Coastline Federal Credit Union engages BSG Financial Group to improve performance and benefits of its discretionary overdraft program

BSG Financial Group, a provider of revenue-enhancing programs and compliance solutions for financial institutions nationwide, announced today that Jacksonville, Fla.-based Coastline Federal Credit Union has selected the company’s CourtesyConnect®/CourtesyLimit™ technology to manage its discretionary overdraft service, in order to provide a safe, short-term liquidity option for members who need to purchase necessities when they are short on funds.

According to credit union officials, Coastline Federal Credit Union—with $129 million in assets—selected BSG Financial Group to help the credit union update and improve its existing overdraft management technology and procedures. “We had not reviewed our discretionary overdraft program in many years,” said Donna Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of Coastline Federal Credit Union, “and we felt there was newer technology and proven strategies to help us better serve our members.” Credit union officials were particularly impressed with the CourtesyConnect/CourtesyLimit software, which tracks a myriad of key data points—such as member usage, Regulation E decisions, overdraft channels, and debit transactions denied for reason of NSF (also known as debit denials)—to assist the credit union in monitoring and adjusting the program to fit an individual’s financial situation and the credit union’s risk tolerance.

“The ability to track debit denials will be a service game-changer for us,” said Johnson. “With this tool, our member service team will be able to proactively reach out to our members who have had their debit card declined for reason of NSF, educate them about the causes and let them know they have choices at Coastline FCU, including opting in to the discretionary program for debit card use.”

In addition to tracking debit denials, Johnson said the credit union is looking forward to the service and compliance benefits of moving from fixed overdraft limits to dynamic overdraft limits, which change based on the member’s ability to repay an overdraft and its corresponding fees. The CourtesyConnect®/CourtesyLimit™ software calculates daily overdraft limits each member enrolled in the overdraft program based on algorithms that analyze multiple account data points. “Dynamic limits will allow us to better manage risk and treat our members as individuals and not a group or product type,” Johnson said. Dynamic limits also help the credit union meet regulators’ guidelines for monitoring the “individual credit worthiness of account holders."

The credit union became aware of BSG Financial Group’s overdraft expertise after attending the company’s educational webinar, “What Has Your Overdraft Provider Done for You Lately?” last March. “I saw the webinar promoted on the CBANC Network and I was intrigued,” said Johnson. “I’m so glad I attended. It was definitely one of the most valuable hours of my work day!”

In addition to hosting educational webinars throughout the year, BSG Financial Group provides its CourtesyConnect/CourtesyLimit clients with a comprehensive set of best practices; conducts an annual review of each institution’s overdraft program performance and procedures; and offers compliance updates and users’ calls to keep clients abreast of industry developments.