PO Box 9750 • Bellingham WA 98227–9750
360.676.1168 • 800.525.8703
tty 800.833.6388 • www.wecu.com

WECU® CHOICE VISA CREDIT CARD AGREEMENT 
This Agreement covers this VISA Credit Card account, issued by Whatcom Educational Credit Union (WECU®). In this Agreement the 
words “you,” “your,” “yours,” “applicant,” and “Borrowers” mean any person who signs the application for this Account, any joint obligor, 
guarantor, authorized user, or the person whose name is embossed on the Card. The words “we,” “us,” “our,” and “Lender” mean Whatcom 
Educational Credit Union. The word “Card” means any one or more credit card(s) issued to you under the Credit Union’s WECU® Choice 
Visa Card program. If you sign an application for this Account or sign or use any Card or PIN, or allow others to use the Card or PIN, 
you and they will have accepted this Agreement just as if you and they signed it, and you and they, jointly and severally, will be bound by 
the following terms and conditions which will govern this Account.

TO REPORT A LOST OR STOLEN  VISA CARD: During regular business hours call WECU®, after hours and weekends call 800.682.6075.

1.  Responsibility.  If we issue you a Card, by signing or using your 
Card or account number for any transaction, you agree to repay all 
debts and the Interest Charge arising from the use of the Card and the 
Card account. For example, you are responsible for charges made by 
yourself, your spouse and minor children. You are also responsible for 
charges made by anyone else to whom you give the Card, and this re-
sponsibility continues until the Card is recovered. You cannot disclaim 
responsibility by notifying us, but we will close the account for new 
transactions if you so request and return all Cards. Your obligation to 
pay the account balance continues even though an agreement, divorce 
decree or other court judgment to which we are not a party may direct 
you or one of the other persons responsible to pay the account. Any 
person using the Card is jointly responsible with you for charges he or 
she makes, but if that person signs the Card he or she becomes a party 
to this agreement and is also jointly responsible for all charges on the 
account, including yours.

2.  Lost card notification. If you believe the Card has been lost or stolen, 
you will report it immediately. During regular business hours, call the 
Credit Union at 360.676.1168 or 800.525.8703, ext. 7360. After hours and 
on weekends call 800.682.6075.

3.  Liability for unauthorized use. You agree to notify us immediately, 
orally or in writing, of the loss, theft or unauthorized use of your Credit 
Card.  If you notify us of your lost or stolen credit card after discovery, 
you may not be liable for any losses related to credit transactions. You 
may not be liable for an unauthorized transaction, as long as you have 
exercised reasonable care in safeguarding the Card from risk of loss or 
theft, and upon becoming aware, you promptly report the loss or theft 
to us, otherwise your liability for unauthorized credit card transactions 
shall not exceed $50.

4.  Credit line. If we approve your application, we will establish a self-
replenishing Line of Credit for you and notify you of its amount when 
we issue the Card. You agree not to let the account balance exceed this 
approved Credit Line. Each payment you make on the account will restore 
your  Credit  Line  by  the  amount  of  the  payment,  which  is  applied  to 
principal. You may request an increase in your Credit Line only by written 
application to us, which must be approved by our credit committee or 
loan officer. By giving you written notice our credit committee may reduce 
your Credit Line from time to time, or with good cause, revoke your Card 
and terminate this Agreement. Good cause includes your failure to comply 
with this agreement or our adverse reevaluation of your credit worthiness. 
You may also terminate this Agreement at any time, but termination by 
either of us does not affect your obligation to pay the account balance. 
The Cards remain our property and you must recover and surrender to 
us all Cards upon our request and upon termination of this Agreement.

5.  Credit information. You authorize us to investigate your credit standing 

when opening, renewing or reviewing your account, and you authorize 
us to disclose information regarding your account to credit bureaus and 
other creditors who inquire of us about your credit standing, to the extent 
authorized in our bylaws.

