Full text of District Notices (Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas) : Instructions for Proper Completion of Paper Government N0C Forms, Circular No. 88-93

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Federal R eserve Bank
OF DALLAS
W IL L IA M H. W A L L A C E

DALLAS. TEXAS 7 5 2 2 2

FIRST VICE PRESIDENT
AND CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

December 23, 1988
Circular 88-93

TO:

All financial institutions in the
Eleventh Federal Reserve District
that receive ACH transactions
SUBJECT
Instructions for proper completion of paper government NOC forms
SUMMARY

As stated in our circular 88-82 dated December 1, 1988, the Treasury
has asked the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas to accept paper notifications of
change (NOCs) for government payments and convert those NOCs to automated form
for financial institutions that do not automate government NOCs themselves.
Our four offices will begin accepting these paper NOCs on January 3, 1989.
This circular explains the instructions for. the proper completion of these
paper government NOCs.
DETAILS
The Treasury has chosen to use the commercial NOC process for
submitting government payment data changes to agencies originating those
payments. This means financial institutions that do not automate government
NOCs may submit government payment data changes to their local Federal Reserve
Office using the commercial NOC form.
However, there are a number of critical differences in data
requirements for government NOCs than have been required in the past for
completing commercial NOCs. Failure to fully and properly meet government
agency requirements for data when preparing an NOC will cause the NOC to be
rejected. This will result in a delay in applying the requested changes and
may cause a significant delay in availability of funds to your customer. The
following is designed to help you avoid such a delay
We will first provide a general overview of agency requirements and
then discuss each requirement*in detail. Frequent reference, for
clarification, will be made to the attached examples.

For additional copies of any circular please contact the Public Affairs Department at (214) 651-6289. Banks and others are
encouraged to use the following incoming WATS numbers in contacting this Bank (800) 442-7140 (intrastate) and (800)
527-9200 (interstate).

This publication was digitized and made available by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Historical Library (FedHistory@dal.frb.org)

2 -

GENERAL OVERVIEW
1)

A]2 information referenced in the attachments must be entered on the NOC
form. Data elements considered discretionary for inclusion on commercial
NOCs are not discretionary for government NOCs.

Government agencies use the claim number (individual ID) as one of the
keys to identifying a payment recipient on their files. Each agency has
one or more specific structures for claim numbers. A failure to exactly
follow a correct claim number structure will cause the NOC to reject.

To identify a specific payment for an individual who may receive multiple
payments, government agencies use the type of account (demand or savings)
to which the payment is sent. This type of account must be indicated on
the NOC.

Government agencies require that depositor account numbers (termed "DFI
Account Number" on the NOC form) contain no imbedded blanks.

Government agencies only accept four change codes and the changes
associated with those codes. This is discussed later (see page 5 & 6).
Changes other than these types cannot be handled with the paper NOC form.

Because the Federal Reserve will apply editing and processing steps to a
government NOC different from those required for a commercial NOC, a
notation must be made on the NOC form to indicate the NOC is for a
GOVERNMENT PAYMENT.

DETAILED INFORMATION
The following information references numbered items on the attached
sample entry register and sample completed NOC forms.
You must enter all information referenced on the sample Entry
Register on the NOC form.
Items 1-8, 10-13 and 15 should be entered on the NOC form
exactly as presented on the Entry Register. Please note that data fields
may be located in different positions on the entry register provided by
your software or service bureau. Institutions should determine if their
software or service bureau changes the data in any field from the way it
is sent by the originating agency.
If data in any field is ch^f^ged, then
it must be restored to its original form so the NOC can be properly
completed. Please review, the possibility that payment data may have been
changed in sequence or form from that in which the government agency sent
the data with your data processing staff or service bureau and request
changes if necessary. All data entered should be complete and leftjustified when entered on the NOC form. Some fields require special
attention (see next page).

