Funds Availability

Beginning March 22, 2013, any non-Great Southern check deposited into your account will be available the next business day. As always, cash and most Great Southern checks will be immediately available and you will continue to receive credit for your deposits on the business day in which they are received. Read our Funds Availability Disclosure [PDF] to learn more (trouble opening PDFs? (Try Adobe^® Reader^® if your browser won't open PDF files.)

We're taking this security step to help protect your account from potential fraud. If you have any questions or concerns about what this means for you, please ask any Great Southern associate, or contact our Customer Service Department at (800) 749-7113. We're here to help!

Counterfeit or fake checks are being used in a growing number of fraudulent schemes, including foreign lottery scams, check over-payment scams, internet auction scams and secret shopper scams. This policy change will give Great Southern more time to verify the legitimacy of checks that are deposited into your account so that it is less likely that you’re left responsible for the funds of a fraudulent check.

It’s your lucky day! You just won a foreign lottery! The letter says so, and the check to cover the taxes and fees is included. All you have to do to get your winnings is deposit the check and wire the money to the sender to pay the taxes and fees. You’re guaranteed that when they get your payment, you’ll get your prize.

There’s just one catch: this is a scam. The check is no good, even though it appears to be a legitimate check. The lottery angle is a trick to get you to wire money to someone you don’t know. If you were to deposit the check and wire the money, Great Southern would soon learn that the check was a fake. You’re now out the money because the money you wired can’t be retrieved.