts you designate are referred to in this Agreement as your “Online Accounts.”
To safeguard your Online Personal Banking Service, BankRI checks your internet line with each log-on to verify that your connection is secure. You can only access the Online Service with certain browsers that have high security standards. If we do not recognize your computer, we will ask you one of your challenge questions to verify your identity. Additionally, you will be asked for your Access ID and Password each time you access this Service and shown your image authentication picture. If your computer terminal is left idle for more than a few minutes, your access will be disconnected until you log-on again. Bank Rhode Island account data systems are protected by firewalls between our systems and the Internet.
Permissible Banking Transactions for Online Personal Banking:
a) Account Information:
You may check the balance of your Primary Account and each additional account you have selected for Online access. The account balance shown will be current as of the time of your inquiry. The account balance may include deposits still subject to verification by us and may not include deposits or loans in process, outstanding checks or payments, or other withdrawals, payments, credits, charges or debits.
b) Fund Transfers:
You may transfer funds between the deposit accounts that you have selected for Online access in any amount. When you request a fund transfer using this service, you authorize us to follow the transfer instructions and transfer the funds from the designated originating account to the designated recipient account. If we receive your request prior to 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time on any business day, we will transfer the funds on that day. If we receive your request after 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time on a business day or on a day that is not a business day, we will make the transfer on the next business day. The day we make the transfer is called the “Transaction Date.” We may refuse to act on your fund transfer instruction if there are not sufficient available funds in your account, including funds available under any linked overdraft plan, on the Transaction Date. Funds transferred to the designated recipient account will be deemed deposited on the Transaction Date and will be available thereafter in accordance with our funds availability policy.
c) Bill Payment Service:
The Bill Payment Service is a free optional service available to all customers with a BankRI checking account in good standing. With the Bill Payment Service you may make current, future, or recurring payments to certain companies or individuals using the Pay A Bill, Pay A Person, or a Transfer Funds features. You may use the Pay A Bill feature to make payments to any business or person in amounts from $1.00 to $99,999.99. If the business recipient has a merchant contract with the Bank’s service provider, the payment will be sent electronically; otherwise, all payments will be mailed as paper checks. Customers may also use the Pay A Person and/ or Transfer Funds features to send ACH (Automated Clearing House) transactions in amounts from $1.00 to $5,000.00. Bill payments are not allowed, by any of the above methods, to pay taxes, any court ordered payment or to settle any securities transaction. If you authorize a recurring payment to any entity, those payments may continue until you either terminate the recurring payment or there are insufficient available funds to allow the payment. You assume the risk of loss due to an overpayment on any authorized payment using the Bill Payment Service.
When you schedule a bill payment, you must designate an Online checking Account as the account from which the bill payment is to be made. This is called the “Payment Account”.
You must provide sufficient information about each payee of a bill payment as requested from time to time to properly direct a payment to that payee and permit the payee to identify the correct account to credit with your payment. Occasionally, a payee may choose not to participate in the Bill Payment Service or may require additional information before accepting payments. In this case, we may decline to make future payments to this payee and a notice will be sent to you.
When you schedule a bill payment using the Bill Payment Service, you must specify a “Process Date” on which we are to process the payment. If you specify a date that is not a business day, the Process Date will be the next business day. If we receive your request after 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time on any business day or on a day that is not a business day, the earliest Process Date you may specify is the next business day. The Bank may process the payment electronically or by issuing and mailing a paper check to the payee. Therefore, you should specify a Process Date that is at least five (5) business days before the payment due date (not including any applicable grace period). This generally allows sufficient time for the payee to receive and process the payment. BankRI is not responsible for delays in the U.S. mail or for processing delays by the payee. If you incur a late charge on a payment processed through the Bill Payment Service, the Bank’s service provider will work with the payee to determine why the late charge was assessed and to attempt to have it reversed, provided: (i) the payment was properly scheduled at least 5 business days before the payment due date; (ii) you entered the correct payee name, address, account number, and payment amount in the Bill Payment system; and (iii) your Payment Account contained sufficient available funds to make the payment.
The Bank withdraws funds from your Payment Account to make a bill payment on the Process Date you specified. The Bank is not required to complete the bill payment transaction if there are not sufficient available funds in the Payment Account (including any linked overdraft account) on the Process Date.
Payments made through the Bill Payment Service are assigned a unique confirmation reference number. You may review the status of your payments on our Online Banking system by clicking on the Bill Payment link.
Bill Payment transactions are marked “Scheduled Payments” until the Process Date, and then moved to “Payment History” when completed. You may cancel or edit any “scheduled” bill payment through the online Bill Payment Service, free of charge, until 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the Process Date. Normally, completed payments cannot be canceled or changed. If you have a question about stopping a payment after 3:00 p.m. on the Process Date, call the Bill Pay Support Center as soon as possible at 866-266-6812 (Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time).
