COVID-19 Federal Reserve Financial Services Customer Assistance Package

COVID-19 has disrupted all of our daily lives, both personally and professionally. We recognize that our financial institution customers have had to enact extraordinary modifications to their payments operations and we are here to provide you and your customers with meaningful support during this difficult time.

In an effort to provide some relief and assistance to our customers, we are offering a COVID-19 Federal Reserve Financial Services Customer Assistance Package, which is available May 1 through at least July 31. We recognize that the COVID-19 situation remains fluid and we will continue to address customer needs as the situation further transpires.

Package details

We have carefully considered which of our services would be the most useful to our existing customers of all sizes as you operate in a contingency mode with remote staff. Detailed information about each of the package components is listed below.

Check Adjustments and ACH Exceptions

• Secure email of paper check adjustment cases and FedACH^® paper returns is permitted for those unable to send via a FedLine Solution
  • Contact FedACH and Check Services Customer Support for information on where to send the secure email
• The $25 manual paper fee for adjustment cases and the $45 FedACH paper exception fee (for FedACH return items less than 60 calendar days¹) will be waived
• FedACH Exception Resolution Service monthly and per case fees will be waived for current or new Full Service participants, allowing ACH exception cases to be originated at no cost

FedPayments^® Reporter for Check and ACH

• FedPayments Reporter for Check fees will be waived for:
  • DFI Advanced Notice Return Reporting (1 report per format per day)
  • DFI Advanced Payor Reporting (1 report per format per day)
  • Corporate Payor Reporting (1 report per corporate per day)
• FedPayments Reporter for ACH² fees will be frozen based on fees charged for the month of March, with no cost for new customers nor additional usage cost for existing customers for the duration of the Customer Assistance Package. Fees will continue to be reduced for current customers who shift to lower packages

FedACH RDFI Batch Alert

• FedACH RDFI Batch alerts for reversals and high dollar debit batches will be offered at no charge for current and new customers

FedLine Solutions

• New FedLine Solution Subscribers will have free access to priced financial services (i.e., no additional a la carte Subscriber package fee if the addition of new Subscribers bumps customers into a new 5-pack)
• Customers signing up (new additions only) for value-added services provided via FedLine Web^® Plus, FedLine Advantage^® Plus and FedLine Advantage Premier packages will not be charged upgrade fees (Only applicable to customers within their current packages – i.e. FedLine Web to FedLine Web Plus, not FedLine Web to FedLine Advantage)
• Current customers will have the opportunity to add an additional VPN for free
• Legacy FedLine Direct^® price increase previously scheduled for May 1, 2020, will not be implemented; the price increase previously scheduled for August 1, 2020 remains

¹Does not include Same Day exception returns; a $0.35 FedLine originated return fee will be applied.

²Includes encrypted email delivery fees

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Setup process

Financial institutions may choose to take advantage of any or all of the services available in this package. Interested customers should contact their account executive to discuss which components might be beneficial for them and begin the setup process.

Existing Exception Resolution Service, FedPayments Reporter for ACH and Check, and FedACH RDFI Alert customers do not need to take any action to receive the fee waivers if they already subscribe to these services. Customers wishing to sign up for a new Check or ACH service will need to complete and return the Customer Assistance Package for Check and ACH Services Agreement (PDF) form.

Existing FedLine Direct, FedLine Command and FedLine Advantage customers may order an additional VPN device, regardless of how many they already utilize, via the Connection Management Center in FedLine Home.

Once active, financial institutions will see credits on their billing statements for the months in which the services were used.

We will endeavor to contact financial institutions approximately 30 days prior to the package’s expiration and provide you with options to either retain or delete any services subscribed to during the package window. The FedLine Solutions components of the package will require End User Authorization Contacts (EUACs) to submit the necessary forms in order to remove Subscribers or decommission VPN devices. If we do not receive a response from your institution, then the FedACH and Check components of the Customer Assistance Package services will be discontinued without any further action by you, but standard FedLine Solutions fees will be charged after the package timeframe ends unless the EUAC submits the necessary discontinuation forms.

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Service descriptions and use cases

Brief descriptions of each of the services included in this package are listed below. Additionally, brief use cases are provided for each of the services as well. If you have additional questions about a service, please contact your account executive.

FedPayments Reporter for Check

This service pushes Payor and Return payment information – much of which can be useful for mitigating fraud – via secure email delivery at a designated time(s) to financial institutions and/or their corporate customers. Reports may contain information for payments that have yet to be presented to the receiving institution. Only financial institutions whose items are separately sorted (each cash letter contains items drawn on only one institution) electronic cash letters (FedReceipt^® or PDF) are eligible to receive the report.