3 -

DETAILED INFORMATION continued:
Item 3 — Company Discretionary D at a. Government agencies that send
this element require that it be returned on the NOC form. This
20-position data field must be entered in the Company Discretionary
Data field on the NOC form exactly as it was sent out by the
originating agency.
Item 5— Company Descriptive Date. This date must be returned. It
must also be in the same order/format in which it was sent by the
originating agency.
Item 6 — Receiving Depository Financial Institution Transit/Routing
Number. The transit/routing number addressed in the payment must be
placed in this field. This is true even if the institution has been
merged, assumed by new owners or closed.
Item 10— Individual ID Number (Claim Number). This alphanumeric data
element must be returned in the proper format. The structure of the
Individual ID number is so important to the originating agencies that
it will be the subject of a special discussion later in this circular
(see page 4). Please give this discussion your special attention.
Item 11— Discretionary Data. Use of this one- or two-character field
is discretionary only to the originating agency. If the
discretionary data field in the original item contains data, then
that one- or two-character field must be returned.
Fill in the field
on the NOC with the one or two characters sent, It
must be
left-justified.
Item 15— Type of Account. The type of account (demand or savings) to
which the original payment was sent must be reported to the
originating agency when submitting the NOC. Since
there is noplace
on the NOC form for indicating the type of account, it must be
written on the form in the open space next to the Company Descriptive
Date field. (See Item 15 on attached figures 1 through 5.)
Item 16— Government/Commercial Indicator. Since- editing and
processing are different for government NOCs than for commercial
NOCs, it is necessary that the notation "GOVERNMENT" be made on
government NOCs in the open space next to the Debit/Credit indicator
boxes.
(See Item 16 on attached figures 2 through 5.)

- 4 -

Claim Number Structures
Government Agencies use of the claim number (Individual ID number).
Since government agencies send out millions of payments each month, the claim
number (Individual ID number) is critical to identifying the payment recipient
whose payment information needs changing. The originating agencies have
special structures for the claim number and have no tolerance for a claim
number returned in a format that is not consistent with their structure. For
your use and information, the structure of the claim numbers for the "big
five" (two of the "big five" are actually both Social Security, SSA and SSI)
agencies are presented below.
Sample Claim Number Structures
Agency

Claim Number Structures*

Examples

Social Security Administration

999999999XXbSSA
999999999XbbSSA
999999999bbbSSI
999999999XXbMBb

123456789C1
123456789A
123456789
234567890LW

Office of Personnel Management

Xb9999999bXbXXX
Xb9999999b9bXXX

F 1234567 W CSF
A 1234567 0 CSA

Veterans Administration

999999999b99b99
b99999999b99b99

162306890 10 01
12345678 00 06

Railroad Retirement Board

XXX999999999b9b
Xbb999999bbbb9b

WCA123456789 7
A 123456
1

♦Key:

X = alpha,

9 = numeric,

b = blank

SSA
SSA
SSI
MB

5 -

Embedded Blanks
Embedded blanks in Depositor Account Number. For years government
agencies have refused to accept depositor account numbers with embedded
blanks. Most financial institutions are aware of this, but some institutions
fail to note this requirement to personnel completing change documents.
Please reiterate this requirement to your ACH personnel, since in many
institutions these personnel do not handle the 1199 form used to sign up
payment recipients for direct deposit and may not be aware of this
requirement.
Change Reason Codes
Government Agencies only accept four change reason codes. ,Government
agencies will only accept the four codes listed in the table below and, of
course, data changes associated with those four codes. Agencies will also
edit change data associated with the four codes in order to ensure the change
data 1) is different from the original data and 2) is the data that should be
changed for the code used.
Example 1: An NOC with a change reason code of
C01 with the same number in both the DFI Account Number field and Change Field
1 will be rejected.
Example 2: An NOC with a change reason code of C05
containing a depositor account number in Change Field 1 will be rejected.
Particular attention should also be paid to the Change Field used. Data in
Change Field 2 of any NOC with a change reason code other than C03 may be
rejected, (see the following page for the table of change codes)

6 -

TABLE OF CHANGE CODES FOR FEDERAL PAYMENTS

:
:
:

CHANGE
REASON CHANGE
CODE* REASON

C01

C02

Incorrect
Depositor
Account
Number

Incorrect
Transit/
Routing
Number (TRN)

C03

Incorrect
Transit/
Routing
Number and
Incorrect
Depositor
Account
Number

C05

Incorrect
Transaction
Code

ENTER CORRECT
DATA IN
CHANGE FIELD
1

1 & 2

EXAMPLES
To correct a data
entry error or to
modify the account
numbering structure
(e.g., to drop a
branch code; or to
issue a new number
to an account)

:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:

To accommodate a
merger or system
consolidation; to
change the TRN to
the correct TRN
for the FI.

