Navy Cash Standard Operating Procedures - Financial Management ...

Appendix LGuidelines for Negative Account Balances1. The following table presents guidelines for taking action in the case of a cardholderwhose ACH transaction has been returned and has resulted in a negative Navy / Marine Cashaccount balance. These guidelines are based on the number of times a cardholder’s account hasgone negative and are listed in order of severity, from least severe to most severe. Theseguidelines are offered as suggestions only; the actual action taken is at the discretion of thecardholder’s chain of command.2. A negative Navy / Marine Cash account balance can occur:a. When ACH transactions are returned from a cardholder’s home bank or credit unionaccount. Reasons for returned transactions include: nonsufficient funds (NSF), closed account,invalid account information, etc.b. As a result of debit card purchases or ATM withdrawals ashore when there are notsufficient funds in a cardholder’s Navy Cash (strip) account. Possible causes include merchantholds, merchant without online authorization capability, transaction below merchant floor limit,network unavailable, etc.c. When cardholders use their Navy Cash debit feature ashore, either to get cash at anATM or to purchase something at a restaurant or store, the new balance in their Navy Cashaccounts will be reflected ashore immediately, but won’t be reflected on the ship until the nextend-of-day processing is completed between ship and shore. If they get back to the ship andcheck their Navy Cash account balance before this processing is completed, the K80 CashlessATM will show their old balance not their new balance. If they transfer money to their chipbased on their old balance, their Navy Cash account will end up with a negative balance once alltheir transactions ashore and on the ship are fully processed.3. The Navy / Marine Cash system automatically blocks Navy / Marine Cash access to acardholder’s bank or credit union account when an ACH return is received and the cardholder’sNavy / Marine Cash (strip) account goes negative. If the reason for the ACH return is NSF, oncethe Navy / Marine Cash account balance is restored to $0 or greater, the ACH block isautomatically removed in the first two instances of NSF returns. The ACH block remains inplace on receipt of the third NSF return until the Disbursing Officer, or his designatedrepresentative, initiates action to reinstate access. If an ACH return is received for a reason otherthan NSF, ACH access remains blocked until an individual’s banking information is updated.4. When an ACH transaction is returned for whatever reason, the Disbursing Officer isresponsible for dealing with it in accordance with the procedures delineated in paragraph 8.8 ofthis SOP. The amount of a negative balance represents a debt to the U.S. Treasury funds pool,and the Disbursing Officer is responsible for collecting on that debt, even though the amount ofthat debt is not part of the Disbursing Officer’s accountability.a. The Disbursing Officer shall review the Negative Balance Report and the ReturnedItems Detail Report on a daily basis and immediately notify in writing any cardholder whoappears on the report, for example, via e-mail (include the cardholder’s chain of command forsecond and third occurrences).NC SOP Ver 1.12 x-Appendices.doc L-1 17-Aug-07