iAdvanceSM Line of Credit from MetaBank
Terms and Conditions and Agreement

Effective June 6, 2008

These Terms and Conditions and Agreement (this “Agreement”) apply to MetaBank’s small dollar credit line (“iAdvance”).

Important: In addition to this Agreement, please review the iAdvance Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs”) carefully so you can make an informed decision. You should carefully consider the costs of iAdvance that are detailed below. There may be less expensive sources of credit available to you from other lenders.

iAdvance is an open-end line of credit provided by MetaBank, a federal savings association located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and is governed by this Agreement. In this Agreement, “you” and “your” refer to those persons who have applied for, and been approved to receive, iAdvance and “the Bank,” “we” and “our” refer to MetaBank.

Eligibility

iAdvance and advances hereunder are available to holders of personalized prepaid cards issued by MetaBank (“Cards”) (a) who meet the underwriting criteria we have established with respect to iAdvance; (b) who have wages or other sources of income or benefits transferred electronically to their Cards on a regular interval (“Recurring Load Transactions”); (c) who authorize the Bank to initiate automated transfers from their Cards for purposes of repaying amounts owed under this Agreement; and (d) whose Cards are not frozen, under legal process (such as a garnishment order), or have a negative balance. You cannot have more than one iAdvance established at any time. Depending on the source, amount and/or frequency of an electronic transfer, we reserve the right to determine whether such electronic transfer qualifies as an acceptable Recurring Load Transaction.

Requests for iAdvance Advances

You may request advances on your iAdvance by visiting our website at www.MyiAdvance.com, or by calling the number on the back of your Card. Requests must be in increments of $20. You may make as many requests as you desire, provided that the aggregate amount of those requests does not exceed your credit limit, which is described below. Proceeds from each advance shall be loaded to your Card and available by the same means as other funds you place on the Card. A Card that has a negative balance will have the credit applied to that balance before making cash available for withdrawal, if any. You may cancel a request for an advance with no cancellation fee by calling iAdvance Customer Service at 1-866-782-0986, prior to 7:00 p.m. Central Time on the day after you made the request for credit provided that funds advanced are available to be returned to the Bank. You may only cancel one advance request per day.

Credit Limit

Subject to this Agreement, you may request advances up to your current credit limit in increments of $20. The amount of your credit limit will vary and depends, in part, upon your history of Recurring Load Transactions, iAdvance usage, and other factors we deem relevant in determining your creditworthiness.

Effect of a Lapse in Recurring Load Transactions or Changes in the Amount of Recurring Load Transactions

Your credit limit may change if the amount of your Recurring Load Transactions change. Your credit limit is disclosed to you on each Periodic Statement (as defined in the Monthly Billing Statements and Other Subsequent Disclosures section below) and is available online or by calling iAdvance Customer Service. In the event that your Recurring Load Transactions cease, no longer take place on regular intervals, or the amount changes substantially, we reserve the right to terminate this Agreement, lower your credit limit, and/or suspend your ability to obtain advances.

Effect of Repeated Advances or Habitual Usage

Because iAdvance is intended to meet your short-term credit needs and is not meant to serve as a long-term financing solution, we reserve the right to implement additional limits on the number, frequency, and dollar amount of advances in any Period (for purposes of this Agreement a “Period” shall mean 1 calendar month). Specifically, your credit limit will be reduced if you request an advance at least once per Period for more than 12 consecutive Periods. If you do request advances once per Period for 12 consecutive Periods, your credit limit for the following Period will be reduced by $100. If you continue to request advances, your credit limit will continue to decrease by $100 each Period until it equals $0. For example, if your calculated credit limit is $500 and you have used iAdvance in each of the last 12 consecutive Periods, your credit limit will be reduced to $400 ($500 less $100) in the next Period. If you continue to use iAdvance in consecutive Periods thereafter, your credit limit will continue to decrease by $100 each consecutive Period until it equals $0 for 1 Period. Your credit limit will remain at $0 for 1 Period during which time you will not be able to receive advances. Thereafter, your credit limit will be restored to an amount determined in accordance with the Credit Limit section above. If, during any 12 consecutive Periods, you do not request an advance for 1 Period, your credit limit will return to its regularly calculated amount.

Fees

For every $20 requested, your fee will be $2.50, without regard to how long the balance remains outstanding. The fee is payable each time an advance is requested and there is no grace period within which you may repay an advance and avoid payment of the related fee. The fee is a FINANCE CHARGE. The Annual Percentage Rate (APR) is 150%. The APR is a measure of the cost of credit, expressed as a yearly rate.

