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■ December 1994 News and Views on Electronic Services We Help Carry the Ball 1995 Price Changes Effective Jan. 1, 1995 https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis If you've been wanting to become a player in the ACH origination business, but have been reluctant to tackle the stacks of information on the subject, tl1e Fed is here to support you during the start-up process and help you become a Fedline originator much more quickly. Our Fedline origination advisory service is designed to guide tl1e new originator through the process as easily as possible. The service includes: • Fed presentations to you and your corporate customers to educate them about the benefits of becoming an ACH originator. • Fedline origination training clas.5e5 for your staff, covering software options, balancing, simplified explanations of ACH rules and hands-on Fedline data entry; • assignment of a knowledgeable Fed staffer as a ingle point of contact to help coordinate your start-up project; • test scripts and help with interpreting test results to ensure a clean implementation; Electronic Connection Fees 50 cents per wire originated or Securities Transfer/ Book-Entry Safekeeping Service Fedline and Bulkdata dial connections will increase from $65 to $75 per month. Multi-drop leased line connections will increase from $300 to $450 per month; dedicated leased line connection will increase from $700 to $750 per month. These adjustments are necessary to fully recover the Fed's cost for supporting these connections. Funds Transfer Service Funds Transfer prices will decrease from 53 cents to received. The offline surcharge will remain at $10. ACH Service The price of a paper Government otification of Change will increase from $5 to $10; all other ACH transaction prices will remain unchanged for 1995. With the implementation of Fed ACH during 1995, several new value-added services will be offered. Deci ions about pricing of the new services will be deferred until all districts have converted to the centralized software. (See ACH, Page 5) Securities Transfer and BookEntry Safekeeping transaction fees will remain unchanged for 1995. If you have any questions about these changes, please contact Customer Support at (314) 444-8680 or toll-free at 1-800-333-0869. FEIi Fedline Training Below are the training sessions scheduled for the first quarter of 1995. Date Feb. 7 Class FedlineACH Origination Training St. Louis Feb. 8-10 Fedline Training St. Louis Feb. 14 FedlineACH Origination Training Memphi Feb. 15-17 Fedline Training Memphis March 7 FedlineACH Origination Training St. Louis 1arch 8-10 Fedline Training St. Louis 1arch 21 FedlineACH Origination Training Memphi Fedline Training Memphi March 22-24 Fedline Software Releases in the Works https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Location Centralization Patch During the next few months, Electronic Access Support will roll out the Fedline Centralization Patch. The patch realigns our communications sessions to support the Fed's movement to a standard System-wide configuration. The software has an additional session that will provide direct communications to our new centralized application as they become available (Funds Tran fer, ACH, Accounting). The Fedline patch also supports the ANSI X9.32 compression algorithm, which will sub tantially horten the transmission time of a file to or from the Fed. In addition, the patch includes the Funds The introductory Fedline training ion last three days - a 1/ , day for Local Security Administration (LSA) training and 2 1/ , days for Fedline training, which includes the following applications: ACH, Accounting Services, Check Services, Electronic Information Services, Funds Transfer, Reporting & Reserves, Savings Bonds and Treasury Tax & Loan. The ACH Origination session last one day. Thi hands-on session will how you how to use Fedline software so that you can become an ACI I originator. The agenda includ all aspects of ACH origination, including a review of agreements, processing flow, internal controls, balancing and marketing. Each financial in titution may send two taff members to a training session. For training cost information, or to regi ter for any of the classes, please contact Cu tomer Support at (314) 444-8680 or toll-free at l-800-333-0869. Transfer product code (CKS) for Check Same Day Settlement wires. The in tallation of the patch on your Fedline PC must occur on the same date that communication changes are made to the Fed application data bases. We will notify you later of the exact in tallation date. and reprint m ages have been added. The ACII portion of Fedline will offer the ability to derive dishonored return , create reversal batches and update