BOISE, Idaho — Editor's note — On July 10, Idaho Central Credit Union's CEO, Brenda Worrell, released a clarification regarding their terms and conditions.
Your iPhone has them, websites have them, and banks have them.
It's a long list of terms and conditions, likely pages and pages long.
Many people just skim through these documents and agree, because you think it's too long to read, it's probably fine or you likely don't have much of a choice if you disagree.
Well, one Treasure Valley woman stopped and read the new terms and conditions from Idaho Central Credit Union (ICCU) and decided she did have a choice after seeing things she disagreed with.
Karla Patterson was an ICCU member for five years.
"A lot of us are used to scrolling through those legal documents, like,' Okay, just accept,' but I thought because most of my money is there, I just wanted to kind of take the time and scroll through it," said Patterson.
It's those terms and conditions sent to her inbox that made her look closer at what she was signing.
"I came to section 13 and when I saw that, it was very sketchy, it was very questionable," said Patterson. "There were a lot of things that I have used money on."
Section 13 states the prohibited uses, where users would agree not to request, send, or receive money for several things.
"Obviously, some I get," she said. "The illegal drugs and controlled substances make sense, but firearms, ammunition, and other weapons, or materials that promote intolerance, violence or hate, in whose definition and what does that mean, a Ponzi scheme or pyramid scheme? Again, I don't know what that means."
Patterson's document also claimed it prohibits traveler's checks, money orders, and cryptocurrencies, and that you can't send money outside of the United States.
It also states users can't use their money for court-ordered payments, alimony, or child support fines.
"It just said all of these things you can't use your money on which is very scary," said Patterson.
Patterson said she spoke to her local branch, asking what she should do if she doesn't agree to that.
"She basically made it known that you agree or you leave," said Patterson. "At that point, I started closing my accounts."
After reaching out to ICCU, the organization stated, "On June 26, we updated our eBranch agreement to include standard industry verbiage regarding certain transactions. This updated wording caused confusion for some members, and we will therefore be clarifying the agreement in a future release. Nothing has changed in the way we process transactions or how members are able to utilize their accounts. We appreciate the questions and feedback. This helps us make adjustments to ensure future disclosures are more clear."
A few days later, ICCU released a new agreement.
This time it is even broader. It states you agree you will not use eBranch to request, send, or receive money for any unlawful or illicit purpose.
The bank reserves the right to monitor, block, or cancel any payment made for those reasons and to suspend or terminate your account.
It still has the same policy, not allowing people to send money for things like court-ordered amounts for alimony or child support.
A term Patterson said she is still confused about.
She said it's a good reminder to everyone to thoroughly read the documents before getting locked into something you don't want.
"I think it's up to us to really look at every little thing and not just assume that they have our best interest because I don't think they do," said Patterson.
Patterson plans to keep her accounts closed.
We did reach out to ICCU to break down what the new terms mean for things like child support. At 5:20 Monday the group responded to our questions.
After asking what it means for members about being prohibited from sending eBranch money for things like tax payments, alimony or child support, ICCU stated: "We want to reiterate that nothing has changed in the way we process transactions or how members are able to utilize their accounts. These provisions will not stop a member from using their ICCU accounts for the purposes described in the prohibited use section of the eBranch agreement. The use restrictions serve as a safeguard to facilitate ICCU’s risk management and regulatory compliance efforts. For official payments pursuant to court orders or taxes, we recommend members utilize government agency-approved payment methods to ensure the payments are processed correctly by their systems. The language in the eBranch agreement is common industry verbiage regarding these types of transactions."
When asked about who is tracking these purchases, ICCU stated: "ICCU does not actively track or block transactions that are authorized by the member. We reserve the right to monitor or block unauthorized transactions to protect the member from fraud or unlawful activity on their accounts."
As for what consumers can do if in a similar situation, they can end your service with the group, call the company to work out a solution and get an explanation, or there are a few different organizations like the Better Business Bureau who can help you through what to do.