6.  Monthly payment. 

A. Minimum  Monthly payment. We will mail you a statement every 
month if your account has a balance. You agree that you will pay each 
month not less than the minimum monthly payment on or before the 
scheduled monthly due date. The minimum monthly payment will be  
3.0% of your outstanding balance (“New Balance”) or $20.00, whichever 
is greater. If your outstanding balance is $20.00 or less, you agree to 
pay the balance in full. You may pay in full for all your purchases and 
cash advances each month, or you may repay in monthly installments. 
We can accept late payments or partial payments, or checks, drafts, 
or money orders marked “payment in full” without prejudice to our 
rights under this Agreement, which are hereby explicitly reserved. A 
credit posting from a merchant or reversal of fees do not constitute a 
minimum payment. The minimum monthly payment may be allocated 
at the Credit Union’s discretion to pay off lower rate balances, such as 
promotional offers, before higher rate balances, such as cash advances 
or purchases. Payments in excess of the minimum  monthly payment 
will be allocated first to higher rate balances, as applicable. From time 
to time, we may allow you to skip your minimum monthly payment 
due. If you choose to skip this payment, Interest Charges will continue 
to  accrue  in  accordance  with  this Agreement.  Payments  received  at 
Whatcom Educational Credit Union, PO Box 9750, Bellingham WA 
98227 at or before 5:00pm Pacific Time on any business day will be 
credited to your Account as of that date; payments received by mail at 
that address after 5:00pm Pacific Time, on a weekend or federal holiday 
will be posted to your Account as of the next business day. Payment 
crediting  to  your  Account  may  be  delayed  up  to  five  days  if  your 
payment is received by mail at any other address or not accompanied 
by the remittance portion of your Account statement.
B. Payment method. You may make your monthly payment by either 
an electronic or manual payment method. Electronic payment methods 
include payment transfers made through E-Max (online banking), Tele-
Max (automated telephone banking), periodic preauthorized debits or 
payroll deduction. Manual payment methods include payments made 
in person, by mail, or telephone instructions through the Call Center.

7.  Interest Charge. An Interest Charge  will be imposed on the portion 
of purchases included in the New Balance that remains unpaid within 25 
days after the closing date (within 23 days for the February statement due 
March 10th). This “grace period”  allows you to avoid an Interest Charge  
on  purchases  for  a  billing  cycle.  However,  if  you  do  not  pay  the  New 
Balance for purchases within the grace period, your Interest Charge will 
accrue on any unpaid purchase transactions from the date of purchase.
Your  Account  has  a  variable  rate  feature  and  the  Periodic  Rate  and 

corresponding Annual Percentage Rate (Interest Rate) and the number of 
payments may change as a result.  The total of the index plus the margin 
amount that we add is the Interest Rate.  The Interest Rate includes only 
interest and no other costs.  Any increase or decrease in the Interest Rate 
will affect the number of the monthly payments you will make. The Interest 
Rate is based on the value of an index and can change monthly effective 
the  first  day  of  the  billing  cycle.    The  index  is  The  Wall  Street  Journal 
Prime rate on the first day of each month as published in The Wall Street 
Journal.  We add a margin to the index, based on your creditworthiness. 
The margin for purchases, cash advances and balance transfers will fall 
within a range based upon your credit worthiness: 9.9% to 19.9%. The 
amount of the margin and the current Interest Rate that will apply to your 
Account will be disclosed with your Card. Interest Charges are calculated at 
the monthly Periodic Rate (the Annual Percentage Rate divided by 12; for 
example, an APR of 9.9% would have a Periodic Rate of 0.825%), on the 
average daily balances of purchases, balance transfers and cash advances 
in the account. We figure the Periodic Interest Charge on your Account by 
applying the Periodic Rate to the “Average Daily Balance” of the account 
including current purchases and cash advances for your Account. We take 
the beginning purchase and cash advance balances of your Account each 
day, add any new purchases and cash advances and subtract any payments 
or  credits,  unpaid  Interest Charges  and  unpaid  late  charges  to  get  the 
daily balance. We then add up all the daily balances and divide by the 
number of days in the billing cycle to get the Average Daily Balance. The 
Interest Charge is determined by multiplying the average daily balance 
by the number of days in the billing cycle and applying the Periodic Rate 
to the amount. No Interest Charge is imposed on purchases to the extent 
payments and credits for purchases are made on or before the 10th day 
of the month following the previous billing cycle.

8.  Other charges. Your account will be subject to other charges 
including, without limitation, a NSF check charge $5.00; a late charge 
of up to $25 will be assessed if your payment is not received within 10 
days of the date due; copies of drafts $12.00; plastic replacement cost of 
$5.00. 