the tran code in the Quick Active Update feature. Another great new feature in this patch will allow us to electronically transmit future software patches directly to your Fedline terminal. This feature will eliminate the di kettes that were previou ly used to manually load a patch onto your Fedline PC. Miscellaneous Patch In the first quarter of 1995, we will roll out the Miscellaneous Patch, which contain several Fedline enhancements. Check Services will now include a feature that allows retrieval requests and derived returns. In the Check Adjustments application, the import/export option and the ability to browse ElECalC News Briefs wana Davis, a technician in our Securities Section, tarted at the Fed 8 ·/ years ago in the General Services Section. She has lx.,en in her current position for two years. Dwana i· re;pon ible for all of the testing related to the Securities Transfer/BookEntry syst m. She t ts new releases of Securiti and Fedline software to en ure tl1at tl1e Securities application i functioning correctly. In addition, Dwana also tests with depository in titution when they make changes to their software. Dwana said that he enjoys working in Securities because of the challenges presented in both the securities market and tl1e oversight of the Securities Transfer ystem. D https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis redialing the 800 number, the The National caller can tl1en reconnect and Dial Center be automatically routed ilirough All Eighth Di trict Fedline the functioning circuits. and FIA511Ligbt dial customers After converting all dial-up are now enjoying the benefits cu tomers to the NOC, we of connecting to tl1e ational expect to begin converting Dial Center ( DC) by dialing 1-800-40 l 1555. The St. Louis non-dial or leased line customers during the second Fed began this project in quarter of 1995. September and has now completed the dial cu tomer conversion. Approximately 10,500 deposiDon't Go Home With t0I) in titution customers nationwide will use tl1i toll-free A little "o" Take a good look at the number to tnm ·mil or receive lower-left corner of your data from Fedline or FIA5Hligbl Fedline screen. That's where terminals. To handle the volume of call , you find the communications sector tl1at reflects some importhe three computer ites (East tant, but often overlooked, Rutherford, Richmond and information about ilie tatus of Dallas) will each contain 400 your transmis.\ion . circuits and more tl1an 400 The first three position in modem . All call · will be the communication · sector directed through the mo t efficient route to tl1e appropriate represent the three available ion . If all queued outgoprocessing center. The route ing work has been tran milted will depend on geography, availability and the sophi tica- by your Fedline, the sector looks like this: ...__ tion of the telephone carrier's If the sector displays a lower routing program. When your in ·titution makes case 'o' in one of the first three the witch to the NDC, you can po itions, you have traffic expect fewer busy ·ignals during remaining in your Fedline's queue: peak periods. You will also o.. Indicat outgoing benefit from improved contingency procedure;. For example, work is queued for Session 1, ilie DC is capable of recovering Message traffic. .o. Indicat outgoing work from minor communication i queued for · ion 2. outages wiiliout drawing on .. o Indicates outgoing work is external resources, uch as backup or di aster recovery ites. queued for ion 3, File traffic. In the near future, you will Components are modularized receive a "Centralization Patch" and redundant so iliat a com( ee Fedline Sofl1mre Article, munications failure would Page 2) . Thi patch will affect only those callers using increase tl1e number of availa failed piece of equipment at able ions and also change ilie time of the problem. By the ion some transactions currently use. TI1e lengili of ilie communication · sector will also be expanded to continue reflecting the · ion tl1at has queued traffic awaiting transmi ion to the Fed. If you haven't noticed the communication sector before, tart paying attention to it today. When a lowercase 'o' appears, you may have not yet transmitted critical traffic, like a wire transfer or ACII file. l'nl · you intend to leave sometl1ing in queue overnight, "Don't go home with a little o." Vendor Payments Made Easier For several years, the t. Loui Fed has been advi ing financial in titutions that it i · good bu in to convert corporate customers to A II origination. NO\v, we have renewed our efforts to convert all of our own vendor payments from check to ACII, too. We recently contacted 450 companies tllat regularly provide u goods or services to educate tllem about ACII benefits. We asked