About the savings account

• This account is a savings account, which is meant to be used to help you save money for when you need it.
• This account is not intended for making day-to-day transactions. This account is for your personal use only and you must not use this account for any business purposes.
• You can’t transfer any of your rights and obligations in relation to your account, or your account itself, to another person.
• You must not overdraw this account
  
  
  

Paying Money In

• Money can be paid into your accounts in various ways:
• Standing Order
• Payroll Deduction (from participating employers)
• BACS transfer from another bank account or payee (such as your employer or benefits payments)– please note that a BACS transfer from another account may take up to 3 working days
• Faster Payment
• Transfer from another account within the Credit Union
• Cash at a branch or collection point (providing that the branch or collection point has the facilities to accept payment in cash)
• Cheque by post, at a branch or collection point
• Or any other methods which may be introduced
  
  
  

Cheque deposits

When you deposit a cheque, the dividend will begin to accumulate from the day it is deposited. Please note the cheque will need to be deposited in a branch before 3.30pm to be included in that day’s deposits. A cheque that is sent by post will be deemed to be deposited when it is received by us.

If you pay money into your account by cheque, the cheque will be put through a clearing process. The following timescales will apply. We call the day we receive the cheque ‘Day T’ (Day of Transaction – ‘Day’ is a working day) and subsequent days are called Day T+1, Day T+2 and so on. On Day T: You will start to earn a dividend On Day T+2: Your cheque will enter the clearing process* On Day T+8: You can withdraw your money (if your account allows this)

By the end of Day 8 you can be certain that the money is yours and cannot be reclaimed without your permission (if you have not deliberately committed fraud).  However up until the end of Day 8 a cheque may still bounce, and the money may be reclaimed from your account. Up until the beginning of Day 8 you will not be able to withdraw any money against the cheque.

*Because the Credit Union is not a clearing bank our cheques from branches are posted to head office for banking. Should we experience additional delays we will try to let you know.

Important Notes:

• Only bank working days are counted when calculating these timescales. Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays in England are not bank working days
• Our ‘cut off time’ is 3.30pm. If you deposit a cheque after this time, Day T will begin the next day
• Also remember that if a cheque is paid in on a Saturday, Day T will be the following Monday (although dividend will accrue from the Saturday)
• Different timescales would apply if you chose to deposit your cheque into an account with a clearing bank (it would be available for withdrawal earlier).

Withdrawing Money

Money can be withdrawn from your accounts in various ways:

• Via faster payment online 24 hours a day 7 days a week. If you have made a mistake and think you’ve sent money to an incorrect account number via faster payment you need to let us know as soon as possible.  Funds sent to an invalid bank account will come back to us automatically and will be re allocated to your account.  If you have sent funds to a valid bank account we will make best endeavours to claim back your funds.  However, we may not be able to recover the funds for you, in this situation we will give you information on the next options
• In branch, or via phone 09.30 – 16.00 Mon-Fri.
• BACS transfer to another bank account – please note that a BACS transfer to another account may take up to 3 working days
• By transfer to another account within the Credit Union
• Cash at a branch
• Cheque
• CHAPS payment (a charge may be applied)
• Loading onto a pre-paid card and withdrawing at an ATM or ‘cash back’ in a shop
• Or any other methods which may be introduced
  
  

Stopping money being paid into or taken out of your account

We may stop all activity or specific payments or withdrawals on your account if we reasonably suspect fraudulent or unlawful activity on your account. We may also refuse to carry out a withdrawal on your account if you are unable to make the withdrawal under your account terms or if:

• we reasonably believe that you did not give us the instruction;
• your instructions are unclear, incomplete or the details of the account you want funds transferred to are incorrect
• it might cause us to act contrary to a law, regulation, code of practice, court order or other duty which applies to us; or
• there is not enough money in your account, or we have been put on notice of a dispute or we have notified you that we intend to exercise our right of off-set.

We can suspend or cancel your right to use your passwords or login details for Telephone Banking, the Internet Bank or our Banking app at any time where:

• we suspect your security information is being used without your authorisation or fraudulently
• we have concerns relating to the security of the device you have used to request the payment.

Where we think that urgent action is unnecessary, we will give you at least seven days’ notice before we do this. In all other cases, we will do it without telling you first and will tell you immediately after. However, we can only tell you when it would not be unlawful to do so.

If money is taken out of your account without permission

• If you believe someone has withdrawn money from your account without your permission, you can claim a refund provided you tell us as soon as possible and no later than xx months from the date the withdrawal came out of your account.
• If you tell us about an unauthorised withdrawal, we will investigate, and normally we will refund you by the end of the next working day to put your account back into the position it would have been in if the withdrawal had not been made.
• If we have reason to suspect that you may not be due a refund, we may delay making a refund to you until our investigation is complete. If we need your help to investigate or take action against the person(s) responsible, you must cooperate.
• In some cases, you may not be due a full refund and we may reduce the amount we refund you as follows:
  • If you act with intent or with ‘gross negligence’ in failing to comply with these terms and conditions (‘gross negligence’ means that something you have or have not done was very obviously wrong or careless such as not taking the steps to protect the security of your account details as set out in the section dealing with “Member security requirements”) In these circumstances we will deduct from your refund all amounts taken from your account before you report to us that your account security has been compromised.
  • If you act fraudulently, you will get no refund at all from us.

