Patelco Newsroom

We’ve recently made some changes to our Member Handbook, and we encourage you to read it online. Here’s a summary of the changes we’ve made which are effective July 1, 2025.
 

What we’ve added

• Requesting additional information – information about our right to request additional information, signatures, or documentation to protect members’ accounts and our systems from fraud or other problems
• Call recording and biometrics – an explanation of how we may use voice biometrics to more quickly authenticate you when you call and protect your account from identity theft

What we’ve removed

• Non-transferability of accounts – this information was outdated
• Available point-of-sale services – an older way of getting cash from your checking account
• Daily limits on debit card transactions – while there are still limits on card transactions, this information was no longer accurate
• Debit card paid NSF coverage form – we’ve removed this form – see our updates below regarding available services related to NSF transactions
• Early withdrawal penalties – deleted since this is covered in the sections for individual products

Sections we’ve updated

• Commitment Household – revised to refer members to patelco.org for the discounts and advantages of the Commitment Household program instead of specifying the discounts and advantages in the Handbook
• Trusted Contact – clarified that multiple Trusted Contacts means two – one primary and one contingent
• Following instructions – Revised to broaden our right to refuse to follow instructions or complete a transaction for any reason at our discretion, including, but not limited to, if we reasonably believe the instructions to be inauthentic, unauthorized, or made under duress, or we reasonably believe that the transaction or service is illegal; this supplements our right to deny services pursuant to the Grounds for Expulsion or Denial of Services section
• Consent to receive communications – broadened the consent such that we are permitted to contact members by telephone, text messaging, email or mail in order to service their accounts or collect amounts owed – this consent allows us to make live telephone calls, send text messages, leave prerecorded or artificial voice messages, and use automatic telephone dialing technology for informational and account service purposes, and opt-out methods are identified
• Arbitration – Added the ability for Patelco and members to mutually agree upon an arbitration administrator other than the AAA
• Funds Availability – Increased the amount that will be immediately available for check deposits and cash or check ATM deposits and adjusted the amount for larger checks that may require a longer delay in availability
• Business accounts – removed prohibition on political parties, fundraising groups, and campaign organizations; added prohibition on firearms and ammunition manufacturing businesses and businesses that advocate violence or hate against any group or individual
• Continuing authorization to open accounts – revised so that new share accounts will have the Joint Owner(s) and/or POD Beneficiary(ies) that the member designates instead of the same Joint Owner(s) and/or POD Beneficiary(ies).
• Dividend calculation – clarified the calculation, and moved this to Truth-in-Savings Disclosures; dividends are covered in the sections for individual products
• NSF Transactions, Discretionary Overdraft Services & Debit Card NSF Protection – revised to account for our current practices after retirement of courtesy pay for accounts opened after April 5, 2023; for those accounts, we’ve replaced this service with the Patelco Instant BackUp™ Line of Credit and other services
• Holiday Club Accounts – moved to a new Addendum based on retirement of this account as of May 2, 2025
• Available Debit Card Merchant Transactions – revised to reflect our current practice of the daily purchase limit being set at the time the card was created

 
Though we’ve made some changes and added some new things, we haven’t changed our commitment to your financial wellness. We encourage you to read the new Member Handbook and to reach out if you have any questions.