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Common Questions
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.
Your escrow account, in a sense, is a savings account that is managed by First Internet Bank as your mortgage servicer. We deposit a portion of your mortgage payment into the escrow account to cover your estimated real estate taxes and insurance premiums.
At this time, you can add the following external institution accounts to your portfolio:
- Checking accounts
- Savings accounts
- Money Market Savings accounts held at any commercial bank or credit union nationwide that is able to accept ACH transfers and investment accounts held at any of our affiliated online brokerage firms
We currently have access to most of the nation’s largest brokerage companies, and we will be adding several major brokerages in the near future.
Please note: The accounts held at First Internet Bank will be auto-enabled for this service. All of your outside accounts will be required to complete our account ownership verification process.
To send an outgoing wire to another financial institution, you must complete an Outgoing Wire Request Form. To locate the form, log in to your online banking account, click Move Money, and then click Wire Transfer – Domestic or Wire Transfer – International. Wire transfers will be sent the same business day when we receive and verify the form before 3:00 PM (Eastern time). If we receive the form after 3:00 PM, we will initiate the wire transfer the next business day.
For your security, we will not send any wire transfer if we are not able to reach you by phone or email to verify the request.
Please note: First Internet Bank cannot process any wire or ACH transfer requests on federal holidays.
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.
The daily withdrawal limit for ATM withdrawals is $750 per day. Note: ATM owners may place lower limits on the amount you can withdraw in a single session.
FHA and VA loans are insured and administered by the federal government. Both loan types generally require lower down payments and have more lenient lending requirements than conventional loans. (Only qualified veterans can obtain VA loans.) Additionally, FHA and VA loans have established maximum loan amounts. Not every lender can offer ‘government’ loans, but First Internet Bank does. It’s always a good idea to talk to one of our mortgage loan experts, who can help you compare all eligible loan programs to determine which is best for your situation.