To tell us about an unauthorised withdrawal, report it at our head office branch (Clockwise Credit Union, 1st Nicolas Place Leicester, LE1 5LB) during opening hours or call us 01162423900.

If money is paid into account by mistake 

• If someone has paid money into your account by mistake, we may be asked to pay it back. If we receive a request to return a payment, we will investigate and if we reasonably believe the request to be legitimate, we will stop you withdrawing those funds while we try to contact you. If you do not tell us that you do not agree that the payment has been made into your account by mistake, by the date set out in our communication to you, we will deduct the money from your account and return it.
• If we do not return money which the payer’s bank believes has been paid into your account by mistake, we are legally obliged to provide information to the payer’s bank about you, your account and the payment in order that the payer can seek to recover the money.

Earning Interest

• In this agreement, when we refer to a “working day”, this will not include Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays. When we refer to a “month” this means a calendar month.
• The Key Product Information tells you how and when we pay interest on your account. We will provide you with the rate of interest that applies to your account, at account opening.
• Interest is calculated on each whole pound in the account and not on the pence and in this agreement when we refer to interest being calculated on the money in the account this means interest calculated on whole pounds only.
• When it is not a leap year, interest is calculated on a daily basis using the annual interest rate divided by 365 days. In a leap year, interest will be calculated on a daily basis using the annual interest rate divided by 366 days, however, you will receive a day’s interest on any money in your account on 29 February.
• Except for money paid in by cheque, we start calculating interest on money in your account from the date it is received by us. Please see the section “Paying money into your account” for details of when we start to calculate interest on money paid in by cheque. Interest continues to be calculated on the money in your account up to (but not including) the day it is taken out.
• If the date for payment of interest is not a working day, it will be paid on the next working day and backdated to the due date.
• If (where you are allowed to do so) you have chosen for interest to be paid to another account and the total amount of accrued interest is less than £1 on the date that interest is due to be paid, then it will not be paid on that date. The accrued interest will instead be paid on the next due date, provided that the total amount accrued is then £1 or more. Any accrued interest will always be paid when your account is closed.
• You, or the beneficiary, where you hold the account as a “bare trustee” (for example where you are holding money on behalf of a child), may have to pay income tax on the interest or other taxes and costs which are not charged by us. You can find out more by contacting your local tax office or by visiting hmrc.gov.uk

Closing Account

• If you open an account and then change your mind, you can tell us you want to close it within 14 days from the date we opened your account or you received a copy of the account terms and conditions if this was later.
• If you are within the 14 day period, we will return the money you have paid in and we will not deduct any interest you have earned to date or other charges or fees you would otherwise have to pay for closing your account. You must repay all the amounts you are responsible for under this agreement within 14 days of notifying us of cancellation (e.g. if we need to honour any cheques).

• If you do not close your account within the 14 day period, your account will continue until closed by either one of us, or if you have an account with a fixed end date, it will continue until that end date.
• Outside the initial 14 day period, you can close your account at any time by phoning or writing to us at Clockwise Credit Union, 1 st Nicolas Pace Leicester, LE1 5LB.

• Requests to close your account can only be carried out when all the funds in the account are cleared.

• We can also close your account by giving you at least 30 days notice, but if you have a fixed rate product, that will not be before the end of the fixed rate term.

• We may also close any types of accounts, including fixed rate products, immediately in exceptional circumstances, for example, where one of these things happens:
  • we are legally required to close the account
  • you have carried out (or we reasonably suspect you have carried out) illegal or fraudulent activity on the account
  • you have committed a serious breach of the terms of your account or have repeatedly breached the terms
  • we find out that you were not eligible to open the account
  • you have been threatening or abusive towards our staff
  • you haven’t provided us with information we have requested about your identity or liability for tax
  • we reasonably consider that by continuing with this agreement we may break a law, regulation, code, court order or other duty; or we may be exposed to action from any government, regulator or law enforcement agency.

• If all the account holder dies, (other than if that person is a nominee or trustee) the balance in the account together with interest and any bonus will be paid to the personal representatives without notice or loss of interest.

• If you have a balance of £100 or under and a period of 12 months passes without any transactions on your account (or on any accounts if your have more than one), we will contact you in writing to let you know that your account in due to become dormant. This letter will inform you of the next stage and any subsequent charges that will become due because of the account dormant status
  
  
  

Right of offset for amounts owed to Clockwise

• If any account holder owes us money which is due for payment (for example on a loan), we can use any money you have in any of your accounts with us to repay or reduce the amount you owe us. This is called a right of “off-set”. This right will apply to all sums you owe to us. Unless the law or other restrictions prevents it (for example, we will not exercise our right of off-set to use any money that we think you need to meet essential living expenses or certain important debts to which we must give priority, or use any money you have told us isn’t yours).
• We don’t allow anyone aged under 18 to borrow money from us.
  
