Bank On and Popular Checking

 
 

1. What is Bank On?

Bank On is a program of the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund (CFE) and its mission is to ensure families can obtain affordable, convenient, and moderate-cost accounts. For a financial institution to obtain Bank On certification, the account must meet certain standards to make sure it is accessible to consumers. For more information about Bank On, click here.

2. What is the Bank On National Accounts Standards guide?

It’s a guide offered by the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund (CFE) that provides specific advice on the requirements that financial institutions must meet to certify an account within the Bank On program. Click here to review the guide.

3. Which account is offered by Banco Popular under the Bank On program?

Banco Popular is offering the Popular Checking checking account.

4. What did Banco Popular do to certify its Popular Checking under the Bank On program?

We eliminated charges related to the overdraft policy and for inactivity in the Popular Checking.

Changes to the Popular Checking account:


Charge type Previously Currently
Overdraft1 $15 $0
Overdraft maintenance1 $5 $0
Each returned deposited check $20 $0
Inactivity2 $10 $0

5. When did changes made to the Popular Checking become effective?

Changes were effective on November 1, 2021.

6. Are there any special requirements to open a Popular Checking account?

You only need to be 18 years or older and provide valid and current identification with evidence of having Social Security.

1

Popular Checking will not have any fees associated with overdraft, insufficient funds or unavailable funds. Likewise, the Overdraft Policies of Banco Popular de Puerto Rico will not apply to, nor will they be available for the Popular Checking account. This means that we will decline and return as unpaid those transactions for which you do not have sufficient funds in your account. Although the Popular Checking account will not allow you to overdraw your account in most cases, it is possible for your account to have a negative balance; however, in those cases, we will not charge you overdraft fees. This could occur, for example, when you authorize a payment with your debit card for an amount less than the amount received by the bank for your payment (for example, the added tip for a payment at a restaurant).

2

If you do not make transactions in your deposit account, inactivity charges will not be applied. However, the inactivity period will remain in place, thus it is important that you continue making transactions to your account in order to avoid its status changing to inactive and your money being remitted to the Division of Banking and Insurance of the Virgin Islands (for USVI customers) and the Ministry of Finance (for BVI customers), in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations. As a reminder, if you do not make any transactions in a 6-month period, your account will be considered inactive.