Monthly Billing Statements and Other Subsequent Disclosures

Not less than once each Period when there is any activity on your Card, the Bank shall furnish you with a statement with respect to your iAdvance (a “Periodic Statement”). The Periodic Statement will reflect, among other things, advances, finance charges and other fees, payments made, other credits, payments due, your previous balance, and your new balance. In addition, the Bank may, from time to time, furnish to you other disclosures or information required or permitted by the Federal Truth in Lending Act, Federal Reserve Board Regulation Z, applicable state law, and this Agreement. Periodic statements and other disclosures or information are hereafter referred to as “Subsequent Disclosures”.

Consent to Electronic Delivery of this Agreement and Subsequent Disclosures

If you affix your electronic signature to this Agreement, that action will signify your agreement that this Agreement and the Subsequent Disclosures constitute electronic records under the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (15 U.S.C. Sections 7001 and following) and the South Dakota Electronic Transactions Act (Chapter 52-12). You further agree that your electronic signature constitutes your consent to accept this Agreement and receive the Subsequent Disclosures in electronic form.

Hardware and Software Requirements. In order to access, view and retain electronic communications that we make available to you, you must have a computer with Internet access. The minimum system requirements include software that supports 128-bit security encryption and Adobe Reader®.

The Bank may provide Subsequent Disclosures to you by making them available on a secure web site (the “Statement Delivery Location”). The Bank will send to your Email Address an “Email Notification” of the web address of the Statement Delivery Location, that Subsequent Disclosures are available at the Statement Delivery Location, and that the Subsequent Disclosures will be available for your review for not less than 90 days after the date of the Email Notification. The time during which billing errors may be resolved with respect to each periodic statement begins on the date of each Email Notification. “Email Address” means either the email address you provide the Bank when you accept this Agreement or the email address the Bank may set up for you if you do not notify us of your own email address. If the Bank sets up an email address for you, the Bank shall do so at no cost to you.

At any time, you may ask the Bank to provide you with a paper copy of Subsequent Disclosures.

If an Email Notification is returned to the Bank undelivered, the Bank shall take reasonable steps to attempt redelivery using information in its files. To assure your continued receipt of Email Notifications, you must notify the Bank each time you change your Email Address.

If (a) you withdraw your consent to receive Subsequent Disclosures by notifying the Bank (the notification shall be effective when actually received by the Bank), (b) an Email Notification sent to your Email Address is returned as undeliverable, or (c) we are unable to verify that you have opened an Email Notification sent to your Email Address within 10 of days of delivery, we will send Subsequent Disclosures in printed form to the most current address we have for you in our records.

Repayment

You agree to repay the Bank the advances and related fees and finance charges (“Repayment Amount”) in accordance with the terms of this Agreement. The Repayment Amount will be automatically deducted from your Recurring Load Transactions and/or any and all other electronic funds transfers to your Card (“Repayment Sources”). The Repayment Amount will be due and payable on the date of your next scheduled Recurring Load Transaction but in no event more than 35 days following an advance. If any advance or Finance Charge is not repaid in full within 35 days from the date of the transaction, the Bank will automatically debit your Card for the full amount then due. Repayment Sources that post to your Card on or before 11:59 p.m., Central time on the day following disbursement of the advance will not be used for purposes of repayment. For example, if you take an advance today and your paycheck is electronically transferred to your Card on or before 11:59 p.m., Central time tomorrow, payment will not be taken from that deposit. Payment will instead be taken from the next electronic funds transfer to your Card. However, if you take an advance today and your paycheck is electronically transferred to your Card after 11:59 p.m., Central time tomorrow, payment will be taken from that deposit.

Until the occurrence of an event of default (as described in the Default of iAdvance section below), repayment of each Repayment Amount will be made only from Repayment Sources. If funds from Repayment Sources are not sufficient to cover your Repayment Amount, a partial repayment (“Partial Repayment”) will be made in the amount of the lesser of (a) the amount of the Repayment Sources or (b) the positive balance remaining on the Card after the date of your most recent Recurring Load Transaction. The Bank will take repayment of the remaining unpaid Repayment Amount from subsequent Repayment Sources until the Repayment Amount is paid in full. For example, assume you have a total outstanding balance of $180 ($160 borrowed plus a $20 finance charge) and you receive an electronic funds transfer of your paycheck onto your Card for $150. The Bank will take $20 for the outstanding Finance Charge and $130 for repayment of the advance, for a total of $150, leaving a $30 remaining balance to be repaid. The remaining $30 unpaid balance will be repaid from the next electronic funds transfer onto your Card.