:
:
:
:
:
:
:

To accommodate a
:
merger or system
:
consolidation.
:
This code requires :
that both Change
:
Fields 1 and 2 be
:
used: the new
:
account number goes :
in Change Field 1
:
and the new TRN goes:
in. Change Field 2
:
To change the
:
depositors account :
from savings to
:
demand or demand to :
savings.
:

*Use of any other NACHA change codes for government agency payments is not
authorized.

7 -

Correct Government NOC Identification
Government NOCs should be identified for correct processing. Since
government NOCs are subject to different rules for processing than are
commercial NOCs, it is important to identify a government NOC by writing
"Government" at the top of the NOC form in the space next to the debit/credit
boxes. (See Item 16 on figures 2-5 attached.) Failure to provide this
indication may cause incorrect processing by the Fed and result in the
requested changes being delayed or rejected.
Data Requirement to be Left-justified
Finally, all data must be entered left-justified in each field.
There should be no embedded spaces in any data except spaces placed in data
fields by the originating government agency. (See details of the previous
discussion on Government agencies use of the claim number.) NOCs should
contain only change data. They should not contain instructions or messages we
have seen, such as "s/b" for "should be" in Change Field 1 or 2.
When Errors Occur
Paper government NOCs submitted by Eleventh District financial
institutions for conversion and automation by the Fed will be edited for all
government agency requirements and will be rejected
the Fed if those
requirements are not met. Whenever an NOC fails our edits, a letter will be
sent to the submitting financial institution restating all data on the NOC. It
will contain clear statements describing«t^e_ error or errors found and
instructions on what must be done to correct those errors. Since the NOC form
will not be returned to the financial institution, corrections may be made by
marking necessary changes to the data in.the letter and returning the letter
to the local Fed office or directly to the Houston Branch at the address
stated in the letter.
Processing Time
We expect to process and deliver NOCs to the originating government
agency within two business days of the deposit date of the NOC at any Eleventh
District Fed Office. NOCs prepared within a few days of receipt of the
payment or transaction requiring a change should be processed by the
originating government agency prior to the next payment date.
ATTACHMENTS
See the attached examples of an entry register and completed NOC
forms which have been referenced in this circular.

8 -

MORE INFORMATION
For more information on these instructions for proper completion of
paper Government NOCs, please contact:
Tracy Whitten or B. B. Sessions at the Dallas Office
Local: (214) 651-6403
Toll Free: TX (800) 442-7140, LA (800) 527-9200
Eloise Guinn or Jane Pyke at the El Paso Office
Local: (915) 544-4730
Toll Free: TX (800) 592-1631, NM (800) 351-1012
Louis Moore or Lilia Hice at the Houston Office
Local: (713) 659-4433
Toll-Free: (800) 392-4162
Carrie Perkins or Jennifer Pruitt at the San Antonio Office
Local: (512) 224-2141
Toll Free: (800) 292-5810
Sincerely yours

Attachment
Figure 1.
Sample Entry Register

DATE 01/02/89

AUTOMATED CLEARING AND SETTLEMENT FACILITY
CITY, STATE
ZIP

PAGE 01
9999-9999-9

ENTRY REGISTER
RECEIVING POINT
9999-9999-9
STREET CORNER FINANCIAL INSTITUTION
RECEIVING INSTITUTION
9999-9999-9
STREET CORNER FINANCIAL INSTITUTION
COMPANY

US TREASURY 349

3062036096

SOC SECENTRIES EFFECTIVE

01-03-89

SETT
PPD

003

ORGIN NO.

OSC

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

0620-3609

010289

BATCH ID 037

CUSTOMER NAME

ID NUM8ER

JOHN J JONES
SUE ELLEN SMITH
ERIC J BROWN

123456789AB SSA 062036091234567 DEMAND CR 446813579 CP000000000.00 000000346.50
123456789A SSA 062036091234569 SAVING CR 446813456
000000000.00 000000367.80
123456789NN SSA 062036091234574 DEMAND CR 446819871 N 000000000.00 000000261.00

TRACE NUMBER

***BATCH TOTALS***

ENTRY TYPE ACCOUNT NO DISC DEBIT AMOUNT CREDIT AMOUNl

ENTRY - ADDENDA COUNT

TOTAL DEBITS TOTAL CREDIT*
000000000.00 000000975.30

ATTACHMENT

Figure 2. Examples of Completed
Government NOC forms for Change
Reason Codes CO! and C02.