You may cancel or edit one payment in a series of recurring payments or you may cancel or edit the entire series. You should be careful to determine whether you are changing a single payment or the entire series.
When using the BankRI Online Personal Banking Service, you are requesting that payments be made from your Payment Account. If we are unable to complete the transaction for any reason associated with your Payment Account (for example, there are insufficient funds), the transaction may not be completed. Unless prohibited by applicable law, in the event that a bill payment is not completed, we may at our discretion provide you with a return notice. You agree that we may debit a return fee from your Payment Account. The current return fees are disclosed in our Schedule of Charges brochure.
If we have canceled a bill payment from one of your Accounts because there were insufficient funds in the account, no further bill payments will be processed from that Account until sufficient funds are available in the Account and fees have been paid. See our Schedule of Charges for the insufficient funds service fees that will be charged to your Payment Account for bill payment transactions presented against insufficient funds.
d) Limits and Transfer from Account:
There are no limits on the number or types of transactions that you may process through the Online Personal Banking or Bill Payment Services. However, all savings accounts (including statement savings accounts and money market deposit accounts, but not including Health Savings Accounts) are subject to legal limitations on the number of transfers from the account each statement period. The Customer can make no more than a total of six transfers per savings account per statement period by check or debit card (if the account includes check access), preauthorized or automatic transfer, telephone, or Online Banking. No more than three of the total number of transfers may be by check or debit card. Transfers to pay a BankRI loan account are not limited. Transactions through the Bill Payment Service do count against the limited number of transactions on these accounts. Your ability to transfer funds from your accounts may also be subject to other legal restrictions and service charges under your Deposit Account Agreement. You should review the Personal Deposit Account Agreement carefully for information regarding all applicable limitations and service charges.
e) New Services:
New services may be periodically introduced for Online Personal Banking. The Bank will notify you of the existence of these new services. By using these services as they become available, you agree to be bound by the rules that will be made available to you concerning these services.
Contacting the Bank by Electronic Mail
(e-mail):
If you send the bank an e-mail message, the Bank will be deemed to have received it on the following business day. The Bank will have a reasonable time period to act on your e-mail. You should not rely on e-mail if you need to communicate with the Bank immediately. We request that you do not send us or request sensitive information such as account numbers, passwords, account information, etc. via any public e-mail system. If you wish to send us a message electronically, please use the Contact Us option located on our website www.bankri.com.
Schedule of Charges:
The Bank makes the benefits and convenience of the Online Personal Banking Service, including unlimited Bill Payment Service, available to you free of charge.
Account Statements:
Customers using the Online Personal Banking or Bill Payment Service will continue to receive regular account statements either monthly or quarterly, depending on the type of account and nature of transactions. Online Banking and Bill Payment transactions will be itemized on the regular account statements.
In Case of Errors or Questions:
In case of errors or questions regarding your Online Personal Banking or Deposit Account, call our Customer Support Center at (866) 4-BANKRI, Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m., or on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to noon. You may also write to:
Bank Rhode Island
Online Services Department
PO BOX 9488
Providence, RI 02940-9488
In case of errors or questions regarding your Bill Payment Service, call our Bill Pay Support Center at 866-266-6812, Monday – Friday, 7:30 a.m. – 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
We must hear from you no later than sixty (60) calendar days after we sent the FIRST statement on which the problem appeared. We will need:
- Your name and account number.
- A description of the error and explanation of why you believe it is an error.
- The dollar amount of the suspected error and date on which it occurred.
If the report is made orally, we will require that you send the complaint or question in writing within ten (10) business days following the date you notified us. We will tell you the results of our investigation within ten (10) business days and will correct any error promptly. If we need more time, however, we may take up to forty-five (45) calendar days to investigate your complaint or question following the date you notified us. If we decide this, we will provisionally recredit your account within ten (10) business days following the date you notified us for the amount you think is in error, so that you will have the use of your 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 ten (10) business days, we may not provisionally recredit your account.
If we determine that there was no error, we will send you a written explanation within three (3) business days after we finish our investigation. You may, at no cost, examine and inspect all documents that we used in our investigation. You may also, for a reasonable fee to cover our photocopying costs, ask for copies of the documents that we used in our investigation.
If your question or error involves a transfer or payment to a third party, our investigation will be generally limited to a review of our own records.
Your Liability:
You will be liable for unauthorized Online Personal Banking or Bill Payment transactions from your deposit account to the extent allowed by applicable federal and state law and this agreement.
Tell us AT ONCE if you believe that any Access ID, Password, or other access code you use for the Online Banking or Bill Payment Service has been lost or stolen or used without your permission. Telephoning is the best way of keeping your possible losses down.
