Full text of Roundup : September 1985

The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.

DALLAS
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

mm

i

September 1985

R eturn Ite m N o tific a tio n
Regulation J Amended
In February 1983, the Eleventh
Federal Reserve District began a
Return Item Pilot program in order to
test the feasibility of, among other
things, returning unpaid items directly
to the institution of first deposit and
providing notification on all large
return items ($2500 or more) to institu­
tions of first deposit located in the
Eleventh District.
Recently, the Board of Governors of
the Federal Reserve System announced
an amendment to Regulation J —Col­
lection of Checks and Other Items and
Wire Transfer of Funds—to improve
upon the requirement that payor
depository institutions provide notice
when they are returning unpaid large
dollar checks presented through the
Federal Reserve.
Though the new notice of nonpay­
ment will require some operational
modification, the Federal Reserve
Bank of Dallas and its Branch offices

Charles Hunter, Manager, of the
Return Items Division

Charles Hunter, Manager of the Return Items Division, follows up on one of some 40,000
return items which pass through the Dallas Fed daily. Return Item Clerks are Vincent
Martinez and Mary Lee.

will continue the practice of sorting to
the institution of first deposit under
the terms and conditions of the Return
Item Pilot. Pricing of return items will
remain the same for Eleventh District
financial institutions.
Under the conditions of the amend­
ment change, the Eleventh District will
initiate payor large dollar notifications
only upon receipt of the return check in
a special envelope on a special return
item letter. Paying institutions will be
required to make a separate sort of
large items by a noon deadline in order
for the District to meet System
n o tific a tio n d ea d lin e s. S pecial
envelopes and return item letters will
be furnished prior to the Oct. 1, 1985,
effective date of this amendment.
Charles Hunter, Manager of the
Return Items Division and Chairman of
the Eleventh District’s Task Force to

implement the notification require­
ments included in the amendment to
Regulation J states, “ The amendment
is intended to influence the practice of
some depository institutions of delay­
ing a depositor’s ability to withdraw
funds deposited by check by reducing
the risk on such items. The Eleventh
District has been providing notification
service to the Eleventh District institu­
tions since 1983.
(continued on page 3)

INSIDE_____________
■ CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE
■ ECONOMIC EDUCATION
■ ACH UPGRADED

Customer Assistance Services
By 8:00 a.m. they are at their desks.
Around 8:15 a.m., the telephones start
ringing. By 5:00 p.m., they probably
have handled over 100 calls. Some
days, it’s twice that many.
They are the Dallas Fed’s Customer
Assistance Representatives and since
January of this year, they have worked
to answer questions and help solve
problems for over 800 financial institu­
tions connected to the RESPONSE net­
work. The Federal Reserve Bank of
Dallas and its Branch offices are cur­
rently involved in increasing the
awareness of the -importance of serv­
ing customer needs. An ongoing effort
to provide assistance to users of the
RESPONSE network is one of the ma­
jor components of offering responsive
customer assistance in this District.
To meet this goal, plans began for a
Custom er A ssistance Group in
mid-1984. Serving as project manager
is Jim McCullin—who was chosen
from the Bank’s Data Services Depart­
ment to organize the group and get it
operational by January 1985.
According to McCullin, “ When we
saw how large the RESPONSE network
was becoming, we realized the need for
a centralized support facility. We
wanted to make using the network as
easy as possible for the participants.”
Serving as Customer Assistance
Representatives for the group are
Candace McCullough and Kathleen
Hatfield. They have the most contact
with financial institutions because

they are the ones responsible for
answering hundreds of telephone calls
and serving as liaisons between
operating departments and network
users. “ I guess our main activity is
answering questions,” says Hatfield.
“ We try to answer as many questions
as possible. If we can't, we find out
who can.” According to McCullough,
“ Some people want long answers,
some short. We try to gear our re­
sponses to help them as much as we
can. Most people just want to be sure
they are doing the procedures
correctly.”
Stan McAnelly serves as the
RESPONSE network coordinator. He is
the central contact point for financial
institutions wishing to join the network
or for those already connected who
want to upgrade their computer equip­
ment. He also is responsible for the
weekly training sessions conducted at
the Dallas office for new RESPONSE
participants.
Bob Boyanton serves as the group’s
technical trouble-shooter and assists
in developing and implementing new
and enhanced RESPONSE applica­
tions. He also trains institutions in the
use of dedicated-line equipment.
Vicki Underwood is the office ad­
ministrator and keeps track of institu­
tions as they come on-line. She also
serves as a back-up to the Customer
Assistance Representatives to handle
calls during peak periods.