If you wish to use a repayment method in addition to your Repayment Sources, you may do so by mailing payment in the form of a cashiers check or money order to iAdvance at 13700 Alton Pkwy., Ste. 154-285, Irvine, CA 92618, by loading your Card at one of the load stations available on your Card program (if applicable), or by authorizing an on demand payment from your Card on-line at www.MyiAdvance.com, or by calling iAdvance Customer Service. Unless otherwise agreed or required by law, payments and other credits will be applied first to finance charges and then to principal.

Suspension of iAdvance

In the event (a) of a Partial Repayment, or (b) anything else happens that causes us in our sole discretion to reasonably believe that the prospect of repayment or performance may be impaired, your iAdvance will be suspended, and you will not have access to your iAdvance, until the Repayment Amount is paid in full and you have demonstrated that you continue to meet the eligibility conditions set forth in the Eligibility section above.

Default of iAdvance

If (a) you fail to repay any advance within thirty-five (35) days of the date such advance was made to you, or (b) anything else happens that causes us in our sole discretion to reasonably believe that the prospect of repayment or performance is impaired, an “event of default” shall have occurred.

Upon the occurrence of an event of default, any amount that is loaded onto your Card, regardless of the source, will be eligible to be used as repayment for delinquent Repayment Amounts. In that event, you authorize the Bank to automatically deduct the Repayment Amount from your Card balance (“automatic repayment”). If this automatic repayment takes the balance on your Card to $0, any other transactions attempted with your Card will be declined and subject to fees, as set forth in the terms and conditions applicable to your Card. You will not have access to iAdvance until the outstanding Repayment Amount is paid in full and you have satisfied the eligibility conditions set forth in the Eligibility section above.

Termination of your Card

If you still have an outstanding Repayment Amount and you either (a) terminate your Card, or (b) cease using your Card for thirty-five (35) days or longer, the Bank will automatically deduct the Repayment Amount from your closing Card balance. If there are insufficient funds on your Card to cover the Repayment Amount at the time the Card is terminated, you will be obligated to pay the remaining unpaid balance by other means.

Reporting Activity to Credit Reporting Agencies

You understand and acknowledge that the Bank intends to submit information about your balance, payment history, and other customary information under iAdvance to one or more of the credit reporting agencies (for example, Equifax). Late payments, missed payments, or other defaults on your account may be reflected in your credit report and in your credit score. Furthermore, timely payments under this Agreement do not guarantee that your credit score will increase. Rather, your credit score reflects your repayment performance with all creditors. You have a right under federal law to inspect the information we report and that which has been reported by other creditors by contacting the credit reporting agencies directly. Additional information on credit reporting, your credit score, and your legal rights under federal law can be obtained by contacting the Federal Trade Commission toll-free at 1-877-FTC-HELP or online at www.ftc.gov/credit.

Security Interest

You have granted to the Bank a security interest in all amounts held from time to time in respect of your Card as collateral for your obligation to repay all Repayment Amounts.

Change in Terms

The Bank reserves the right to change the terms of this Agreement, which changes may include discontinuing iAdvance altogether, at any time with notice to you. Such changes may apply to any outstanding as well as to future advances. You may choose to accept changes in terms by requesting an advance under iAdvance. You may decline the change in terms with respect to balances that are outstanding prior to the effective date of the change in terms by not requesting any advances under iAdvance on or after the effective date of the change or by requesting that the Bank cancel your iAdvance.

Statement of Billing Rights – YOUR BILLING RIGHTS - KEEP THIS NOTICE FOR FUTURE USE

This notice contains important information about your rights and our responsibilities under the Fair Credit Billing Act.

Notify Us In Case of Errors or Questions About Your Statement. If you think your statement is wrong, or if you need more information about a transaction on your statement, write us on a separate sheet at the address listed on your statement. Write to us as soon as possible. We must hear from you no later than 60 days after we sent you the first statement on which the error or problem appeared. You can telephone us, but doing so will not preserve your rights. In your letter, give us the following information:

  • Your name and account number.
  • The dollar amount of the suspected error.
  • Describe the error and explain, if you can, why you believe there is an error. If you need more information, describe the item you are not sure about.

Your Rights and Our Responsibilities After We Receive Your Written Notice. We must acknowledge your letter within 30 days, unless we have corrected the error by then. Within 90 days, we must either correct the error or explain why we believe the statement was correct.

After we receive your letter, we cannot try to collect any amount you question, or report you as delinquent. We can continue to statement you for the amount you question, including finance charges, and we can apply any unpaid amount against your credit limit. You do not have to pay any questioned amount while we are investigating, but you are still obligated to pay the parts of your statement that are not in question.

