that the fee was for transferring money from savings to checking in case the checking balance went negative. Additionally, the OP also indicated that the action of having to have money moved from savings to checking occurs 'a lot' on their acocunts, so it sounds like the OP voluntarily signed up for this action to occur.

I missed this. It isn't "courtesy overdraft", but transfer from savings. $30 fee for a transfer from savings is high. The CU isn't loaning any money, it is a only a transfer between accounts.

I haven't used the service in many years, when I did it was around $3 and that fee was enough to convince me to go to autodeposit of my paycheck. I had sent my mortgage payment, but didn't get around to depositing my paycheck. Having the automatic transfer lulled me into a sense of security. The check wouldn't bounce, the fee if there was a problem wasn't all that high, and afterall it would take up to a week for a mailed check to clear.