Members of the Customer Assistance Group are Candace McCullough (foreground);
Kathleen Hatfield; Jim McCullin, Manager; Stan McAnelly; Vicki Underwood; and
Bob Boyanton.

Vicki Underwood, Kathleen Hatfield and
Candace McCullough, members of the
Customer Assistance Group, study
RESPONSE network data prior to answer­
ing telephone inquiries.

Early next year, the group will be ex­
panded to serve not only RESPONSE
network participants, but all financial
institutions in the Dallas zone. When
implemented, the group will coordinate
the resolution of problems with opera­
tional departments within the Bank.
“ They won’t replace the functions of
the other departments, but they will
serve as the first place an institution
should call when it needs help with
operational questions such as check
processing, funds transfer or adjust­
ment information. If they can’t solve a
problem themselves, they will route
calls to the person who can,” says
McCullin. All customers will receive
n o tific a tio n when this area is
operational.
As the group approaches its oneyear anniversary, McCullin reflects on
its success. “ It is especially gratifying
to know that our group has been able
to lessen our customers’ problems
utilizing the RESPONSE network, and
at the same time help the Bank’s
operating departments concentrate on
the things they do best.”
Financial institutions interested in
the RESPONSE network should con­
tact Stan McAnelly at (214) 698-4322.
Institutions already connected to the
network can reach the Customer
Assistance Representatives at (214)
698-4250.

Dallas Fed Adds Education Specialist
The
Federal
Reserve Bank of
Dallas has estab­
lished a consumer
and
e co n o m ic
education program.
Under the direction
of Sue Lynn Sasser,
Education Specialist, the program is
designed to heighten the public’s
understanding of economic principles,
money and banking, consumer eco­
nomics, and the purposes and func­
tions of the Federal Reserve System.
The Dallas Fed’s support of economic
and consumer education is an out­
growth of the Bank’s mission to serve
as an informational leader in the
community.
Since joining the Bank’s Public Af­
fairs Department in February, Sasser
has worked primarily with Centers for
Economic Education affiliated with the
Joint Council on Economic Education
(JCEE). JCEE is a national non-profit
organization that coordinates a net­
work of centers at more than 260 col­
leges and universities throughout the
nation. Sasser has conducted work­
shops for elementary and secondary
teachers at several of the centers
located across the Eleventh Federal
Reserve District. In addition, the Bank
hosted a one-day seminar entitled
“ Teachers’ Day at the Fed” in July for
educators participating in a JCEE pro­

TEACHERS’ DAY AT THE FED

gram at North Texas State University.
Plans are underway for sim ilar
seminars to take place this fall with
other centers.
In addition to working with these
groups, Sasser has participated in inservice programs with school districts
in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and the
State Professional Conference for
Vocational Home Economics Teachers
in Texas. In-depth training sessions for
county agents with the Texas A&M
Cooperative Extension Service also are
planned for this fall and spring.
In addition to conducting workshops
and training sessions, Sasser guides
the development and distribution of
educational materials and teaching
aids for use in grades kindergarten
through 12, plus adult continuing
education courses. One such project is
a slide presentation on the history of
money in Texas to be used in conjunc­
tion with the Texas Sesquicentennial
and in Texas history classes.
Sasser has a bachelor’s degree in
journalism and a master’s degree in
Professional Services in Home
Economics from Central State Univer­
sity, Edmond, Oklahoma, and a doc­
torate in Consumer Sciences from
Texas Woman’s University, Denton,
Texas. Before joining the Fed, she
worked as a program evaluator with
the U.S. General Accounting Office in
Dallas.