NOTIFICATION O F C HANGE

C re d it

Trace Number

Government_______ ( P l e a x

(3)--------- j E . E

.3 ■ 4, 9 ,

17 1

P rin t L egibly)

1 4 . 4 | 6 :8 i
Ch an ge Field 1

li 3i 5 i 9 , 7 1

i '

,E i Ej E, E . E . E , E . E . E . E . E ,E , E, E, E . E . E . E ,

--------- 1 3 . 0 . 6 .2
Company 10

0 a

i '

111 1 i | | | 3 i;
2 3 4 567 9A|Bt t> | |
$$ A

Disc. Data

| J | 0 tH , N ,

RETURNED BY:

4 14
, 9i 9 i -

9 i 9 , 9 i9 , - , 9

f ,P
, y

Individual ID

Demand-

t J t 0 i N tE | $ i

Individual Name
I9 i9

i i

C h an g e Field 2 (Required for C h an ge Codes 03,
FOR THE ACCOUNT OF:

I0, 9, 61

— < 0 ,1 .0 ,2 , 3, 91
C om pany Descriptive Oat*

©-

This p osted entry contained invalid o r outdated information.
Please revalidate this information with your customer/employee.
Description of change requested.

C om pany Discretionary Oata

Effective Entry Date I Ol l l — f 0 1 3 I —18 t9 I—
Month
Day
Year

ORIGINATED BY:
----------- I U 1S 1 i Ti Ri Ei A i~Sru"TRiY i
C om pany Name

fl- L - f o 2 l Q | 3 | 6 | 0 | 9 l l l2 i3

Receiving Depository Financial Institution
Transit/Routing Number

16 1 8

il i3 5

DFI A ccount Number

ii g iR eason - -(
<°ii - - Code I
?
C han e

i 9i

t |

| |

i |

ATTACHMENT

Figure 3. Examples of completed
Government NOC forms for Change
Reason Codes C03 and C05.

NOTIFICATION O F CHANGE

T r i e . Number

0|6|2|0|3|6 | | Q | 1 I ? ; A fi Ifi >7 I
0
3
IQll 1 iQ l3l~l8 19 I - - - (&)
~

Effective Entry O ate

Debit

Credit

- tih S i

iT i Ri l A i S i U i R i Y I
-E

i3 i 4i Qi

This posted entry contained invalid or outdated information.
Please revalidate mis information with your customer/employee.
Description of change requested.

i 9i i3 1
8

Company Name

(3}------l i l E lE |E |E i Ei Ei Ei E
( J )----- 13 |0

1 0

I I I I

C hange Field 1
1 E 1E

iE iE iE £ i Ei Ei Ei E , F I

Com pany Discretionary Data

, 3| 6 | 0 i 9 | 6 |

C om pany 10
)

Month

Government ______ (P leate Print legibly)

ORIGINATED BY:

l i 6 |. ^ 5 lL7 1 1
V
81j
iJ
9
.
C h an g e Field 2 (Required for C h ange C odes 03.
FOR THE ACCOUNT OF:

11 12 |3 |4 |5 i 6| 7| 8i 9 1AiB i

—1 ° i l 1 0 2 i 81 9 i
C om pany Descriptive Oate

S a v in a s-

iS iS iA |

Individual ID

| J |0 |H iN i

| J;

. J . O .in i i t .S i
N E

Individual Name
RETURNED BY:

©-

14 1 ,6 ,8 ,1 3 i 5 , 7 , 9 ,
4

-tSjg 9 i 9i - i 9i 9 [9 1 i - fl 1
9
Receiving Depository Financial Institution
Transit/Routing Number

DFI A ccount N um ber
1C | 0 | 3 |---------------C hange R eason Code

IIII

. Day

Year

Full text of District Notices (Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas) : Instructions for Proper Completion of Paper Government N0C Forms, Circular No. 88-93

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