9.  ATM fees. If you use an ATM to obtain a cash advance and the ATM is 
not operated by us, you may be charged an ATM surcharge by the ATM 
operator or an ATM network utilized for such a transaction. The ATM 
surcharge may be charged to your account if you complete the transaction.

10.  Default. You will be in default if your payments are not made when 
due. You will also be in default if your ability to repay us is materially 
reduced by a change in your employment, an increase in your obligations, 
bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings involving you, your death or your 
failure to abide by this Agreement, or if the value of our security interest 
materially  declines. We  have  the  right  to  demand  immediate  payment 
of  your  full  account  balance  if  you  default,  subject  to  our  giving  you 
any notice required by law. To the extent permitted by law, you will also 
be  required  to  pay  our  collection  expenses,  including  court  costs  and 
reasonable attorney’s fees.

11.  Accessing your account. You may access your Account by using your 
Card and Personal Identification Number (PIN), using convenience checks 
and  balance  transfer  coupons,  and  authorizing  transactions  with  your 
account number over the phone or Internet. 

A.  Card use. To make a purchase or cash advance, you must comply 
with the Credit Union’s procedures for authorizing such transactions. 
You may present your Card to a participating VISA plan merchant, to 
us or to another financial institution, and sign the sales or cash advance 
draft which will be imprinted with your Card. You may complete the 
transaction  by  using  your  PIN  in  conjunction  with  the  Card  in  an 
Automated Teller Machine (ATM) or other type of electronic terminal 
that provides access to the VISA system. You may authorize a purchase 
transaction with merchants by providing your Card account number 
and  expiration  date  for  transactions  over  the  telephone  or  Internet. 
The monthly statement will identify the merchant, electronic terminal 
or  financial  institution  at  which  transactions  were  made,  but  sales, 
cash advance, and credit or other slips cannot be returned with the 

statement. You will retain the copy of such slips furnished at the time 
of the transaction in order to verify the monthly statement. The Credit 
Union  may  make  a  reasonable  charge  for  photocopies  of  sales  slips 
you may request. You may not use the Card for any illegal or unlawful 
transaction,  including  Internet  gambling  transactions,  and  we  may 
decline to authorize any transaction that we believe poses an undue 
risk of illegality or unlawfulness. 
B.  Balance transfer coupons. If the Credit Union approves, you may 
access your account and obtain advances by signing a balance transfer 
coupon and authorizing the Credit Union to pay off existing obligations 
of other financial institutions. Your use of a balance transfer coupon 
will  be  shown  as  a  credit  advance  on  your  monthly  statement.  The 
Credit Union may not complete your balance transfer request if the 
transfer advance would exceed your credit limit or your account has 
been terminated or suspended.

12.    Returns  and  adjustments.  Merchants  and  others  who  honor  the 
Card may give credit for returns or adjustments, and they will do so by 
sending us a credit slip, which we will post to your account. If your credits 
and payments exceed what you owe us, we will hold and apply this credit 
balance against future purchases and cash advances, or if it is $10.00 or 
more, refund it on your written request or automatically after 90 days.

13.  Currency  conversion/foreign  transactions.  Purchases  and  cash 
advances made in foreign countries will be billed to you in U.S. dollars. 
The currency conversion rate for international transactions as established 
by VISA International, Inc. is a rate selected by VISA from the range of 
rates available in wholesale currency markets for the applicable central 
processing date, which may vary from the rate VISA itself receives, or the 
government-mandated rate in effect for the applicable central processing 
date. 

14.  Plan merchant disputes. We are not responsible for the refusal of 
any plan merchant or financial institution to honor your Card. We are 
subject  to  claims  and  defenses  (other  than  tort  claims)  arising  out  of 
goods  or  services  you  purchase  with  the  Card  only  if  you  have  made 
a good faith attempt, but have been unable to obtain satisfaction from 
the plan merchant, and (a) your purchase was made in response to an 
advertisement we sent or participated in sending you; or (b) your purchase 
cost more than $50.00 and was made from a plan merchant in your state 
or within 100 miles of your home. Any other disputes you must resolve 
directly with the plan merchant.  

15.  Security interest. You grant the Credit Union a security interest under 
the Washington Uniform Commercial Code in any goods purchased with 
your Card.  You agree that all collateral you have given the Credit Union 
to  secure  other  consumer  loan  obligations  (except  dwelling  secured 
loans), in the past and in the future, will secure your obligations under 
this Agreement.  In addition, by signing the Card Application, you have 
given the Credit Union a security interest in all your deposits, present and 
future, and all accounts (except Individual Retirement Accounts) with the 
Credit Union and you agree, upon default, the Credit Union may apply 
all that is secured to pay any amounts due under this Agreement, without 
further notice to you.