  
  

Complaints

If you are not satisfied with any aspect of our service or products, you can tell us about your concern in the following ways:

• Visit a branch – visit any of our branches and speak to a member of staff. For details of the opening times of your nearest branch, please call us on 0116 2423 900 or see our website www.clockwise.coop
• Write – address your letter to the Complaints Officer, Clockwise Credit Union, 1 St. Nicholas Place, Leicester LE1 5LB
• Telephone – please call 0116 2423 900. to speak to a member of our Member Service Team who will be pleased to help you.
• A copy of our Complaints Procedure can also be obtained via post, in branch or online at www.clockwise.coop

You must give the Credit Union chance to resolve any complaint before taking your issue further.  The best way to complain depends how the situation arose. If you are already dealing with a member of staff, then contact that person or their Supervisor directly either by telephone or by letter. You could also make an appointment to see them in person. Many complaints are due to a misunderstanding and can often be resolved instantly. If you have followed these guidelines and are still unhappy, please address your complaint directly to the Complaints Officer.

If you would like to make a written complaint, please include the following:

• Your full name, address and any reference or membership number, at the top of the letter
• The date you made your complaint
• Write a brief summary of your complaint at the beginning of your letter
• List the facts clearly and in the order of events
• Send photocopies of any relevant documents

If you are not satisfied with how we have dealt with your complaint you can refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service within six months of receiving our final response. You can also refer your complaint to them without giving us the opportunity to resolve it, but if you do this, they will only consider your complaint with our consent.

The Financial Ombudsman Service provides a free, independent, complaint resolution service. Details about their service and how to refer a complaint to them can be found on their website at financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Changes to T&C’s or variation of interest

If we want to make a change to any of the terms and conditions for your account, we can do so for one or more of the reasons set out below. Any change we make will be proportionate to the reason we need to make it.

We can make different types of changes for different reasons as follows:

If we want to:

• change the interest rate (but we will not change it during a fixed rate period)
• introduce, remove or change interest rate tiering (where a different interest rate applies depending on the balance in your account)
• introduce or change an account fee for holding your account with us
• change the notice you must give us to withdraw money
• change the interest you lose or fees you pay for closing your account early, we can do so for one of these reasons:

(a) To ensure the rates and/or account fees are consistent with those we offer new members, or to reflect changes that other providers are making to rates or fees on similar savings products.

(b) To enable us to manage the overall costs to us of raising the money we lend to our members. This is because we use the money you save with us, together with money we raise from other financial institutions or investors, to lend to members. We have to balance the interest rates we pay you with both the rates we pay to borrow or raise other funds and with the interest rates we charge on our lending products. This means that your rate may change to respond to:

• changes to external benchmark interest rates, such as Bank of England base rate
• changes to the rates we need to charge to attract and retain lending to our members

(c) To respond to changes in the amount or composition of the capital our regulators require us to hold. (Capital is the amount of money we are required to hold in reserve to ensure we can continue to meet our financial obligations.)

(d) To maintain our financial strength for the benefit of our members.

If we are making any other type of change, including changing administrative fees, we can do so for one of the following reasons:

(a) As a result of changes in technology, or the way we want to provide services to our members, or to reflect changes in the way other providers deliver services.

(b) Because of changes in our ownership or a reorganisation due to us merging with or acquiring another business.

But we can make any of the changes in sections above for any of the following additional reasons:

(a) To respond to changes, or reasonably anticipated changes, in the law, regulations or codes of practice which apply to us or because of a decision by a court, ombudsman or regulator.

(b) Due to the changes in the costs we incur in running our business or those we incur in providing our existing or new services to you. Examples of these costs might include administrative costs, employment costs, building costs and technology costs.

(c) If we want to increase your interest rate or make another change which is to your advantage, we can do that for any reason.

(d) If your account has no fixed end date, we may also need to make changes for other reasons that impact on the way we run our business and your accounts, but which we have not yet been able to anticipate. If we do, we will explain the reason to you when we tell you about the change.

If we reduce the interest rate on your account and you have £1000 or more in your account, we will send you a personal notification at least 30 days before we make the change. If you want to, you then have 30 days from the date of notification, to tell us you want to close your account or switch to a different account. If you do that, you will not have to give any notice, pay any charges or suffer any loss of interest that might otherwise have applied. If we do not hear from you, we will regard you as accepting the change on the date it comes into effect.

If you have less than £1000 in your account, we will not send you a personal notification, but your new interest rate will be available in our branches and on our website.

If we increase your interest rate, we may not wait 30 days to pass this benefit onto you. But you will be notified within at least 30 days of the change taking place