FAQ

We project annually how much you’ll need to set aside in your escrow account for the upcoming year. The projected amount is based on the taxes and/or insurance premi­ums you paid during the previous 12 months. The total amount is divided by 12 to determine your projected monthly escrow payment. An important thing to keep in mind: customers are required to have a “cushion” in their ac­count, which is equal to two months of escrow payments.

An escrow shortage occurs when, even with a positive escrow balance, there are not enough funds in the account to pay your yearly project­ed taxes and insurance. By having a two-month cushion, you should have enough funds to cover unexpected tax and/or insurance increases; however, in some cases, insurance and tax premium increases may still exceed the amount in your escrow account.

Please note: Changes to your tax and/or in­surance premiums could result in a change in your monthly loan payment. This information is supplied on your escrow analysis statement described above.

An escrow surplus occurs if your taxes and/or insurance costs were lower than expected.

Every year, we review your escrow account to make sure there’s enough money in it to cover your taxes and/or insurance premiums. We send you a summary statement of this report on August 1st. It includes a review of escrow account activity during the past year, and payment projections for the next 12 months. It’s important that you take the time to review this document when you receive it.

APR stands for Annual Percentage Rate, a measure of the cost of credit expressed as a yearly rate. It is the finance charge on a loan over a one-year period expressed as a percentage. This is used to calculate and compare the actual finance costs of your loan. Learn more.

A fixed rate does not change over the life of the loan. A variable rate, also known as an adjustable or floating rate, is adjusted periodically and is usually based on a standard market rate outside the control of the bank, such as the prime interest rate. These rates often have a specified floor and/or ceiling, called a cap or a collar, which limit the adjustment.

Your online banking password ensures that only you can access your confidential information. Your password must more than six characters, is case sensitive, and must contain a mix of letters, numbers and special characters (!@#$ etc.), but cannot contain spaces. Please remember this password and keep it secure. If you forget your password, you will have to be reset.

Your password is one of the most important defenses you have for protecting your account information! Here are some tips for choosing (and protecting) a strong password: Try to memorize the password, and avoid writing it down. Mix letters, numbers and symbols, and use case sensitivity (upper and lower case letters). This makes it harder to ‘crack’ your password. Find a good way to remember it. For example, choose the first letters of a sentence that you will remember. ‘I have 2 dogs called Rover and Fido’ translates to Ih2dcRaF. Use punctuation to your advantage.

Also, avoid using:

• The name or birth date of your spouse, child, pet or other loved one
• Social Security or phone numbers
• Any part of your physical address
• Other information that is easily obtained about you (your alma mater, mother’s maiden name, or past address, for instance)
• Any username on the computer in any form
• A word in the English or foreign dictionary
• A password used on another site
• Any of the above spelled backwards
• Sequences: “12345678,” “abcdefg” or passwords that could easily be advanced: “January2015,” “February2015,” “March2015,” etc.

Above all… Do not share your password with anyone! The employees of First Internet Bank do not need your online banking password to answer your questions or troubleshoot your account.

Pending: We have not yet received confirmation of a successful transaction. This process generally requires four business days. You may see an indication of the transaction in the account balance of the source account but not the destination account of your funds transfer.

Complete: The transfer is confirmed. The transaction will be reflected in your account balances with your institutions as a withdrawal from your source account and a deposit in your destination account. It’s a good idea to verify the transaction with your financial institutions.

Rejected: We were unable to remove the funds from the source account or place the funds in your destination account. You will be notified by email if we receive a return notice on your transaction indicating the transfer could not be completed. Typical causes of failed or returned funds transfers are: incorrect account number or bank ABA routing number provided during the account setup or lack of sufficient funds in the source account.

Complete (Return): Occasionally, we’ll receive a return from the ACH system indicating a problem with the transaction after the normal four business day waiting period. This designation indicates that we received the return notice after having already designated the funds transfer as Complete. It’s possible that you’ll see a record of the debit on the account statement of your source account. If this does occur, the funds will be automatically returned to that account, appearing as a credit on your account statement.

The ABA routing number is an identification number assigned to each financial institution and each branch office. It is usually a nine-digit number found at the bottom of your check, usually on the left-hand side.

Log in to your online banking account. Click Move Money, select External Transfers and then Add a New Account. You can search for your outside financial institutions either by name or by nine-digit ABA/routing number. Select the outside financial institution for which you want to add an account and you will be prompted to enter the required information to set up the account.