Return Item, cent.
“ For financial institutions in the
Eleventh District there will be no addi­
tional charge for telephone, online or
Fed-initiated wire notifications on
items handled for collection by the
Federal Reserve,” Hunter added.
For large dollar return items not
handled for collection by the Federal
Reserve, the Reserve Bank will make
the necessary operating changes to
receive telephone or wire notifications
on these items from paying institu­
tions within the Eleventh District. The
Bank will pass these notifications on
to the institution of first deposit and
will charge the payor institution the
proposed $2.25 for originating the
notification through their network or
$4.25 for n o tific a tio n over the
telephone.

R e tu r n s a n d F o r w a r d C o ll e c t io n

ACH Capabilities Upgraded
On September 6, new ACH ’84 soft­
ware was installed at the Dallas Fed to
process ACH (Automated ClearingHouse) transactions at greater speed
and accuracy than the ACH 76 model
software. The new software provides a
basis for additional automated devices
to be added in the future.
Data is moved through the EFT (Elec­
tronic Funds Transfer) process in
basically two ways. The first method
involves an electronic transmission
wire made between two points through
networks such as FRCS (Federal
Reserve Communication System).
Large dollar amounts involving a hand­
ful of transactions account for the bulk
of this activity. The second method
moves entire files of funds data such
as corporation payroll runs. This
method (ACH) is used to move small
dollar amounts in large volumes.

Since the benefits of speedy ACH
delivery accrue to both sending and
receiving parties, originating and
receiving in s titu tio n s share the
nominal expense of these services
which are provided by the Feds. Each
individual debit or credit processed
costs from 1 cent to 7.8 cents to both
the sending and receiving institutions.
A new software system is installed
every eight to ten years with special
package modifications ordinarily made
once or twice a year depending on
when the designer makes improve­
ments to its existing system, or as
regulatory actions require changes to
be made.
The Federal Reserve System current­
ly uses a Bulk Data Transmission Util­
ity (BDTU) software system, designed
by the Dallas Fed, to send large
volumes of data between Feds. BDTU

was designed to “ enhance electronic
capabilities between financial institu­
tions and the Feds in an effort to save
mantime during processing of ACH
items and to cut costs for those institu­
tions,” stated Larry Ripley, Assistant
Vice President of the Payments Mech­
anism department.
The BDTU is an important develop­
ment in the telecommunications tech­
nology world because it offers faster,
more accurate ACH processing, trans­
mission of large volume reports to the
Board of Governors, transmission of
account information between Feds, and
transmission of data files between Feds.
Financial institutions already on the
RESPONSE network can hook up to
this electronic software system service
for a nominal sum of $100.00. Those in­
terested should contact Larry Ripley at
(214) 651-6118 for further information.

CZ>

m
o

m
33

cn

cn y 3

) CD 3D
CO co o

>

cn

jj*

O ’ o
Q

a

"5

0

>
o

o
CD
"O o' o
£0

o

g
CD

o

O

o

3
m

C0

o’
o

O

o’
>

o

X" o
o Q.

c

o
£0 _

"O
05

3
Hw
o s
z ro
3 10
m
O
c

CL o
CL CL 05’

m
o

IT

o'
o

co

cn

CD

3

3

>

ro Q.

o o

(Z)

o
o
co
o
CD o O ’
"O CD
co
05
v:
3
cd"
CD CO 05 £0 cr
<
>
=3 CO o m
a;
o
CD
“0
CO CD 3 £0 CD
05
c
o
~n
3
c/> o CD
Q.
I CD
o
3
c
O ’ 05 05
CD c
CD o 3D
33 cn o CD
05
c
CD
O ’ JO

g
o

3

o

55'

o

£0
o

z

o
O
>

£0

05
c
CO o

>
r~
33
m
(/>
m
33
<
m
03
>

<

C l CL CD

o O

f