each vendor to provide its account information on our ign-up fonn to ensure proper posting at Ule vendor' fmancial institution . As of tlli printing, 270 vendors have converted to receiving tlleir payments viaACH. Here's how it works: The vendors continue to send the paper invoices directly to us. Then, after our usual verification of the invoice and services, we create the ACH credit item on our accounts payable software for deposit to the ACH system. Our vendors now enjoy earlier paymen~ and we no longer have problems with lost or delayed checks. Operations also became more efficient because the conversion reduced the amount of https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis time it takes to control blank check stock manually. In addition, fewer steps are now required to complete a payment transaction, and reconciliation of outstanding checks is virtually eliminated. If you want to hear more about encouraging your vendors to switch to ACH payments, call Tim Brown of our Financial Sales and Support Unit at (314) 444-8950 or toll-free at 1-800-333-0810, extension 8950. Dialing-Out Overnight Dial-Out Overnight Manager enables the Fed's host computer to call your Fedline terminal overnight to transmit incoming messages and files as tl1ey are queued for delivery. During business hours, you have the flexibility to switch from Fedline to local PC applications and make connections at any time you choose, rather than be intenupted by calls from the Fed throughout the day. We ask tl1at our Overnight customers have: • a dedicated telephone line; • a compatible modem; and • the ability to leave your Fedline terminal on overnight with the "Fedline Local Sign On" screen showing. (You can turn the monitor down so the screen will appear blank.) This free service will be available during the fourtl1 quarter of this year. If you would like more information, please contact Customer Access Support at (314) 444-8711 or toll-free at 1-800-333-0861. Many Thanks The following institutions volunteered their time and personnel to assist Customer Acce;s Support with the Fed's system tests that were conducted during tl1e third quarter of 1994. Many thanks to all who participated! Bank of the l..ead Belt, Flat River, MO Boatmen's National Bank of St. Louis, MO CiU7.ens Bank of Collierville, TN Community First Bank. Gennantown, TN DeWitt B,mk & Tm t, DeWitt, AR Farmers National Bank of Dami lie, KY First Commercial Bank, Uttle Rock, AR First l\ational Bank of Effingham, lL First National Bank of Eldorado, AR First National Bm1k of Lawrence County, Walnut Ridge, AR First National Bank of Russell Spring.-;, KY First National !lank of Searcy, AR First State Brmk of Warren, AR First Stuttgart Bank & Trust, Stuttgart, AR Franklin Bank & Trust, Franklin, KY Granite City Steel FCU, Granite City, lL Ge1111antow11 Trust & Saving.s, Gennanto1\11, IL \lercantile Tmst, Quincy, lL Merchmits and Fanners Bm1k of Koociusko, ~IS \letropolitan National Bank of Little Rock, AR Mis.sour! League Corporate Credit Union, St. Louis, MO National City Bank, Louisville, KY No1111andy Bank of St. Louis, MO Phelps County Bank, Rolla, \IO Planters National Bank of Hughes, AR Scott County State Bank, Scottsburg, I~ 111e Bank of Yellville, Yellville, AR Trans-Financial Bank, Bowling Green, l\'Y Volunteer Bmik of Jackson, TN If you would like to participate in future tests, please call Barb Mettille of Customer Acce::.s Support at (314) 444-8711 or toll-free at 1-800-333-0861. '1\vas an Hour before Cutoff ANew Look We ore pleased to unveil our new look for 11-ctronl, Curr.nfs with this edition. As you can see, we've updated our style, but will continue to bring you the some kind of information on Fed electronic Initiatives and developments that we have In the post. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis was an hour before cutoff and all through the bank, not a user could ign on, even those of high rank. Data Security said we were plain out of luck; the Fed can only un u pend a HUC. So have trained back-up, do what is right, and Merry Christmas to all and to all a "Good Night." With a billion in wires to send here and there, the bo starts pulling out what's left of his hair. When what to our wondering eyes hould appear, but an envelope labeled MASTER, dated last year. We looked in our phone book and called EAS, to find omeone to help u get out of this mess. We tore open the package ever so quick, hoping the contents would do the trick. The help desk "techie" aid the problem was clear, but what I was told I did NOT want to hear. We found several passwords we hoped would match, but no passwords worked, not one in the batch. He got traight to the point, no techno-chatter, u pended local ID ; that was the matter. ot "Dasher," not "Dancer," not "Prancer," not "Vixen," Was busting into Watergate this tough for Nixon? The moral of this story: As you prepare to leave for holiday vacations, please be sure you have a trained back-up Local Security Administrator (LSA) to handle any problem your financial in titution may have with local security on Fedline. You need a back-up LSA who has adequate access in Local Admini tration to un uspend and rei ue local passwords. If you have any question , please call the Data Security Help Desk at (314) 444-8711 or toll-free at 1-800-333-0861. "You really have trouble," the technician did say, "if you don't have a back-up LSA. " o one had a local password they knew, without an LSA there was little to do. Our primary LSA was on a week-long vacation; no one else had access to Local Admini tration. We couldn't send wires or ACH files; all of our work just sat there in piles. It seem all our local ID were u pended; without an LSA, it couldn't be mended. If only we had a trained back-up on ite, we could have avoided thi terrible plight. ACH (co11li1111edfrom Page 1) • materials about the rules, SEC codes, field formats and edits; • assi tance with balancing ACH and Fed accounting reports to origination data. We hope that tl1is advisory service will encourage the conversion of checks to the electronic ACH method, which benefits the originating financial institution and its customers through lower co ts and otl1er efficiencies. If you want to find out more about origination, please call one of the following ACH staff members at (314) 444-8444 or toll-free at 1-800-333-0810: John Hargett at extension 8713, Cheryl Whitworth at extension 8947 or Langston Scott at extension 8461. Accountable Drawdown Transfers: These type codes QUESTION: Will you review how a structured drawdown transfer Is created on Fedllne? Here's how: 1. Select "Create a Mes.5age" from the Funds Transfer menu. 2. Select "Structured Drawdown Wire" from the Create a Mes.5age menu. 3. Enter the following information in the fields provided: Receiver ABA: 'l}rpe the RTN of the bank to which you are sending the drawdown request or response. Name: Type tl1e name of the bank to which you are sending tl1e drawdown request or response. Type Code: Pres.5 F6 and select a 'l}rpe Code. For Non-Accountable Drawdown Requests: Use these type codes to ask an institution to initiate a sub-type 32 accountable transfer according to your instructions. • Type 1031 Request for a customer drawdown. Use product code DRC (customer-to-corporate drawdown). • Type 1631 Requ t for a bank-to-bank drawdown. Use product code ORB (bank-to-bank drawdown). are for initiating a transfer in response to an incoming non-accountable sub-type 31 request. • Type 1032 customer drawdown response. Use product code DRW (drawdown response) . • Type 1632 bank-to-bank drawdown response. Use product code DRW (drawdown response). Amount: Type the amount of the drawdown. Reference #: As.sign a reference number. Product Code: Pres.5 F6 and select a Product Code. DBT: Type your bank name and the account number your correspondent should debit. Lea.ve this field blank on a DRW (Example: Bank One/AC-1111111) CDT: Type your bank's nine-digit RTN. Leave Ibis field blank on a DRW BNF: Optional field on ORB. Mandatory field on a DRC, or on a DRW in response to a DRC. The ultimate party to be credited as a result of the transfer. Structured Funds Tran fer edits apply. RFB: Optional field used to convey a reference#, etc. 881: Optional field used to convey bank-to-bank information. 4. Press the <enter> key. Fedline will respond ENTER/UPDATE TRANSACTION, assign a C TL# and display a status of ET. 5. Verify and transmit to the Fed host computer in the usual manner. If you have any questions or need additional information, please call Customer Acees.5 Support at (314) 444-8711 or toll-free at 1-800-333-0861. Contributors to thi issue include: Gary Auer, Tim Brown, Max Butler, Kelly Campbell, Su an Hackney, Gloria llarlan, Gloria Jordan, Mary Kuni and Barb Mettille. Post Office Box 442 St. Loui , Missouri 63166 Volume S, Number 4 Electronic Currents Is a publication of the Federal Rese"·e Bank of St Louis and its Llttle Rock, Louisville and Memphi branches designed to infonn Eighth District financial institutions of electronic access issues, product, and services. © 1994 by Federal Resemi Bank of St. Louis. All rights rese"'ed. Please addres.s all comments, que:,tions, topic suggestions, requests for additional copies or penni ions to reprint to: Kelly Campbell, Electronic Servire., al the address abO\e. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis FIRST CLASS MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID ST. LOUIS, MO PERMIT NO. 444
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