WASHINGTON – NAFCU Services Corp. had to stop and think about endorsing an overdraft protection provider. NAFCU Services Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of NAFCU, has selected Allied Solutions, in partnership with BANCServices Group as its preferred partner for Overdraft Courtesy Protection. NSC's Preferred Partner Program is one of its main offerings. "We talked about this on my board and the NAFCU Board. It was a very interactive discussion, but in the end the one thing neither board wanted to do was focus on NSF fees. Let's not kid ourselves, that's one of the benefits for the credit unions, but that's not why they should be offering it. It's to focus on the member service aspect," said Keith Nolan, president/CEO of NSC. Overdraft protection has been a lightning rod topic in the credit union industry of late as more credit unions are beginning to offer the service. Some critics question whether it does more harm than good by encouraging poor financial management. The Fed took a closer look at overdraft protection last month and decided not to take any action. Some pushed the idea of putting an Annual Percentage Rate on the product. Proponents say the product is for the member who writes the occasional bad check. For that member it saves them on the creditor fee and any negative impact on their credit. "Ultimately we decided if this product is positioned and promoted correctly it's focused more on member service versus NSF fees," said Nolan. Nolan also noted that while overdraft protection is coming under such scrutiny, other products could as well. "You could say the same thing about people charging late fees for credit card payments that are one day late. Credit unions don't do it, but others do," he said.