If we find that we made a mistake on your statement, you will not have to pay any finance charges related to any questioned amount. If we didn’t make a mistake, you may have to pay finance charges, and you will have to make up any missed payments on the questioned amount. In either case, we will send you a statement of the amount you owe and the date that it is due.

If you fail to pay the amount that we think you owe, we may report you as delinquent. However, if our explanation does not satisfy you and you write to us within 10 days telling us that you still refuse to pay, we must tell anyone we report you to that you have a question about your statement. And, we must tell you the name of anyone we reported you to. We must tell anyone we report you to that the matter has been settled between us when it finally is.

If we don’t follow these rules, we can’t collect the first $50 of the questioned amount, even if your statement was correct.

Governing Law

This Agreement shall be governed by and construed, interpreted and enforced in accordance with federal law and, to the extent state law applies, the law of South Dakota without regard to conflict of laws provisions. If any provision of this Agreement is held to be invalid, the remaining provisions will remain valid and enforceable.

Dispute Resolution Program: Arbitration Agreement

Non-Judicial Resolution of Disputes. If you have a dispute with the Bank, and you are not able to resolve the dispute informally, you and the Bank agree that any dispute, regardless of when it arose, shall be resolved by the following arbitration process. You understand and agree that you and the Bank are each waiving the right to a jury trial or a trial before a judge in a public court. As an exception to this Arbitration Agreement, you retain the right to pursue in small claims court any dispute that is within that court’s jurisdiction.

Disputes. A dispute is any unresolved disagreement between you and the Bank (and its employees, officers, directors, attorneys, and other agents). It includes any dispute relating in any way to iAdvance or related services or matters described in this Agreement; to your use of any of the Bank’s locations or facilities; or to any means you may use to access the Bank. It includes claims based on broken promises or contracts, torts (injuries caused by negligent or intentional conduct) or other wrongful actions. It also includes statutory, common law and equitable claims. A dispute also includes any disagreement about the meaning of this Arbitration Agreement, and whether a disagreement is a “dispute” subject to binding arbitration as provided for in this Arbitration Agreement.

Binding Arbitration. Binding arbitration is a means of having an independent third party resolve a dispute without using the court system, judges or juries. Either you or the Bank may require the submission of a dispute to binding arbitration at any reasonable time notwithstanding that a lawsuit or other proceeding has been commenced. If either you or the Bank fail to submit to binding arbitration following a lawful demand, the one who fails to so submit bears all costs and expenses incurred by the other compelling arbitration. Neither you nor the Bank shall be entitled to join or consolidate disputes by or against others in any arbitration, or to include in any arbitration any dispute as a representative or member of a class, or to act in any arbitration in the interest of the general public or in a private attorney general capacity. Each arbitration, including the selection of the arbitrator(s) shall be administered by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”), according to the Commercial Arbitration Rules and the Supplemental Procedures for Consumer Related Disputes (“AAA Rules”). To the extent that there is any variance between the AAA Rules and this Arbitration Agreement, this Arbitration Agreement shall control. Arbitrator(s) must be members of the state bar where the arbitration is held, with expertise in the substantive laws applicable to the subject matter of the dispute. You and the Bank each agree that in this relationship: (a) you and the Bank are participating in transactions involving interstate commerce; and (b) each arbitration is governed by the provisions of the Federal Arbitration Act (Title 9 of the United States Code), and, to the extent any provision of that Act is inapplicable, unenforceable or invalid, the laws of the state that govern the relationship between you and the Bank about which the dispute arose. To find out how to initiate an arbitration, you may call any office of the AAA or visit the AAA website at www.adr.org.

Rights Preserved. This Arbitration Agreement and the exercise of any of the rights you and the Bank have under this Arbitration Agreement do not stop you and the Bank from exercising any lawful rights to use other remedies available to preserve, foreclose or obtain possession of real or personal property; exercise self-help remedies, including setoff and repossession rights; or obtain provisional or ancillary remedies such as injunctive relief, attachment, garnishment or the appointment of a receiver by a court having jurisdiction.

