Ultimate Student Checking

Arkansas Federal Credit Union now has the perfect checking account for the busy student! Developed specifically with students in mind, AFCU's Ultimate Student Checking Account has all the great features of our Free Checking Account with the added bonus of one overdraft fee refund per calendar year!

The whole idea of being a student is to learn, right? So AFCU has developed this account so students can learn how to use a checking account without incurring a penalty if you make one little mistake. The Ultimate Student Checking Accounts includes:

• Free e-Statements
• Free Online Account Access
• Free Unlimited Internet Bill Payment
• Free Online Check Images
• Free e-Alerts sent to your cell phone or e-mail address
• Free Instant Issue Visa® Check Card with Debit Rewards
• No monthly service fees
• No per check fee
• Low $25.00 minimum deposit to open
• No minimum balance required
• One Free Overdraft Fee Refund per calendar year

Visa® Check Card with Rewards

Arkansas Federal's Visa® Check Card is a safe, simple, and convenient alternative to carrying a checkbook or cash. Present the Visa® Check Card and your purchase will be deducted directly from your Checking Account. There's no interest to pay, and you will enjoy immediate approval at the register. In addition, for cash-on-the-run, use your Visa® Check Card at any Arkansas Federal-owned ATM for instant cash with no fee.

AFCU Debit Rewards Program

Want a flat-screen TV, a nifty new DVD player or how about a roundtrip plane ticket to just about anywhere in the world? Then the AFCU Debit Reward Program is for you. Your debit card will automatically earn points toward free merchandise, travel, shopping, entertainment, or airline miles.

Debit rewards can only be earned on signature purchases using your debit card. No rewards are earned on PIN transactions, ATM withdrawals or for receiving cash back from a grocer or another merchant.

Earn one (1) point for every $2.00 when signing for purchases or selecting the "credit" option (PIN transactions not included). You will receive a monthly statement showing your points earned. Reward points expire after 48 months, for more information on how you can redeem your points visit www.scorecardrewards.com .

The Difference Between "Debit" and "Credit"

Debit - If you choose "debit" at the register, the transaction is processed through the ATM network, you must use a personal identification number (PIN).

Credit - If you choose credit at the register, the transaction is processed through the Visa® network. When you choose credit and sign for the purchase, it actually helps your credit union and other members because Visa® transactions are more efficient and less costly than ATM transactions.

Falcon Alert helps Prevent Debit and Credit Card Fraud

Arkansas Federal Credit Union subscribes to a state-of-the-art technology called Falcon, to help prevent potential debit and credit card fraud. Based on previous card usage, if a debit or credit card purchase looks suspicious, we’ll try to contact you at your primary, secondary or alternate phone numbers to verify if the card was used by its rightful owner—or determine if the account has fallen into the wrong hands. If the account is being used fraudulently, we can prevent additional activity from occurring.

For Falcon to work, you may receive a call from an AFCU representative asking you about the purchase made with your AFCU Visa® Check Card (also known as a debit card), VISA® Classic, Visa® Secured Credit or Platinum Rewards MasterCard®. We'll ask you to take a moment to verify your debit card or credit card account activity.  Note:  AFCU will not ask you any debit or credit card number specifics or AFCU account specifics.

What You Can Do to Help

Because the Falcon system relies heavily on accurate contact information, it’s important for members to keep that information current. Please keep AFCU informed of your current address and phone numbers. If you move or change your phone, you can complete a change of address form to update your address or phone numbers or add any additional contact phone numbers.

Traveling Out of the Area?

If you are planning to travel and use your AFCU debit or credit card in an area where you don’t usually use your card, please take note of the following information. Contact AFCU that you are planning on traveling outside your area and provide us with the dates and locations that you plan on traveling to so that we can notify Falcon.  It's best to have more than one method for spending and payments. Besides your AFCU debit or credit card, take an additional form of payment, such as travelers cheques. Our Card Services Department may not be able to contact you if you are in a foreign country for instance, and you want to make sure you have another method of payment if your card is temporarily blocked due to unusual activity. For more information, call 501.982.1000 or 800.456.3000 for more details.

Free Real-Time Online Account Access

The Arkansas Federal Internet Branch puts you in control of your Checking Account from the comfort of your home or office, 24-hours a day. Simply access our Internet Branch from your personal computer to receive up-to-the-minute balance information on any of your credit union accounts or to perform account transactions, including Internet Bill Payment.

With our Internet Branch, you are instantly connected to a wealth of up-to-the-minute credit union information. What's more, as a member you have direct access to your account to perform any number of Member's Choice transactions, like paying bills, transferring funds, or stopping payment on a check. It's just one more innovative feature designed to make Arkansas Federal's services more flexible and convenient. At Arkansas Federal, members have More Options and More Choices to access their account.

Using the Money Export, you can transform your credit union account information into a file to download to your computer. Once downloaded onto your hard drive, this file can then be imported into your personal financial management software such as Microsoft Money™.

Signing up for Account Access can be done quickly and easily online. Just have your member number and access code (your secret, four-digit number) handy when you log on to the Internet Branch. From our homepage, enter your member number and access code, and complete the step-by-step registration process.

Once your registration is processed, you will be able to start managing your accounts online immediately. When you are finished accessing your accounts the Sign Off button returns you to the Home page.

