Using the Issuer Platform

Related Topics

Verifying the Member

When guest members (your members) request a financial transaction from an acquirer credit union, the acquirer credit union must verify your members prior to any financial activity. Guest members are verified by using their ATM cards at a card swipe device in the teller line or providing the teller with their member number and the name of their credit union. The teller then retrieves basic member information from the guest member’s credit union to verify the member’s identification.

Available Member Information

The following information is sent to the acquirer credit union:

  • Account Inquiry: member name, taxpayer ID, business account indicator, driver's license, phone verification/pass phrase, street address, city, state, zip code, phone number, email address, member message, joint member name.
  • Share Account Information: account number, share type description, current share balance, available share balance
  • Share Statement Information: transaction date, transaction code, transaction amount, share amount, account balance, teller identifier, effective date
  • Loan Statement Information: transaction date, transaction code, transaction amount, loan interest/fees, principal amount, account balance, teller identifier, effective date
  • Loan Account Information: account and note numbers, loan type description, next payment date, payment amount, current loan balance, line of credit limit, daily interest on loan, same-day payoff amount, 10-day payoff amount

Transactions Without Preceding Verification

Typically, a financial transaction will be sent by the acquirer with both the member identifier and an account type identifier so the issuer credit union knows exactly which share draft account to use to process the transaction. The CO-OP shared branching network requires issuers to also process inquiries and financial transactions that have not been fully qualified, meaning the account type has not been identified. If Portico receives a transaction with no share type specified, the system will determine the valid list of share draft accounts available by evaluating the authorized shared branching accounts for that member.

Portico will use the Shared Service Center check box on the Share Profiles - Account Information tab and the check boxes in the Shared Service Center group box on the Shares - General tab to determine if a member's share draft account is available for shared branching. Using the list of available shared branching share draft accounts for the member, Portico will post the transaction to the lowest numbered share draft account (excluding HSA accounts). If no share draft account exists, Portico will reject the transaction and return a message indicating ‘account not found.’ If a valid share draft account is found, but there is a hold or in the case of a withdrawal not enough funds, the transaction will be rejected and the appropriate message returned. Exception code 1063 - Unqualified, default checking used will appear on the Network Cardholder Activity Report 904 to identify these ‘unqualified’ transactions.

Completing the Member Transaction

Once member verification is completed, the acquirer credit union requests authorization for the guest member’s financial or non-financial transaction. A guest member transaction request can be performed online or offline. During the online process, the guest member’s request is sent online from the acquirer, to the appropriate switch (Fiserv Card Services) and to the Portico system at the issuer credit union to approve or deny the request.

When communication cannot be established with the guest member’s credit union, the teller has the option to perform transactions offline. Usually, the Shared Service Center Networks require the teller to contact the guest member’s (issuer) credit union and verify the member’s request manually before performing the transaction. The acquirer system stores offline requests in a store and forward file to be automatically sent once communication is re-established.

The following transactions are available for guest members:

  • Share Withdrawals
  • Share Deposit
  • Loan Payment
  • Traveler’s Cheque Purchase
  • Money Order Purchase
  • Account Inquiry
  • Share Account Information
  • Share Statement Information
  • Loan Interview
  • Loan Close
  • Loan Disburse
  • Address Change Notification
  • Fee Notification
  • Document Notification
  • History Print
  • Loan Statement Information
  • Loan Account Information

The Issuer Notification tab allows your members to complete a loan application and present it to an acquirer credit union for processing. After the member verification process, the acquirer transmits the loan amount applied for and the member number of the applicant. The acquirer will fax you the loan application and wait for your approval. Once the loan is approved, the acquirer completes a loan close. Your member can access the loan funds via a loan advance transaction or loan disbursement.

Reports

The ATM Network Cardholder Activity Report 904 and ATM Network Date/Time Reconciliation Report 906 you currently receive for ATM activity includes all Shared Service Center activity sent and received. These reports should be checked on a daily basis for any exceptions that need to be posted to a member’s account or for balancing settlement. To make balancing easier, we recommend leaving one of your reports in date/time order and subtotaling your remaining reports by network ID. The SSC-ISSUER CMP field on the Member & Transaction Count Report Transaction 997 indicates the total number of completed Shared Service Center transactions month-to-date.

Checks For Deposit

When checks are presented for deposit at a Shared Service Center acquirer credit union, the teller determines if a hold is placed on the account. The teller has the option of placing a local or no hold on the check. The number of days for local holds are specified in the Local field in the Check Holds section on the Credit Union Profile - Teller tab. You can establish different hold days for Shared Service Center activity without affecting your regular teller and ATM activity by defining the hold options on the Credit Union Profile - Teller tab in the Shared Service Center branch. Usually, this branch is the same as the ATM branch.

To identify payroll-related deposits, Portico acquirer credit unions can select a Payroll Check option on the Check Log dialog box. For Portico issuer credit unions, the local check hold days will be included in the issuer response; however, payroll checks will be treated as no-hold items. Check hold information is not printed on receipts generated by the Portico acquirer platform.

The CO-OP shared branching network limits the number of payroll checks to 5 checks per transaction. For Portico acquirers, the system will not restrict you from entering more than 5 payroll checks. For Portico issuers, the system will not verify the number of payroll checks and will process the deposit transaction without error. There is the potential that a non-Portico issuer will not accept more than 5 payroll deposits in a single transaction. In this scenario, the teller will need to perform multiple transactions to deposit the checks.

The Shared Service Center Network usually requests that the acquirer credit union endorse checks presented for deposit with the issuer’s route and transit number. This keeps the responsibility of collecting funds on the issuer credit union.

Reversals

Portico uses the Reversals - Same Day Reversals tab to process same-day reversal requests sent by the acquirer credit union. The issuer credit union must accept a reversal transaction message by either posting it to the member’s account or by creating an exception item on the Network Cardholder Activity Report 904 and Network Date/Time Reconciliation Report 906.

If the reversal request comes through after network settlement, the credit union must accept it; however, it will appear as an exception item on the 904 and 906 Reports for the next day.