Miscellaneous. You and the Bank each agree to take all steps and execute all documents necessary for the implementation of arbitration proceedings. The arbitrator may hear and rule on appropriate dispositive motions as part of the arbitration proceedings such as motions for judgments on the pleadings, summary judgment or partial summary judgment. The AAA, the arbitrators, you and the Bank must, to the extent feasible, take any necessary action to assure that an arbitration proceeding, as described in this Agreement, is completed within 180 days of filing the dispute with the AAA. These parties must not disclose the existence, content or results of the arbitration, except for disclosures of information required in the ordinary course of business or permitted by applicable law or regulation. This provision shall be liberally construed in order to ensure the enforcement of this Agreement. Arbitration proceedings are conducted in the state in which you reside or at a location determined by the AAA. All statutes of limitations applicable to any dispute apply to any arbitration between you and the Bank relationship or any other relationship between you and the Bank. This Arbitration Agreement constitutes the entire Agreement between you and the Bank and supersedes all prior arrangements and other communications concerning dispute resolution. If more than one Arbitration Agreement entered into by you and the Bank is potentially applicable to the dispute, the one most directly related to the account or transaction that is the subject of the dispute shall control.

Fees and Expenses of Arbitration. You must pay the applicable AAA filing fee when you submit a written request for arbitration to the AAA. The AAA’s filing fee and administrative expenses for an arbitration on documents alone without oral hearing, will be allocated according to the AAA’s Rules, except that for claims of less than $1,000.00, you will only be obligated to pay a filing fee of $15.00 and the Bank will pay all of the AAA’s other costs and fees. At your written request, the Bank will temporarily advance up to $500.00 towards the filing, administrative and/or hearing fees for any dispute in excess of $1,000.00 which you may have filed against the Bank, after you have paid an amount equivalent to the fee, if any, for filing a claim for such a dispute in state or federal court (whichever is less) in the judicial district in which you reside. However, if you elect an in-person arbitration process, you must pay your share of the higher administrative fee and the additional costs for this process. At the conclusion of the arbitration, the arbitrator will decide who will ultimately be responsible for paying the filing, administrative and/or hearing fees in connection with the arbitration, including, but not limited to, those costs and fees paid by the Bank on your behalf. Unless inconsistent with applicable law, each party shall bear the expense of that party’s own attorneys’, experts’ and witness fees, regardless of which party prevails in the arbitration.

Privacy and Data Protection

Privacy Disclosure

As our customer, you provide us with important information about yourself. We believe it is our responsibility to safeguard your personal and financial information. While some financial institutions share information with other businesses, we are committed to keeping it confidential.

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. Information We Collect:
(a) Information you provide on applications or other forms such as name, address, email address, and date of birth.
(b) Information about your transactions with us and other parties such as the time, date, and amount.
(c) Information you provide to us when you contact us with customer service issues or inquiries.
(d) Information we receive as a result of verifying customer information.

Information Security: We will not share Information about you to anyone except as set forth in this policy or as permitted by applicable law. Only those persons who need it to perform their job responsibilities are authorized to have access to your Information. When we share Information about you to third parties under limited legal exceptions, the third parties are required to treat the Information they receive about you in strict confidence and to use it for the purpose for which it was disclosed. In addition, we maintain physical, electronic and procedural security measures that meet or exceed federal regulations to safeguard Information.

Reasons for Sharing Information: We may disclose Information about you to our affiliates and nonaffiliated third parties, including service providers and joint marketers to: (a) perform services and respond to customer inquiries, (b) prevent unauthorized transactions and protect against fraud, (c) provide marketing services, including additional products and services, and (d) enforce your agreement with us. You do not have a right to opt out of the disclosure of this information. We may also provide certain Information to others as permitted by law, such as government entities or other third parties in response to subpoenas.

Bank’s Contact Information

Unless this Agreement requires you to contact us by an exclusive method (such as by mail), you may contact the Bank by any of the following means:

Mail: 5501 S. Broadband Lane, Sioux Falls, SD 57108

Email: banksf@metabankonline.com

Telephone: 1-605-361-4347

Information or notices you send us by any of the above methods will be effective when we receive them.

Please Note: Alternative forms of short-term credit exist that might be less expensive and more suitable and advantageous to you as the borrower. By using iAdvance, you acknowledge that you have had an opportunity to consider other credit products and services and that iAdvance is an appropriate credit service based on your needs.

California Residents Only: If you are a California resident, this Arbitration Agreement shall apply only to disputes in which you seek to recover for yourself an amount of money, not including attorney fees and costs, that exceeds the jurisdictional dollar limit of the Small Claims Court.

The following applies to Ohio customers only: The Ohio laws against discrimination require that all creditors make credit equally available to all credit worthy customers, and that credit reporting agencies maintain separate credit histories of each individual upon request. The Ohio civil rights commission administers compliance with this law.

Copyright: © 2008 MetaBank. Patents pending. All rights reserved.