As the “21 Day Notification” rule comes down the pipeline, CU*Answers has been providing top-notch assistance to its credit union clients in preparing for compliance. The CUSO has provided a central online resource, posting communications, web conference information, policy updates, and frequently asked questions relating to the Credit CARD Act. According to the CUSO, acting quickly and proving the ability to roll with the punches in an increasing regulatory environment was important.

The CUSO says they are currently providing online credit card servicing solution to 53 of its credit union clients via partnerships with FIS and PEMCO. In addition to large cost savings resulting from combining credit card statements with share and loan statements and greatly reducing postage, credit unions can also provide skip-a-pay programs and 2,996 promotional buckets to ensure they are prepared to handle the needs of all their members.

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This new managed service, offered by the Gividends Team of CU*Answers is made possible by partnering with Dynamic Card Solutions. Dynamic Card Solutions is an innovative developer of instant issuance and PIN selection solutions for banks, credit unions and retailers, and is the leading instant issuance provider for VISA and MasterCard debit and credit cards. An interface between CU*Answers core processing system, CU*BASE, and Dynamic Card Solutions Card Wizard enables the issuance of financial cards on-demand at the branch level quickly, easily, and affordably. In most instances after opening a new checking account, a card can be issued in roughly 90 seconds.

According to Geoff Johnson, VP of Lending for CU*Answers, “Offering this service to our credit unions is another example showing that CU*Answers isnt just a data processor. We walk hand in hand with our credit unions every day, working to recognize ways to assist them in their ultimate goal of satisfying their members. Having the ability to provide plastics to their members on-demand will be a characteristic that sets them apart from the rest.”

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On July 23rd, CU*Answers sent the first in a series of communications related to the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act and its affect on credit unions using CU*BASE. Of specific interest is the 21-day notification rule, which helps to constitute a periodic statement and requires creditors to send credit card statements at least 21 days before the due date. This regulation, which is designed to help some people avoid late payments, is putting strain on credit unions as they determine whether or not they need to adjust payment due dates on loan products so that normal statement processing timelines provide the required 21-day notification, as well as whether statements are set up properly to report the right information to members every month.

Rather than intending to provide an interpretation or an explanation of the Act itself, the CUSO has offered discussion on various tools, automated solutions, and services they can offer to credit unions as they work to comply with the new and evolving regulations. These offerings include custom programming options for flooding new due dates on member loans, evaluation of collections and delinquency fine settings, review of statement configuration, and assisting with review of disclosures that may need to be changed to ensure compliance. And its all being provided free to their credit union clients.

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For instance, versus arbitrarily interpreting the Act and required measures for compliance, CU*Answers will collaborate jointly with its clients on designing a variety of new tools and services intended to effectively comply with the still evolving regulation. These CU*Answers sponsored efforts will include custom programming for flooding new due dates on member loans, evaluation of collections and delinquency fine settings, review of statement configurations, and assisting with review of credit union disclosures that may need to be modified for compliance. These services are being provided free to clients utilizing the CU*BASE processing system.

Randy Karnes, CU*Answers CEO says We want to follow the lead of our credit unions interpretations of the act with multiple solutions to fit their plans. Bottom line, we are all in this together, and responding is a group effort and shared expense, so the CUSO will pick up the tab as much as possible.

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The current predominant topic on this site is the Credit CARD Act which is making its way through Congress. CU*BASE clients are able to utilize the Kitchen as a starting place to access pertinent information that will help them interpret the ramifications this Act will have on their operations. The site provides a discussion of various tools and services CU*Answers can offer to help credit unions as they work to comply with evolving regulations, as well as links to other major resources such as CUNA and NAFCU. The CUSO invites client participation, requesting users to submit their thoughts and inquiries to be posted on the site to share with others.

Other Recipes included on the site include Collaborating on Compromised Plastics Procedures, Proposed Changes to the FACT Act, 5300 Call Report Tools, and much more. The web site can be found at http://cuanswers.com/kitchen/.

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According to the CUSO, compromised ATM/Debit and Credit card events continue to be on the rise. The recovery process is very tedious and frustrating to members and institutions regardless of the number of plastics involved. The Gividends Team at CU*Answers is offering a new compromised plastics program, available in three different service levels. The services offered from this program range from sending maintenance files to card vendors, updating card configurations to designing personalized communication campaigns and directly contacting members affected by a compromised card situation.

Shirley Moore, EFT Account Executive for CU*Answers says, Were very excited to offer these services to credit unions. Unfortunately, compromised card instances are on the rise. We want our credit unions to know that we are available to help in any situation, big or small, regardless of the number of cards affected.

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According to CU*Answers, one of the most difficult parts when faced with this situation is matching up the list of compromised cards to the actual member accounts to determine which members have been affected. If provided an electronic list of card numbers, the CUSO will compare it against the credit union’s ATM/Debit or online credit card database and return a report and database file of matching member accounts. This list then can be used with existing CU*BASE tools such as List Generator, Query, or Member Connect for further analysis or communicating with members.

Other helpful suggestions:

• Push your credit/debit vendor for automated solutions — The first person to ask for help managing this process might actually be your credit card or ATM/Debit vendor. There might be tools and options available that you’re unaware of. A list of 300 compromised card numbers one day might be daunting enough, but imagine if you get a list of 5,000 some day!
• You should be able to get your compromised card list electronically — Some credit unions have not been aware that an electronic version of the list of compromised card numbers is available from the vendor, rather than a fax. There are resources available on both www.us.visaonline.com and www.mastercardonline.com that might be useful as well. Contact your vendor rep and ask about options to make this process easier to manage.
• Have you reviewed your Falcon Fraud settings lately? — Just canceling and reissuing a list of cards you get from your vendor obviously isn’t the only thing you should be doing to protect your members. Now might be a good time to review your options for fraud detection to take advantage of the way the networks can monitor and flag potential fraud on the fly, every day.

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