Report Descriptions

Report	Description
DFI – Advanced Notice Return	The timing of Return cash letters sent to a BOFD may be problematic when the BOFD must release Regulation CC holds on a deposited check at the open of business on the second day following deposit. This report enables the BOFD to assess the impact of a check return item potentially as early as the afternoon before it would normally be presented. The BOFD may be able to extend funds availability holds to reduce risk of loss.
DFI – Advanced Notice Payor	This report offers early awareness of large checks the evening before they settle, for cash management and/or potential customer fraud impact.
Corporate Payor	This report is a Reverse Positive Pay option that allows corporate customers to review check details the morning of presentment via a secured email push. A PDF of the check image offers opportunity to look for altered checks. Early delivery helps business customers meet return timeframes and corporate cash managers make informed funding decisions.

FedPayments Reporter for ACH

This service pushes reports to originating and receiving financial institutions, and/or corporate customers of those financial institutions, via secure email delivery at the end of the FedACH processing day (2:15 a.m. ET). These reports are available to financial institutions for FedACH activity on designated RTN(s), even if through a third party processor(s).

Report Descriptions

Report	Description
ACH Originated Batch	Provides batch level details of originated work to ODFI and/or Originators via secure Email delivery to assist potentially remote DI staff with reconcilement and out of band activity identification.
ACH Originated Entries	Provides entry level details of originated work to ODFI and/or Originators via secure Email delivery to assist potentially remote corporate employees and DI staff who may need to research/validate originated ACH activity.
ACH Received Entries	Provides entry level details of received work to RDFI and/or Receivers via secure Email delivery to assist potentially remote corporate employees and DI staff who may need to research/validate received ACH activity.
ACH Remittance Advice Summary	Provides human-readable reports of summary level addenda information (e.g. invoice or healthcare trace information) via secure Email to potentially remote Originators and/or Receivers for validation/accurate posting of ACH entries.
ACH Remittance Advice Detail	Provides human-readable reports of detailed level addenda information (e.g. invoice or healthcare trace information) via secure Email to potentially remote Originators and/or Receivers for validation/accurate posting of ACH entries.
ACH Return Item Report	Provides report item details to ODFI and/or Originators via secure Email so that potentially remote corporate staff can determine good funds and terminate services/goods delivery as needed.
ACH NOC Report	Provides corrected ACH information (e.g. account number change), to ODFI and/or Originators via secure Email so that potentially remote corporate staff can make updates within time constraints in Nacha rules.

FedACH RDFI Alert

Receiving Depository Financial Institution (RDFI) Alert Service provides notice by email of unusual conditions within incoming FedACH batches and/or files and/or within the institution’s receiver’s items. The service compares each outbound file and the batches it contains against the thresholds you have defined and, at the time of each FedACH Service file distribution, sends email alerts to your designated points of contact on any batches or files exceeding your thresholds. These alerts are available to RDFIs for FedACH activity on designated RTN(s), even if the DFI uses a third party processor(s).

Alert Descriptions

Alert	Description
Reversals	As corporations face increased liquidity concerns, RDFI intraday alerts for Reversals can help RDFIs ensure that the Reversal requests are within Nacha guidelines prior to processing.
Debit Batches Exceeding Defined Criteria	Allows RDFIs to receive email push notifications intraday of large debits so that operations staff can validate and/or process critical returns timely and accounting staff can manage Fed positions.

FedACH Exception Resolution Service

FedACH customers have the ability to manage FedACH exception cases via the FedACH Exception Resolution Service accessed through their FedLine Web^® or FedLine Advantage^® Solutions. FedACH exceptions are defined as disputes, notifications, questions or requests for additional information either from a financial institution or on behalf of an account holder of the institution.

With Full Service Participation, DFIs can both open exception cases with other institutions and respond to exception cases sent to you from other institutions. Cases may be opened in the Exception Resolution Service within two years of the processing date for any FedACH transactions. The Exception Resolution Service allows financial institutions to electronically attach documentation and securely exchange that information with each other.

Exception case types supported:

• Converted Check Copy (CCC)
• General (GNRL) inquiries (used to contact another DFI for information exchange)
• ODFI Request for Return (ODRR)
• Originator Contact Information (OCI)
• Payment Trace Request (PTR)
• RDFI Request for Late Return Acceptance (RDLR)
• Request for Proof of Debit Authorization (RPDA)
• Written Statement of Unauthorized Debit Copy (WSUD)

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