16.  Effect of agreement. This Agreement is the contract that applies to all 
transactions on your account even though the sales, cash advance, credit 
or other slips you sign or receive may contain different terms. We may 
amend this agreement from time to time by sending you the advanced 
written notice required by law. Your use of the Card thereafter will indicate 
your agreement to the amendments. To the extent law permits, and we 
indicate in our notice, amendments will apply to your existing account 
balance as well as to future transactions. 

17.  Your Credit Card Billing Rights  

Keep this document for future use. This notice tells you about your 
rights and our responsibilities under the Fair Credit Billing Act.

What To Do If You Find A Mistake On Your Statement. If you think 
there is an error on your statement, write to us at the Credit Union 
address on your statement.
•  Account information: Your name and account number.
•  Dollar amount: The dollar amount of the suspected 
  error.
•  Description of the problem: If you think there is an error 
  on your bill, describe what you believe is wrong and 
  why you believe it is a mistake.

You must contact us:
•  Within 60 days after the error appeared on your 

statement.

•  At least 3 business days before an automated payment 

is scheduled, if you want to stop payment on the 

  amount you think is wrong.

You must notify us of any potential errors in writing. You may call us, 
but if you do, we are not required to investigate any potential errors 
and you may have to pay the amount in question. 

What Will Happen After We Receive Your Letter. When we receive your 
letter, we must do two things:
(1)Within 30 days of receiving your letter, we must tell 
  you that we received your letter. We will also tell you 

if we have already corrected the error.

(2)Within 90 days of receiving your letter, we must either 
  correct the error or explain to you why we believe the 
  bill is correct.

While we investigate whether or not there has been an error:
•  We cannot try to collect the amount in question or 

report you as delinquent on that amount.

•  The charge in question may remain on your statement, 
  and we may continue to charge you interest on that 
  amount.
•  While you do not have to pay the amount in question, 
  you are responsible for the remainder of your balance.
•  We can apply any unpaid amount against your credit 

limit.

After we finish our investigation, one of two things will happen:

•  If we made a mistake: You will not have to pay the 
  amount in question or any interest or other fees related 

to that amount.

•  If we do not believe there was a mistake: You will have 
to pay the amount in question, along with applicable 
interest and fees. We will send you a statement of 
the amount you owe and the date payment is due. We 

  may then report you as delinquent if you do not pay 

the amount we think you owe.

If you receive our explanation but still believe your bill is wrong, you 
must write to us within 10 days telling us that you still refuse to pay. If 
you do so, we cannot report you as delinquent without also reporting 
that  you  are  questioning  your  bill.  We  must  tell  you  the  name  of 
anyone to whom we reported you as delinquent, and we must let those 
organizations know when the matter has been settled between us. If  
we do not follow the rules above, you do not have to pay the first $50 
of the amount you question even if your bill is correct.

Your Rights If You Are Dissatisfied With Your Credit Card Purchases. If 
you are dissatisfied with the goods or services that you have purchased 
with your credit card, and you have tried in good faith to correct the 
problem with the merchant, you may have the right not to pay the 
remaining amount due on the purchase. To use this right, all of the 
following must be true:
(1)The purchase must have been made in your home state 
  or within 100 miles of your current mailing address, 
  and the purchase price must have been more than $50. 
(Note: Neither of these is necessary if your purchase 
  was based on an advertisement we mailed to you, or 
if we own the company that sold you the good or 
services.)

(2)You must have used your credit card for the purchase. 
  Purchases made with cash advances from an ATM or 
  with a check that accesses your credit card account do not 
  qualify.
(3)You must not yet have fully paid for the purchase.

If all of the criteria above are met and you are still dissatisfied with 
the  purchase,  contact  us  in  writing  at  the  above  address. While  we 
investigate, the same rules apply to the disputed amount as discussed 
above. After we finish our investigation, we will tell you our decision. 
At that point, if we think you owe an amount and you do not pay, we 
may report you as delinquent.

© 2016 Whatcom Educational Credit Union / Farleigh, Wada & Witt, P.C.

03/16–2M