Telephone us at:
(866) 4-BANKRI
or write to us at:
Bank Rhode Island
Online Services Department
P.O. Box 9488
Providence, RI 02940-9488
You could lose all the money in your account (plus the maximum amount of any overdraft line of credit connected to your account). If you tell us within 2 business days after you discover the loss or theft, however, you can lose no more than $50 if someone used your access code without your permission.
If you do NOT tell us within 2 business days after you learn of the loss or theft of your access code, and we can prove we could have stopped someone from using your code without your permission if you had told us, you could lose as much as $500.
You should tell us AT ONCE if your statement shows transfers that you did not make. If you do not tell us within 60 days after the statement was mailed to you, you may not get back any money you lost after the 60 days if we can prove that we could have stopped someone from taking the money if you had told us in time.
If a good reason (such as a long trip or hospital stay) kept you from telling us, we will extend the time periods.
Our Liability:
If we do not complete a transfer to or from your account on time or in the correct amount according to this Agreement, we will be liable for your losses and damages. However, there are some exceptions. We will not be liable, for instance:
A. if, through no fault of ours, you do not have enough money in your account to make the transfer or if the transfer will go over the credit limit on any overdraft protection line attached to the account;
B. if circumstances beyond our control (such as fire or flood) prevent the transfer, despite reasonable precautions that we have taken;
C. if funds are subject to legal process or other encumbrance restricting such transfer; or
D. if any other specific exceptions stated in this agreement are applicable.
Unless prohibited by applicable law, the foregoing shall constitute our entire liability and your exclusive remedy. In no event shall we be liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, consequential, punitive or exemplary damages, including lost profits, arising in any way out of the installation, use, or maintenance of the equipment or software used to access the Online Personal Banking Service or otherwise out of the Online Personal Banking or Bill Payment Service.
We make no warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to the Online Personal Banking Service including without limitation, the warranties of merchantability and fitness of a particular purpose.
Virus Protection:
Bank Rhode Island is not responsible for any electronic virus or viruses that you may encounter. We suggest that you routinely scan your personal computer using a virus protection product. An undetected virus may corrupt and destroy your programs, files and hardware.
No Signature Required:
When any particular payment or other online service agreement generates items to be charged to your account, you agree that we may debit your Payment Account without requiring your signature on the item, and without prior notice to you.
Disclosure of Information to Third Parties:
We will disclose information to third parties about your account or transfers you make:
1. where it is necessary for completing transfers. Or,
2. to verify the existence and condition of your account for a third party, such as a credit bureau or merchant. Or,
3. to comply with government or court orders. Or,
4. if you give us your written permission. Or,
5. where through action of your own, information about your account has been put onto the Internet in an unsecure manner.
Inactivity and Termination of this Agreement:
You are responsible for complying with all the terms of this Agreement and with the terms and conditions of all other disclosures governing the deposit & loan accounts which you access using electronic banking services. We can terminate your electronic banking privileges (including Bill Payment Services) under this Agreement without notice to you if you do not comply with the agreement governing your deposit or loan accounts or your accounts are not maintained in good standing.
We will promptly notify you if we terminate this Agreement or use of the services for any reason. If you are not paying a monthly service charge for the service, we may convert your account to inactive status if you do not log-on to the service or have any transaction scheduled through the service during any consecutive ninety (90) day period. If your account is considered inactive, you must contact us to have the service activated before you will be able to schedule any transaction through the service.
To cancel the Online Personal Banking Service and/or Bill Payment, you must notify the Bank and provide your name, address and whether you are discontinuing Online Personal Banking, Bill Payment, or both, and the effective date to stop the service. When Bill Payment is terminated, any future dated or recurring payments scheduled to be made through Online Personal Banking after the effective date of termination will be canceled. Your final charge for the Bill Payment Service will be assessed to your Payment Account at the end of the statement cycle in which termination became effective. You may notify the Bank by:
1. Calling (866) 4-BANKRI, Monday- Friday, 8:00 a.m. -8:00 p.m. Or Saturday, 9:00 a.m.-noon.
2. Writing to:
Bank Rhode Island
Online Services Department
PO BOX 9488
Providence, RI 02940-9488
The Bank’s Business Days:
The Bank’s business days are Monday through Friday, excluding federal and state bank holidays.
Amendments:
This Agreement may be amended from time to time by the Bank or by mutual agreement of the Bank and the Customer. The Bank shall give the Customer notice of any amendment made by the Bank unilaterally, which notice may be provided electronically or in writing. Any amendment agreed to by the Bank and the Customer shall be expressed in a written agreement signed by both parties.
If you have any questions, contact our Customer Support Center at (866) 4-BANKRI Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon.