Home | About Esquire Bank | Contact Us | Locations
Apply Online Now

Account Disclosures

YOUR DEPOSIT ACCOUNT TERMS AND CONDITIONS AGREEMENT – This document, along with any other documents we give you pertaining to your account(s), is a contract that establishes rules which control your account(s) with us. Please read this carefully. If you sign the signature card or open or continue to have your account with us, you agree to these rules. You will receive a separate schedule of rates, qualifying balances, and fees if they are not included in this document. If you have any questions, please call us.

This agreement is subject to applicable federal laws and the laws of the state of New York (except to the extent that this agreement can and does vary or such rules or laws are preempted by federal law). The body of state and federal law that governs our relationship with you, however, is too large and complex to be reproduced here. The purpose of this document is to:

If any provision of this document is found to be unenforceable according to its terms, all remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.

As used in this document the words “we”, “our”, and “us” mean the bank and the words “you” and “your” mean the account holder(s) and anyone else with the authority to deposit, withdraw, or exercise control over the funds in the account. The headings in this document are for convenience or reference only and will not govern the interpretation of the provisions. Unless it would be inconsistent to do so, words and phrases used in this document should be construed so the singular includes the plural and the plural includes the singular.

LIABILITY – You agree, for yourself (and the person or entity you represent if you sign as a representative of another) to the terms of this account and the schedule of charges. You authorize us to deduct these charges directly from the account balance as accrued. You will pay any additional reasonable charges for services you request which are not covered by this agreement.

Each of you also agrees to be jointly and severally (individually) liable for any account shortage resulting from charges or overdrafts, whether caused by you or another with access to this account. This liability is due immediately, and can be deducted directly from the account balance whenever sufficient funds are available. You have no right to defer payment of this liability, and you are liable regardless of whether you signed the item or benefited from the charge or overdraft. This includes liability for our costs to collect the deficit including, to the extent permitted by law, our reasonable attorneys’ fees.

DEPOSITS – We will give only provisional credit until collection is final for any items, other than cash, we accept for deposit (including items drawn “on us”). Actual credit for deposits of, or payable in, foreign currency will be at the exchange rate in effect on final collection in U.S. dollars. We are not responsible for transactions by mail or outside depository until we actually record them. We will treat and record all transactions received after our “daily cut-off time” on a business day we are open, or received on a day we are not open for business, as if initiated on the next following business day that we are open.

WITHDRAWALS – Unless clearly indicated otherwise on the account records, any of you, acting alone, who signs in the space designated for signatures on the signature card may withdraw or transfer all or any part of the account balance at any time. Each of you (until we receive written notice to the contrary, and have a reasonable opportunity to act on it) authorizes each other person signing the signature card to endorse any item payable to you or your order for deposit to this account or any other transaction with us. We may charge your account for a check even though payment was made before the date of the check, unless we have received written notice of the postdating in time to have a reasonable opportunity to act. We may refuse any withdrawal or transfer request which you attempt on forms not approved by us, by any method we do not specifically permit , which is greater in number than the frequency permitted, or which is for an amount greater or less than any withdrawal limitations. Even if we honor a nonconforming request we may treat continued abuse of the stated limitations (if any) as your act of closing the account. We will use the date the transaction is completed by us (as opposed to the date you initiate it) to apply the frequency limitations. (The fact that we may honor withdrawal requests that overdraw the available account balance does not obligate us to do so later.) See the funds availability policy disclosure for information about when you can withdraw funds you deposit. For those accounts for which our funds availability policy disclosure does not apply, you can ask us when you make a deposit when those funds will be available for withdrawal.

We may require not less than 7 days notice in writing before each withdrawal from an interest-bearing account other than a time deposit, or from any other savings account as defined by Regulation D. Withdrawals from a time account prior to maturity or prior to any notice period may be restricted and may be subject to penalty (See your notice of penalty for early withdrawal).

OWNERSHIP OF ACCOUNT AND BENEFICIARY DESIGNATION – These rules apply to this account depending on the form of ownership and beneficiary designation, if any, specified on the account records. We make no representations as to the appropriateness or effect of the ownership and beneficiary designations, except as they determine to whom we pay the account funds. Individual Account – is an account in the name of one person. Joint Account – With Survivorship (And Not As Tenants In Common) – is owned by two or more persons. (All joint accounts with Esquire Bank are deemed to be with survivorship and not tenants in common unless our records indicate otherwise). Deposits and any additions to the account are the property of the owners as joint tenants with right of survivorship. This means that we may release the entire account to any owner during the lifetime of all owners. We may honor withdrawal requests (including checks) from any owner during the lifetime of all owners. We may be required to release money in the account to satisfy a judgment against or other valid debt incurred by any owner. We may honor withdrawal requests (including checks) from any surviving owner after the death of any owner, and may treat the account as the sole property of the surviving owner(s). Unless an owner directs us by written notice not to honor the withdrawal request (including checks) of an owner we will not be liable for doing so. After we receive such a notice, we may require written authorization of any or all joint owners for any further payments or deliveries. All joint accounts with us are deemed to be with survivorship (and not tenants in common) unless our account records indicate otherwise.

JOINT ACCOUNT – NO SURVIVORSHIP (AS TENANTS IN COMMON) – Is owned by two or more persons, but none of you intend (merely by opening this account) to create any right of survivorship in any other person. We encourage you to agree and tell us in writing of the percentage of the deposit contributed by each of you. This information will not, however, affect the “number of signatures” necessary for withdrawal. A Convenience Account – governed by New York Banking Law § 678.  A Revocable Trust Account – (also known as a “TottenTrust Account”) – If two or more of you create such an account, you own the account jointly with survivorship. Beneficiaries cannot withdraw unless: (1) all persons creating the account dies, and (2) the beneficiary is then living. If two or more beneficiaries are named and survive the death of all persons creating the account, such beneficiaries will own the account in equal shares, without right of survivorship. The person(s) creating this account type reserve the right to: (1) change beneficiaries, (2) change account types, and (3) withdraw all or part of the account funds at any time.

BUSINESS ACCOUNTS - Earnings in the form of interest, dividends, or credits will be paid only on collected funds, unless otherwise provided by law or our policy. We may require the governing body of the legal entity opening the account to give us a separate authorization telling us who is authorized to act on its behalf. We will honor an authorization until we actually receive an acceptable written notice of a change from the governing body of the legal entity.

STOP PAYMENTS - A stop-payment order must be given in the manner required by law, must be received in time to give us a reasonable opportunity to act on it, and must precisely identify the check number, date and amount of the item, and the payee. We will honor a stop-payment request by the person who signed the particular item, and, by any other person, even though such other person did not sign the item, if such other person has an equal or greater right to withdraw from this account than the person who signed the item in question. A release of the stop-payment request may be made only by the person who initiated the stop-payment order.

TELEPHONE TRANSFERS - A telephone transfer of funds from this account to another account with us, if otherwise arranged for or permitted, may be made by the same persons and under the same conditions generally applicable to withdrawals made in writing. Unless a different limitation is disclosed in writing, we restrict the number of transfers from a savings account to another account or to third parties, to a maximum of six per month. Other account transfer restrictions may be described elsewhere.

AMENDMENTS AND TERMINATION - We may change any term of this agreement. Rules governing changes in interest rates are provided separately. For other changes, we will give you reasonable notice in writing or by any method permitted by law. We may also close this account at any time upon reasonable notice to you and tender of the account balance personally or by mail. Notice from us to any one of you is notice to all of you.

STATEMENTS - You must examine your statement of account with “reasonable care and promptness”. If you discover (or reasonably should have discovered) any unauthorized signatures or alterations, you must promptly notify us of the relevant facts. As between you and us, if you fail to do either of these duties, you will have to bear the entire loss. Your loss could be not only with respect to items on the statement but other items with unauthorized signatures or alterations by the same wrongdoer.

You further agree that if you fail to report any unauthorized signatures, alterations, forgeries, or any other errors in your account within 60 days of when we first send or make the statement available, you cannot assert a claim against us on any items in that statement, and as between you and us the loss will be entirely yours. This 60-day limitation is without regard to whether we used ordinary care. The limitation in the paragraph is in addition to that contained in the first paragraph of this section.

ACCOUNT TRANSFER - This account may not be transferred or assigned without our prior written consent.

DIRECT DEPOSITS - If, in connection with a direct deposit plan, we deposit any amount in an account which should have been returned to the Federal Government for any reason, you authorize us to deduct the amount of our liability to the Federal Government from the account or from any other account you have with us, without prior notice and at any time, except as prohibited by law. We may also exercise any other legal remedy to recover the amount of our liability.

SETOFF - You each agree that we may (when permitted by law) set off the funds in this account against any due and payable debt you owe us now or in the future, by any of you having the right of withdrawal, to the extent of such persons’ or legal entity’s right to withdraw. If the debt arises from a note, “any due and payable debt” includes the total amount of which we are entitled to demand payment under the terms of the note at the time we set off, including any balance the due day for which we properly accelerate under the note.

This right of setoff does not apply to this account if: (a) it is a IRA or other tax-deferred retirement account, or (b) the debt is created by a consumer credit transaction under a credit card plan (but this does not affect our rights under any consensual security interest), or (c) the debtor’s right of withdrawal only arises in a representative capacity, or (d) social security or supplemental security income payments are deposited directly into this account pursuant to an agreement with us which permits such direct deposit without presentation to you at the time of deposit. We will not be liable for the dishonor of any check when the dishonor occurs because we set off a debit against this account. You agree to hold us harmless from any claim arising as a result of our exercise of our right of setoff.

RESTRICTIVE LEGENDS - We are not required to honor any restrictive legend on checks you write unless we have agreed in writing to the restriction. Examples of restrictive legends are “must be presented within 90 days” or “not valid for more than $1,000.00.”

ACH AND WIRE TRANSFERS - This agreement is subject to Article 4A of the Uniform Commercial Code- Fund Transfers as adopted in the state in which you have your account with us. If you originate a fund transfer for which Fed wire is used, and you identify by name and number a beneficiary financial institution, an intermediary financial institution or a beneficiary, we and every receiving or beneficiary financial institution may rely on the identifying number to make payment. We may rely on the number even if it identifies a financial institution, person or account other than the one named. You agree to be bound by automated clearing house association rules. These rules provide, among other things that payments made to you, or originated by you, are provisional until final settlement is made through a Federal Reserve Bank or payment is otherwise made as provided in Article 4A-403 (a) of the Uniform Commercial Code. If we do not receive such payment, we are entitled to a refund from you in the amount credited to your account and the party originating such payment will not be considered to have paid the amount so credited. If we receive a credit to an account you have with us by wire or ACH, we are not required to give you any notice of the payment order or credit.

FACSIMILE SIGNATURES - You authorize us, at any time, to charge you for all checks, drafts, or other orders, for the payment of money, that are drawn on us regardless of by whom or by what means the facsimile signature(s) may have been affixed so long as they resemble the facsimile signature specimen filed with us, and contain the required number of signatures for this purpose.

DISPUTED CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCY INFORMATION - We may report information about you and any joint account holders or authorized signers on the account to a Consumer Reporting Agency. If you disagree with the accuracy of the information that we submit to a Consumer Reporting Agency, please call us at 1-800- 996-0213 or write to us at Esquire Bank, 320 Old Country Road, Garden City, Suite 101, NY 11530,  Attn: Operations Department. We will review our files and respond to you in writing.

U.S.A. PATRIOT ACT NOTICE - To help the government fight the funding of terrorism and money laundering activities, Federal law requires all financial institutions to obtain, verify and record information that identifies each person who opens an account.

What this means for you: When you open an account, we will ask for your name, address, date of birth, and other information that will allow us to identify you. We may also ask to see your driver’s license or other identifying documents.

FUNDS AVAILABILITY POLICY

YOUR ABILITY TO WITHDRAW FUNDS FROM ESQUIRE BANK DEPOSIT ACCOUNTS - This policy applies to deposits into accounts that are opened at Esquire Bank. Please do not mail cash deposits. In the event Esquire Bank receives cash deposits, you agree that Esquire Bank’s determination of the amount of the deposit will be conclusive. The Bank is responsible for mailed deposits only after the Bank has received them. The Bank is not liable for any deposits, including cash, lost in the mail. Remember: when you use the U.S. mail to make a deposit, you will need to allow extra time for the deposit to reach us.

GENERAL POLICY - The Bank’s policy is to make funds from certain electronic deposits available to you on the business day Esquire Bank receives the deposit. However, Esquire Bank may delay the availability of funds from your cash and check deposits to afford us time to verify the deposit and make sure the deposit is collected. During the delay, you may not withdraw the funds in cash and Esquire Bank will not use the funds to pay checks you have written or other debits against the account that you have initiated, such as electronic bill payments.

DETERMINING THE AVAILABILITY OF A DEPOSIT - The length of the delay is counted in business days from the day of your deposit. Every day is a business day, except Saturdays, Sundays, and Federal holidays. For walk-in deposits, if Esquire Bank receives your deposit before 4 PM Eastern Time on a business day when Esquire Bank is open, Esquire Bank will consider that day to be the day of your deposit. However, if you make a deposit after 4pm or on a day we are not open, we will consider that the deposit was made on the next business day we are open. The length of the delay varies depending on the type of deposit and is explained below.

SAME DAY AVAILABILITY - Funds from electronic payments such as direct deposits of payroll or electronic benefits will be available on the business day Esquire Bank receives the payment. Cash, funds you transfer from another financial institution account via “ACH”, or wire transaction, will be available on the business day Esquire Bank receives the funds.

 NEXT DAY AVAILABILITY -  Established accounts are eligible for next business day availability for the following items:

  • US Treasury checks payable to the account holder
  • US Postal Service money orders payable to the account holder
  • Federal, State or Local Government checks payable to the account holder
  • Travelers Checks payable to the account holder
  • Cashier’s, Certified, Tellers/Official Checks payable to the account holder

 OTHER CHECKS -  Checks which are not available for next day availability, the first $100.00 will be made available the next business day after the day of deposit. Remaining funds from such checks will be available the second business day after the day of deposit.

 ENTENDED DELAYS MAY APPLY FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:

  • The bank believes a check you deposited will not be paid
  • You deposited checks totaling more than $5,000.00 on any one day
  • You re-deposit a check that was returned unpaid
  • You have overdrawn your account repeatedly in the past 6 months
  • There is an emergency, such as failure of communications or computer equipment

 NEW ACCOUNTS -  If you are a new customer, the following rules will apply during the first thirty (30) days your account is open: 

  • Electronic deposits such as direct deposit of payroll and ACH transactions will be available the business day funds are received.
  • The first $5,000.00 of a day’s total deposits of US Postal Service money orders, Travelers, Cashier’s, Certified, Tellers/Official and Federal, State and Local Government Checks will be available the first business day after the day of deposit. Remaining funds (over $5,000.00) will become available on the 7th business day after the day of deposit.
  • For other checks, the first $100.00 will be made available the next business day after the day of deposit. Remaining funds from such checks will be available the fourth business day after the day of deposit.

 **At its discretion, the Bank may decline to accept any item for deposit**

SUBSTITUTE CHECKS AND YOUR RIGHTS


WHAT IS A SUBSTITUTE CHECK?

To make check processing faster, federal law permits banks to replace original checks with "substitute checks." These checks are similar in size to original checks with a slightly reduced image of the front and back of the original check. The front of a substitute check states: "This is a legal copy of your check. You can use it the same way you would use the original check." You may use a substitute check as proof of payment just like the original check.

Some or all of the checks that you receive back from us may be substitute checks. This notice describes rights you have when you receive substitute checks from us. The rights in this notice do not apply to original checks or to electronic debits to your account. However, you have rights under other law with respect to those transactions.

WHAT ARE MY RIGHTS REGUARDING SUBSTITUTE CHECKS?

In certain cases, federal law provides a special procedure that allows you to request a refund for losses you suffer if a substitute check is posted to your account (for example, if you think that we withdrew the wrong amount from your account or that we withdrew money from your account more than once for the same check). The losses you may attempt to recover under this procedure may include the amount that was withdrawn from your account and fees that were charged as a result of the withdrawal (for example, bounced check fees).

The amount of your refund under this procedure is limited to the amount of your loss or the amount of the substitute check, whichever is less. You also are entitled to interest on the amount of your refund if your account is an interest-bearing account. If your loss exceeds the amount of the substitute check, you may be able to recover additional amounts under other law.

If you use this procedure, you may receive up to $ 2,500 of your refund (plus interest if your account earns interest) within 10 business days after we received your claim and the remainder of your refund (plus interest if your account earns interest) not later than 45 calendar days after we received your claim. We may reverse the refund (including any interest on the refund) if we later are able to demonstrate that the substitute check was correctly posted to your account.

HOW DO I MAKE A CLAIM FOR A REFUND?

If you believe that you have suffered a loss relating to a substitute check that you received and that was posted to your account, please contact us at:

Esquire Bank, 320 Old Country Road Suite 101, Garden City, NY 11530, Attn: Operations Department.

You must contact us within 40 calendar days of the date that we mailed (or otherwise delivered by a means to which you agreed) the substitute check in question or the account statement showing that the substitute check was posted to your account, whichever is later. We will extend this time period if you were not able to make a timely claim because of extraordinary circumstances. Your claim must include:

ESQUIRE BANK TRUTH IN SAVINGS

RATE INFORMATION -Your interest rate and annual percentage yield may change on our variable rate accounts.

FREQUENCY OF RATE CHANGES - We may change the interest rate on your account at any time.

DETERMINATION OF RATE  – For all accounts that earn interest (other than certificates of deposit), we may, at our discretion, change the interest rate on your account.

COMPOUNDING AND CREDITING FREQUENCY  - Interest will be compounded monthly. Interest will be credited to your account monthly.

EFFECT OF CLOSING ACCOUNT - If you close your account before interest is credited you will not receive the accrued interest. For certificates of deposit, the annual percentage yield assumes interest will remain on deposit until maturity. A withdrawal will reduce earnings.

MINIMUM BALANCE TO OPEN A CHECKING, SAVINGS OR MONEY MARKET ACCOUNT - You must deposit $1.00  to open an account.

MINIMUM BALANCE TO OPEN CERTIFICATE OF DEPOSIT - Certificate of deposit must have a minimum balance of $500.00 (IRA’s 250.00)

 DAILY BALANCE COMPUTATION METHOD – We use the daily balance method to calculate the interest on your account. This method applies a daily periodic rate to the principal in the account each day.

ACCRUAL OF INTEREST ON NON CASH DEPOSITS – Interest begins to accrue on the business day that we receive your deposit of non-cash items.

TRANSACTION LIMITATIONS ON MONEY MARKET AND SAVING ACCOUNTS - You are permitted to make up to six third party transfers or withdrawals per month. These transfers may be made by check, draft, debit card or similar order payable to third parties.

DISCLOSURE IN RELATION TO TIME ACCOUNTS (CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT)

EARLY WITHDRAWAL PENALTIES

We will impose a penalty if you withdraw any/all of the deposited funds/principal before the maturity date.  The fee imposed will be as followed:

Term:     90 days to 180 days           30 days interest penalty

             181 days to 3 years            90 days interest penalty

WITHDRAWAL OF INTEREST PRIOR TO MATURITY

The annual percentage yield assumes interest will remain on deposit until maturity. A withdrawal will reduce earnings

RENEWAL POLICIES

Certificates of deposit  automatically renew. The grace period following the maturity of the certificate is 10 days in which funds may be withdrawn without penalty.

Electronic Funds Transfer 

Any party to an account, which requires one signature for the withdrawal of funds, may apply for electronic fund transfer ser­vices. Once the service is established, any authorized signer on the account may conduct electronic fund transactions. The Bank will honor any account holder’s instruction to revoke authorization of this service, even if the party that revokes it is different than the party that initially granted authorization.

Electronic Funds Transfer services, when used by a consumer, are governed by the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and Regula­tion E. For the purpose of this document, a consumer account is any account where the account holder is a natural person, and the account is used primarily for personal, family, or household purposes. The Act requires us to provide you with the following information:

Electronic transactions may be payments or deposits, authorized by you, to or from your checking, money market account(s) or loan(s), to or from a third party. The following services are considered electronic funds transfers:

RIGHT TO RECEIVE DOCUMENTATION OF TRANSFERS - You will normally be furnished with a receipt at the time you make any transaction to or from your account at any Esquire Bank ATM. However, you may not get a receipt if the amount of the transaction is $15 or less.

If you have arranged to have direct deposits made to your account, you can call us at (800) 996-0213 to find out whether or not the deposit has been made.

The check you use for a Check Electronification transaction (POP) should not have been previously issued or voided. After it is scanned, the merchant should mark it void and return it to you. You should sign and receive a copy of your authorization.

The merchant is required to furnish you with a receipt at the time you make any POS purchase with your Esquire Bank MasterCard® Debit Card, or obtain a cash advance at a financial institu­tion participating in MasterCard®.

You will receive a monthly account statement showing all check and electronic fund transfers.

BUSINESS DAYS - Our business days are Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. When allowing processing time, it is important to only count business days. Weekends and holidays are not considered busi­ness days.

INFORMATION TO THIRD PARTIES - We may disclose information to third parties about your account or transactions in some cases, such as with our vendors to com­plete a transaction you have requested; in order to comply with government agencies or court orders; or if you give us your written permission. Refer to Esquire Bank’s Privacy Notice for more de­tailed information regarding the sharing of information.

IN CASE OF ERRORS OR INQUIRIES ABOUT YOUR ELECTRONIC TRANSFERS - If you think your statement or receipt is wrong, or if you need more information about a transfer listed on the statement or receipt, call us at (800) 996-0213 as soon as you can. Esquire Bank must hear from you within 60 days after we sent the FIRST statement on which the problem or error appears.

Notification by phone or in person requires a written follow-up within 10 business days to preserve your rights. Please send your written claim to Esquire Bank 320 Old Country Road, Suite 101, Garden City, NY 11530, attn: Operations Department. When notifying Esquire Bank of the error, please include the following information: (1) your name, address, and account number. (2) Describe in detail the transaction in question and explain why you believe it is an er­ror or why you need more information. (3) Indicate the dollar amount of the suspected error.

If your account is a consumer account, the following applies with regards to our investigation: We will determine whether an error occurred within 10 business days after we hear from you and will correct any error promptly. If we need more time, however, we may take up to 45 days to investigate your complaint or question. If we decide to do this, we will credit your account within 10 busi­ness days 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.

For errors involving new accounts, point-of-sale, or foreign-initi­ated transactions, we may take up to 90 days to investigate your complaint or question. For new accounts, we may take up to 20 business days to credit your account for the amount you think is in error.

We will tell you the results of our investigation 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.

If you have a dispute about goods or services you purchased from a merchant with your Esquire Bank ATM, MasterCard® Debit Card, or electronic check, you should attempt to settle the dispute directly with the merchant before filing a claim.

NON-CONSUMER ACCOUNTS - The error resolution and liability provisions applicable to con­sumers or consumer accounts, as stated in this or any other docu­ment, or on the back of any periodic statement you may receive from us, do not apply to non-consumer accounts. Owners of non-consumer accounts must notify us immediately if they discover any unauthorized transactions or errors. If the transaction is not an automated clearinghouse transaction, we must receive written notification from you within a reasonable period of time (not to exceed fourteen (14) calendar days from the date of receipt of the statement reflecting the problem or error). If the transaction is an automated clearinghouse transaction, we must receive notice, written or verbal, within 24 hours of the posting date. If you don’t notify us within these time frames, you will be deemed to have au­thorized the transaction. You will be liable for all losses, costs or expenses that you incur as a result of the use of your card, unless the laws governing your account require a lesser liability. Under no circumstances will we be liable for any damages involving such accounts. The owners of such accounts assume sole responsibility for any unauthorized use of the account’s cards, PIN, or any oth­er access device and shall indemnify, defend, and hold the Bank harmless from all claims, actions, proceedings, losses and dam­ages related to or arising out of any unauthorized transaction.

LIMITATION ON TRANSACTIONS - If your account is a limited transaction account, as described by Regulation D (i.e. savings, Money Market), you agree not to initiate trans­actions in excess of the limitations established for your account.

Except as noted above, there are no limitations on the frequency of deposits, withdrawals, Point-of Sale, MasterCard® Check- Card pur­chases, Point-of Purchase (POP) transactions. However, there are daily dollar limits that apply to ATM withdrawals, POS, and MasterCard® Debit Card purchases based on the following card types:

MASTER CARD® DEBIT CARD

You may withdraw a maximum of $500 daily at ATMs and $1,000 at POS terminals (when using your PIN).

When using your card to make signature-based MasterCard® purchases at participating merchants or when selecting “credit” at POS terminals, you may have outstanding purchases of up to $1,000. The $1,000 is an open-to-buy limit. As purchases post to your ac­count, the open-to-buy limit is refreshed.

All withdrawals, POS, POP transactions (including those at MasterCard® locations) and other debit transactions processed electronically are subject to the availability of funds in your account, plus any applicable overdraft protection product or service linked to your account. Funds being reserved for authorized but unposted purchases may not be used to pay checks or other debits. If the bank pays a withdrawal, POS, POP, or other debit transaction that exceeds the balance of funds in your checking account, you will be charged our current overdraft charge. This overdraft charge shall not apply when such a payment is made by means of an automatic advance from an overdraft line of credit. However, you may be charged any applicable transfer fee associ­ated with your line of credit. (please refer to your overdraft line of credit agreement to determine if a transfer fee applies).

CHARGES - You will not be charged for deposits, withdrawals, balance in­quiries, or funds transfer at ATMs owned or operated by Esquire Bank.

When you use an ATM not owned by Esquire Bank, you may be charged a fee by the ATM operator (and you may be charged a fee for a balance inquiry even if you do not complete a funds trans­fer).

Esquire Bank does not charge a fee for POS, POP, or MasterCard® Debit Card signature transactions; however you may be charged a fee by the merchant. Monthly fees for Online Bill Pay are disclosed to you on the application, when you initiate this service.

There is no charge for direct deposits to your account or pre-au­thorized ACH transactions to/from your account.

STOP PAYMENTS

If you have preauthorized payments you have the right to stop payment. Write us at 320 Old Country Road Suite 101, Garden City, NY 11530, Attn: Operations Department or call us at (800) 996-0213 in time for us to receive your request 3 business days or more before the payment is scheduled to be made.  If you call we will also require you to put your request in writing and get it to us within 14 days after you call.

We will charge $30.00 for each stop payment.

If these regular payments may vary in amount, [we] [the person you are going to pay] will tell you, 10 days before each payment, when it will be made and how much it will be. (You may choose instead to get this notice only when the payment would differ by more than a certain amount from the previous payment, or when the amount would fall outside certain limits that you set.) If you order us to stop payment on a preauthorized transfer 3 business days or more before the transfer is scheduled, and we do not do so, we will be liable for your losses or damages.

IF YOUR  MASTERCARD® DEBIT CARD AND/OR PIN IS LOST, STOLEN OR MISUSED

Notify Esquire Bank immediately of any loss, theft, or unau­thorized use of your MasterCard® Debit Card or your PIN has been stolen or that someone has transferred or may transfer money from your account without your permission. Call us at (800) 996-0213 (on non-business days call (800) 554-8969) or write us at 320 Old Country Road, Suite 101, Garden City, NY 11530, Attn: Operations Department    immediately to limit your liability. You should also call the number or write to the address listed above if you believe a transfer has been made using the information from your check without your permission.

 CONSUMER LIABILITY

 Tell us AT ONCE if you believe your MasterCard® Check Card or PIN has been lost or stolen, or if you believe that an electronic fund transfer has been made without your permission using in­formation from your check. Telephoning is the best way of keep­ing your possible losses down. You could lose all the money in your account (plus your maximum overdraft line of credit).

 If you tell us within two business days after you learn of the loss or theft of your Card or PIN, you can lose no more than $50 if someone used your Card or PIN without your permission.

 If you do NOT  tell us within two business days after you learn of the loss or theft of your Card or PIN and we can prove we could have stopped someone from using your card and/or code without your permission if you had told us, you could lose as much as $500.00.

Also, if your statement shows transfers that you did not make, including those made by card, code or other means, tell us at once. 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 a hospital stay) kept you from telling us, we will extend the time periods.

    

Esquire Bank’s Consumer Financial Information Policy

OUR PRIVACY PLEDGE TO YOU

As our customer you provide us with important information about yourself.  We believe it is our responsibility to safeguard your personal and financial information.

We have developed the following privacy policy to ensure you the confidentiality you deserve.

You have our promise that we will adhere to these guidelines.  It is our pledge to you.

NOTICE OF YOUR FINANCIAL PRIVACY RIGHTS

We, our, and us, when used in this notice, means Esquire Bank. This is our privacy notice for our customers. When we use the words “you” and “your” we mean our consumer customers who have a continuing relationship by purchasing or holding financial products or services such as:

We will tell you the sources of the information we collect about you.  We will tell you what measures we take to secure that information.  We first define some terms.

Nonpublic personal information means information about you that we collect in connection with providing a financial product or service to you. Nonpublic personal information does not include information that is available from public sources, such as telephone directories or government records. Hereafter, we will use the term “information” to mean nonpublic personal information as defined in this section.

An affiliate is a company we own or control, a company that owns or controls us, or a company that is owned or controlled by the same company that owns or controls us. 

Ownership does not mean complete ownership, but means owning enough to have control.

A nonaffiliated third party is a person we do not employ or a company that is not an affiliate of ours.  This is also known as nonaffiliated third party, or simply, an “other party.”

THE INFORMATION WE COLLECT

We collect information about you from the following sources:

INFORMATION WE DISCLOSE ABOUT YOU

We may disclose the following information to companies that perform marketing services on our behalf or to other financial institutions with whom we have joint marketing agreements:

 We do NOT otherwise disclose any information about you to anyone, except as permitted by law.  Examples of this might include disclosures necessary to service your account or prevent unauthorized transactions.

THE CONFIDENTIALITY, SECURITY, AND INTEGRITY OF YOUR INFORMATION
We restrict access to information about you to those employees who need to know that information to provide products or services to you.  We maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that comply with Federal standards to guard this information. 

INFORMATION ABOUT FORMER CUSTOMERS

 We do not disclose information about former customers, except as permitted by law.   

Online Banking Agreement and 
Electronic Funds Transfer Disclosure

Please retain a copy of this agreement for your records.

INTRODUCTION: This Agreement and Disclosure specifically governs the Esquire Bank Internet Banking Electronic Funds Transfer Service (“Esquire Bank Internet Banking” or the “System”) and contains your and our rights and responsibilities and the terms and conditions under which the System is provided.

 In this Agreement and Disclosure, the words “you”, “your” and “yours” mean each and every one of you who utilizes the Esquire Bank Internet Banking service.  The words “we”, “us”, “our”, “Esquire” and “Bank” each mean Esquire Bank.  By initiating inquires and/or funds transfers through the Esquire Bank Internet Banking service, or by permitting another to use Esquire Bank Internet Banking on your behalf, you acknowledge receipt of this Agreement and Disclosure and agree to be bound by all terms and conditions contained herein, and all applicable terms and conditions contained in our other agreements with you governing your checking, savings, and loan accounts accessible in connection with the System.  You further agree to follow all instructions provided by Esquire Bank Internet Banking as reflected on your computer monitor or other System access screen. Esquire Bank Bill Pay Service is available through the System. The terms and conditions for that service will be available under a separate agreement located on the Bill Payment Web site.

 The terms and conditions of this Agreement and Disclosure are in addition to the terms and conditions of any and all other deposit account and credit agreements, including all such disclosures made pursuant to such agreements you have with the Bank.

 ACCESS: To use the System, you must have at least one checking, money market or savings account at the Bank, a computer and a communications link or other equipment necessary to access the Internet and an e-mail address. (Internet Browser Requirements: Internet Explorer 6.0 with the latest service pack or above, or Mozilla Firefox version 2.0)  Your user name and password will be communicated to you through our Customer Service Department. We undertake no obligation to monitor transactions through the System to determine that they are made on behalf of the accountholder.

 SYSTEM SERVICES:

 SYSTEM UNAVAILABILITY: Access to Esquire Bank Internet Banking may be unavailable at times for the following reasons: (1) Scheduled Maintenance - There will be necessary periods when systems require maintenance or upgrades; (2) Unscheduled Maintenance - Esquire Bank Internet Banking may be unavailable when unforeseen maintenance is necessary; (3) System Outages - Major unforeseen events, such as, but not limited to, earthquakes, fires, floods, computer failures, interruptions in telephone service, or electrical outages, may cause system unavailability; or, (4) Internet Service Provider - Failure by or unavailability of an Internet Service Provider. We will make all reasonable efforts to ensure the availability of Esquire Bank Internet Banking; however, we are in no way liable for System unavailability or any damages that may result.

 YOUR PASSWORD: For security purposes, you are required to change your password upon your initial login to System. You determine what password you will use and the identity of your password is not communicated to us. Your password must contain at least eight characters that utilizes both upper and lower case and numeric characters, as this will increase the level of security for your accounts. Your password should not be associated with any commonly known personal identification, such as your social security number, address, birth date, child's name, etc. On the other hand, it should be something that you can memorize, because your access to the System will be revoked upon three unsuccessful attempts to log-on, and you will then have to contact us to regain access to the System. Nevertheless, it is important that you not write your password down, as it could be used on the System by anyone who finds the password. You authorize us to act on instructions received through the System under your password. You accept responsibility for the confidentiality and security of your password and agree to change your password regularly.

 SECURITY: You understand the importance of your role in preventing misuse of your accounts through the System and you agree to promptly examine your paper statement for each of your Bank accounts as soon as you receive it. Your password and login ID are intended to provide security against unauthorized entry and access to your accounts through the System. Data transferred via the System is encrypted in an effort to provide transmission security and the System utilizes identification technology to verify that the sender and receiver of all System transmissions can be appropriately identified by each other. Notwithstanding our efforts to insure that the System is secure, you acknowledge that the Internet is inherently insecure and that all data transfers, including electronic mail, occur openly on the Internet, and potentially can be monitored and read by others. We cannot and do not warrant that all data transfers utilizing the System, or e-mail transmitted to and from us, will not be monitored or read by others.

 FEES AND CHARGES: You agree to pay the fees and charges for your use of the System as set forth in the current fee schedule. You agree that all such fees and charges will be deducted from the Bank checking account designated as the "Primary Checking Account" or any other account you maintain at the Bank.  If you close your Primary Checking Account, you must contact us immediately to designate another account as your Primary Checking Account. You agree to pay any additional reasonable charges for services you request which are not covered by this Agreement. You are also responsible for telephone and Internet service fees you incur in connection with your use of the System.

 LIMITS ON TRANSFERS AND TRANSACTIONS: We reserve the right to limit the frequency and dollar amount of any transactions at any time for security reasons.  You cannot initiate transfers using Esquire Bank Internet Banking to or from Certificate or IRA accounts, or any restricted accounts.  Transfers will occur on the same business day if made prior to 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Business days are Monday through Friday excluding holidays.

 OVERDRAFTS (ORDER OF PAYMENTS, TRANSFERS, AND OTHER WITHDRAWALS): If your account does not have sufficient funds to cover all transactions presented for payment or debit transfer on a given business day, currency and other disbursements, such as over the counter withdrawals, withdrawals in the form of cashiers checks, certain Automated Teller Machine or Point of Sale transactions and deposits that are returned from the payor institution unpaid will be given first priority. Whether all items are honored or some or all of them are dishonored, non-sufficient funds charges may be assessed pursuant to the terms of the deposit agreement for that account.

 LIMITS ON AMOUNTS AND FREQUENCY OF SYSTEM TRANSACTIONS: The number of transfers from money market and savings are limited pursuant to the terms of the applicable deposit agreement. No more than six payments and transfers are permitted from such accounts per monthly statement cycle, or by use of a debit card at a Point of Sale terminal. For these purposes, "payments and transfers" include all transfers to another of your accounts (including a transaction account) at the Bank or to a third party by means of a:

If you exceed the limitations set forth above, we reserve the right to discontinue your Esquire Bank Internet Banking service.

 E-MAIL CAPABILITIES AND LIMITATIONS: The Esquire Bank Internet Banking service includes e-mail capabilities allowing you to send and receive electronic e-mail messages to and from the Bank. The Bank will not immediately receive and review e-mail messages that you send and will NOT process any request for a funds transfer received via e-mail. Further, the Bank may not act upon requests for Stop Payments, requests for replacement passwords, reports of lost or stolen passwords or unauthorized transactions reports of lost or stolen ATM or MASTERCARD Cards, or on any other request in which the Bank would normally require written notification or your authorizing signature, without first confirming the authenticity of the e-mail request/notification via telephone. In some instances, written confirmation reflecting your authorizing signature may still be required. The Bank will not take action based on your e-mail requests until the Bank actually receives your message and has a reasonable opportunity to act. If your request requires immediate attention, contact the Bank directly at (800) 996-0213

 E-MAIL IS NOT SECURE:  E-mail transmissions are not secure.  We recommend that you do not send us or ask for sensitive information via any general or public e-mail system.

 RESPONSES BY E-MAIL:  You agree that the Bank may respond to you by e-mail with regard to any non-confidential matter related to Esquire Bank Internet Banking.  Any such message we send you shall be considered received within three days of the date sent, regardless of whether you check your e-mail messages within that time frame.

 DISCLOSURE OF ACCOUNT INFORMATION AND TRANSFERS: You understand information about your accounts or the transfers you make may be disclosed to others. For example, tax laws require disclosure to the government of the amount of interest you earn, and some transactions, such as large currency and foreign transactions must be reported to the government. We may also provide information about your accounts to persons or companies we believe would use the information for reasonable purposes, such as when a prospective creditor seeks to verify information you may have given in a credit application or a merchant calls to verify a check you have written. In addition, we routinely inform credit bureaus when accounts are closed because they were not handled properly. You agree and hereby authorize all of these transfers of information. We may also seek information about you from others, such as a credit bureau, in connection with the opening or maintaining of your account or in connection with approving your access to the System. You hereby authorize us to obtain such information

PERIODIC STATEMENTS: You will not receive a separate System statement. Payments and transfers to and from your accounts using the System will appear on the respective periodic paper statements for your Bank accounts. These statements will contain information regarding each transaction made under this Agreement, including the amount and date of the transfer or payment, the number of each account involved in the transfer or payment, the payee of each payment, all fees for use of the System, beginning and ending account balances, the address and telephone number to call if you have questions or there are errors on your statement, and other information about your accounts.

 CHANGE IN TERMS: We may change any term of this Agreement at any time. Such changes may include, among other things, changes to our fee schedule (including adding new fees where none existed before), and changes in the System services, addition of new terms to this Agreement or elimination of some of the provisions in this Agreement. If the change will or might result in increased fees for any System service, increased liability for you, fewer types of available electronic fund transfers, or stricter limitations on the frequency or dollar amount of transfers, we will give you notice before the effective date of any such change as required by law or regulation, unless an immediate change is necessary to maintain the security of an account or the System. Our notification of a change in terms will be sent to you by regular mail or e-mail or it will be posted on the Bank’s System website, provided that in the latter instance, we will notify you by e-mail of the existence of the change in terms notice, so that you will know to look for it on the website. If you decide not to accept a change in terms applicable to the System, you must terminate your enrollment before the change becomes effective. We reserve the right to waive, reduce or reverse charges or fees in individual situations. Changes to fees applicable to specific accounts are governed by the applicable deposit agreements and disclosures.

 IN CASE OF ERRORS OR QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR ELECTRONIC TRANSFERS, INCLUDING BILL PAYMENTS: Telephone us at (800) 996-0213 or write us at 320 Old Country Road, Suite 101, Garden City, NY 11530- as soon as you can, if you think your statement is wrong, or if you need more information about a transfer listed on your statement. We must hear from you no later than 60 days after we sent the FIRST paper statement upon which the problem or error appeared. When you contact us:

 If you tell us orally by telephone or by e-mail, we may require that you send us your complaint or question in written format by postal mail or fax within 10 business days.