When you need credit union information at a glance and access to your accounts at your fingertips, there is no better tool than Arkansas Federal's Internet Branch. Your personal computer is your direct, anytime link to credit union services-from home, school, or anywhere in the world.

Free E-Alerts

Arkansas Federal's Internet Account Access has some wonderful options to help you manage your accounts more efficiently. With either e-mail or text notification, you can be sent information when either your credit card or deposit account reaches a pre-determined amount or when a particular check clears.

Notifications are simple to use just click on the notification you desire, enter the specifics, and type in your e-mail address or the e-mail address to your cell phone. An e-mail or text message will be sent to you overnight when the parameters you set have been met.

Some popular cell phone companies have e-mail addresses for your cell phone:
Alltel - yournumber@message.alltel.com
Sprint - yournumber@messaging.sprintpcs.com
Nextel - yournumber@messaging.nextel.com
AT&T - yournumber@txt.att.net
Verizon - your number@vtext.com

Member to Member Account Transfers

Arkansas Federal Credit Union recognizes the fact that members need the ability to transfer funds from accounts under one member number to accounts under another member number.

With member-to-member transfer that is now possible! If you are listed jointly on ANY AFCU membership, you may now transfer money from one member number to another through Account Access. First, you will need to contact the Call Center and request that member to member transfers be enabled on any accounts that you are listed jointly. Once this has been enabled, you will login to Account Access and select the Account Transfers tab. Select what membership/account you would like to transfer money FROM. Then select the membership/account that you would like to transfer money TO. AFCU members may also schedule recurring transfers through Account Access with the Scheduled Account Transfers tab.

To request member-to-member transfer, simply contact our Call Center at 501.982.1000 in central Arkansas or 800.456.3000 outside central Arkansas and speak with one of our Call Center Representatives during normal business hours.

Free Unlimited Internet Bill Payment

Use Internet Bill Payment, in conjunction with your Free Checking Account, to pay your bills electronically rather than by writing and mailing paper checks. You can set up any individual or company you choose to receive a check. You can also schedule recurring payments and verify past payments.

To sign up, simply log on to Account Access and click on the Bill Payment button. Follow the prompts, fill in the proper information, and submit your request. Your Internet Bill payment account should be operational within 3-5 business days.

Secure Internet Transactions

Arkansas Federal recognizes the importance of safe and secure transmissions of your personal financial information via the Internet or any other communication medium.

Our Account Access and Bill Payment services are designed with state-of-the-art security safeguards that allow you to access your account via the Internet in a way that does not expose your primary member records. To protect your privacy, Account Access and Bill Payment utilize Netscape's Secure Socket Layer (SSL) 128-bit encryption and authentication systems.

To determine if your browser supports 128-bit encryption, click on "Help" in the toolbar of your Internet browser and click on "About browser name". A pop-up box or window will display. For Internet Explorer - Next to "Cipher strength" you should see "128-bit". For Netscape - the following text should appear: "This version supports high-grade (128-bit) security with RSA Public Key Cryptography". If your browser does not support 128-bit encryption, you will need to upgrade to a browser that does in order to continue to access secure pages of the website. Recommended browsers include: Netscape Navigator 4.75 or higher, Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher, and AOL 6 or higher, but other browsers that support 128-bit encryption may also work.

Free E-Statements

If you sign up for AFCU Internet Account Access, you are automatically enrolled in e-Statements. E-Statements offer more security and convenience than mailing paper statements. Each month you will receive an e-mail reminder that your statement is available for viewing. Then simply log into Account Access and click on the e-Statement tab to view your statement. You may also elect to print a paper copy or save your statement to your computers hard drive for future reference.

Electronic Check Images

After your check has cleared our system, your check number will appear as a link on the Account Summary page of Account Access. Simply click on the check number to see an image of the front and back of your check.

Automatic Overdraft Protection

In the event that you write checks in excess of your checking balance, Arkansas Federal provides three automatic overdraft protection options:

1. Your Arkansas Federal Visa® Classic or Platinum Rewards MasterCard® will automatically be advanced in $1.00 increments that are transferred directly into your Checking Account. There is no fee for this service but interest begins to accrue from the date of transfer, there is no grace period.
2. If you do not have an Arkansas Federal Visa® or Platinum Rewards MasterCard®, overdrafts will be covered by transferring funds, also in $1.00 increments, from your Share Savings Account. Federal regulations limit overdraft protection transfers from a non-transaction account, such as Share Savings Account, to six (6) per calendar month. Each time a transfer is made, your account is charged a nominal service charge.
3. If funds to cover the overdrafts are not available from other sources, then eligible members have a third line of defense with Privilege Pay.  Privilege Pay will pay any item presented for payment against your AFCU checking account that might cause your account to be overdrawn up to $500 (this includes the $24 Privilege Pay fee).

Direct Deposit

Safe and hassle-free, Direct Deposit enables you to have your paycheck automatically deposited into your Savings or Checking Account each payday. Tell us how you would like the funds automatically distributed or your have control through Account Access to distribute your funds how you want.

A Variety of Convenient Ways to Apply

An Ultimate Student Checking Account may be opened at any Arkansas Federal branch office or by contacting the Call Center at 982-1000 in central Arkansas or 800-456-3000 outside central Arkansas.