Everything ACH

A few years ago there was a document titled “Affidavit of Unauthorized/Improper ACH Debit Activity”.  Sound familiar?  Maybe not.  And then it was discovered that there was some state law (I think it might have been an M state) that said something to the effect that to be a valid Affidavit, it must be notarized.

That presented a bit of a problem to the industry at large, afterall, rules need to be consistent across the board.  Not every RDFI had an easily accessible Notary.  Not to mention, it could simply be inconvenient.   So, what do you do?

You change the name.

The title of the document was changed to “Written Statement Under Penalty of Perjury”, more affectionately referred to as a WSUPP form.  That, I’m sure you recognize.  It is the exact same document, except for the title.  Personally, I really liked this title.  I think it made some Receivers stop and think before signing.  It was serious. 

We’ve been moving along really well for a number of years now and for some reason, there’s another name change on the horizon.  March 19, 2010 to be exact.  I’m not really sure why this time.

There is quite a bit of information here (and these are just the highlights), so bear with me.  Beginning on March 19, 2010 the following changes to the Written Statement go into effect;

1)    The title of the document is being changed to “Written Statement of Unauthorized Debit”.  To be affectionately referred to as a WSUD.  Not nearly as sexy as a WSUPP, but they didn’t ask my opinion.

2)   Along with the name change, the Written Statement is no longer required to be signed ‘Under Penalty of Perjury’

3)   The requirement stating that an authorization must clearly and conspicuously state its terms has been changed to ‘the authorization must be clear and readily understandable’

4)   The Written Statement will now require very specific pieces of information including;

1. Receiver’s printed name and signature
2. Receiver’s account number
3. Name of the Originator
4. Posting date of the entry
5. Dollar amount
6. Reason for the return
7. Date of the signature
8. Receiver’s assertion that the Written Statement is true and correct and
9. Receiver’s assertion that they are an authorized signer or has authority to act on the account

5)   The Written Statement must be signed and dated on or after the Settlement Date of the entry(ies) to which it relates

6)   Multiple claims may be made on the same Written Statement

7)   Requests for copies of the Written Statement must be fulfilled within 10 banking days

8)   The RDFI must retain a copy of the Written Statement for 1 year

9)   A Written Statement is no longer required when returning an ARC, BOC or POP entry using R39 (Improper Source Document)

As I said, those are the highlights.  For details, I strongly encourage you to check out the Revisions section of the 2010 ACH Operating Rules book.  If you don’t have one, reach out to your local Regional Payments Association or visit https://www.nacha.org/member-apps/index.cfm?action=store.category&ProductCategoryID=28.

There are some rules changes coming relating to Stop Payments as well, so keep an eye out here for another post soon.