We will determine whether an error occurred within 10 business days after we hear from you and will correct any error promptly. If we need more time, however, we may take up to 45 days to investigate your complaint or question. If we decide to do this, we will credit your account within 10 business days 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.

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.  If a notice of error involves an electronic fund transfer that occurred within thirty (30) days after the first deposit to the account was made, the applicable time periods for the actions shall be twenty (20) business days in place of ten (10) business days.

 OUR LIABILITY FOR FAILURE TO MAKE A TRANSFER: If we do not complete a transfer to or from your account, including a bill payment, on time or in the correct amount, according to our agreement with you when you have properly instructed us to do so, we will be liable to you for your losses or damages caused as a result. However, there are some exceptions. We will NOT be liable, for instance:

 YOUR LIABILITY FOR UNAUTHORIZED TRANSFERS: Contact us AT ONCE if you believe your password has been lost, stolen, used without your authorization, or otherwise compromised, or if someone has transferred or may transfer money from your accounts without your permission. An immediate telephone call to us is the best way to keep your possible losses down. You could lose all the money in your accounts (plus your maximum overdraft line of credit, if any). If you contact us within 2 business days, you can lose no more than $50 if someone used your password without your permission.

If you do NOT contact us within 2 business days after you learn of the loss, theft, compromise, or unauthorized use of your password, and we can prove we could have stopped someone from using your password to access your accounts without your permission if you had told us, you could lose as much as $500.

Also, if your paper statement shows transfers that you did not make, contact us at once. If you do not tell us within 60 days after the paper statement was mailed to you, you may not get back any money you lost through transactions made after the 60 day time period 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 along trip or hospital stay) kept you from contacting us, we will extend the time periods. If you believe your password has been lost, stolen, or otherwise compromised, or that someone has transferred or may transfer money from your account without your permission, call (800) 996-0213, or write to 320 Old Country Road Suite 101, Garden City, NY 11530.

 RIGHT TO STOP PAYMENT AND PROCEDURE FOR DOING SO: If you have told us in advance to make regular payments out of your account, you can stop any of these payments. Here's how:

Call us at (800) 996-0213 or write us at 320 Old Country Suite 101, Garden City, NY 11530, in time for us to receive your request 3 business days or more before the payment is scheduled to be made. If you call, we may also require you to put your request in writing and get it to us within 14 days after you call. (We will charge you for each stop-payment order you give in accordance with our fee schedule.)

If you order us to stop one of these payments 3 business days or more before the transfer is scheduled, and we do not do so, we will be liable for your losses or damages.

 DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: We make no warranty of any kind, express or implied, including any implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose, in connection with the System services provided to you under this Agreement. We do not and cannot warrant that the System will operate without errors, or that any or all the System services will be available and operational at all times. Consequently, you agree that our liability in connection with your use of the System shall be limited to the circumstances and, where there is an amount limitation, the amount limitation specified above in the event that you incur a loss through your use or someone's unauthorized use of the System to affect your accounts.

 TERMINATION AND AUTOMATIC DEACTIVATION OF SERVICE: You may terminate your Esquire Bank Internet Banking service at any time by providing written notice to the Bank and immediately discontinuing use of the System.  You are solely responsible for notifying any participating merchants (when applicable) that you have terminated your bill payment transfer capabilities. If you do not utilize  Bank Internet Banking service (by not logging on to the service) for a three-consecutive-month period, your access to the System will automatically be deactivated. If this occurs and you wish to reactivate your Esquire Bank Internet Banking service, you must contact the Bank by telephone or in person. We reserve the right to require written reapplication before we reactivate your Esquire Bank Internet Banking system access. The Bank may also terminate the Esquire Bank Internet Banking service and this Agreement and Disclosure at any time by giving you advance notification, either orally or in writing. Whether you or the Bank terminates your Esquire Bank Internet Banking Service and this Agreement and Disclosure, the termination shall not affect your obligations under this Agreement and Disclosure for any transfers or payments made prior to termination.

 OUR RIGHT TO LIMIT ACCESS TO THE SYSTEM: You agree that we can limit your access to the System for any reason, including if you have insufficient funds in any one of your Bank accounts to cover a transaction you have initiated. Access to the System may be reinstated at our sole discretion.

 Confidentiality: Your right to privacy is important to us. See our Privacy Statement for a full explanation of our privacy policies.  In general, we will not disclose information about your account or the transfers you make except when disclosure is necessary to complete a transfer; when disclosure is requested in order to verify the existence and condition of your account for a third party, such as a credit bureau or merchant; or when disclosure is required to comply with government agency or court orders or is authorized or permitted by law; or when you give us your permission; or as otherwise set forth in this Agreement  (particularly the Section entitled “Disclosure of Account Information and Transfers”) or our Privacy Statement. 

 ENFORCEMENT: You agree to be liable to the Bank for any liability, loss, or expense as provided in this Agreement that the Bank incurs as a result of any dispute involving your accounts or services. You authorize the Bank to deduct any such liability, loss, or expense from your account without prior notice to you. In the event either party brings a legal action to enforce this Agreement or collect any overdrawn funds on accounts accessed under this Agreement, the prevailing party shall be entitled, subject to New York law, to payment by the other party of its reasonable attorneys' fees and costs, including fees on any appeal, bankruptcy proceedings, and any post-judgment collection actions, if applicable. Should any one or more provisions of this Agreement be determined illegal or unenforceable in any relevant jurisdiction, then such provision may be modified by the proper court, if possible, but only to the extent necessary to make the provision enforceable, and any such modification shall not affect any other provision of this Agreement.

 GOVERNING LAW: This Agreement is made in New York and shall be governed by the laws of the State of New York to the extent that New York Law is not inconsistent with controlling Federal law. You also understand that New York’s "Choice of Law Rules" will not be applied if they would result in the application of non-New York law.

Account Disclosures | Privacy | Security | Careers | Site Map
© 2008 Esquire Bank. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender. All rights reserved.