Immediate payment by payment method Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) 003-10030040

Customers requesting an urgent payment should be referred to Smart Centre Telephony. If the customer is requesting a payment due to exceptional and unforeseen circumstances, they can use the IVR service or their Centrelink online account.

In some circumstances, it will be appropriate for the urgent payment request to be assessed at the service centre or by a processing team.

RTGS is only used and made available if the account is not NPP reachable. When considering a payment by RTGS, remember:

• Immediate payments cannot be issued if the customer's record is in the I (International) environment
• Urgent payments cannot be issued if the customer's payment type is an ineligible payment. These payments include Family Tax Benefit (FTB) only, Pension Bonus Scheme and Advance payments. See Urgent payments due to exceptional and unforeseen or extraordinary circumstances for a list of ineligible payments
• The customer must have already been approved for an urgent payment (the service officer must have already determined the customer is eligible for the urgent payment)
• The payment is to be made by RTGS to the customer's bank account. The Immediate Payment requests script should be used to code immediate payments unless the customer is receiving Farm Household Allowance (FHA), Status Resolution Support Services (SRSS) or an emergency payment such as Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment (AGDRP)

Before assessing or issuing an immediate payment, make sure the customer record is the correct one by asking authentication questions to verify Proof of Record Ownership (PORO). See Authenticating a Centrelink customer for a detailed process.

If the customer contacts in person they must be authenticated at application. It is preferable the customer also provide at least one photo identity document for a manual-visual comparison. If this is not available and the Service Officer is in doubt they are speaking with the customer, they must ask more authentication questions.

Authentication questions must not be limited to details a customer's friends and relatives are aware of such as the customer's date of birth or how many children are in the family. The questions must be searching, but must not be so personal as to be intrusive. If appropriate, it is important to explain to the customer why they are being asking these questions. See Authenticating a Centrelink customer for a detailed process.

Has the customer already been granted an immediate payment today and wants to change the amount of the payment?

• Yes, the customer is requesting a new urgent payment. As the customer has already had an urgent payment granted, they cannot request another urgent payment on the same day. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 4

Can the customer wait for the payment to be available on the next working day or in 2 working days (depending on the payment type)?

• Yes, issue the urgent payment to the customer by direct credit. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 5

An account cannot be used for RTGS payment if the customer has advised their payment destination account is:

• closed
• a new payment destination
• a passbook account

If the customer advises the account is overdrawn, it is the customer's choice as to if the payment is made to the account.

The customer should be advised that:

• The financial institution may retain some or all of the overdrawn amount; and
• That it will take longer for the payment to be available as manual processing may be needed by the financial institution

Is RTGS an appropriate method of payment?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, RTGS is not an appropriate method of payment to be used in this case:
• Consider issuing the payment by Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card
• If the customer requests to change their payment destination details, this is to be done as a separate action to processing the urgent payment request and the payment should not be issued by RTGS
• Procedure ends here

The hours of operation for RTGS are 8:00 am - 3:30 pm (NSW and VIC time) weekdays. An urgent payment by RTGS will not be available on national or concurrent public holidays in Sydney and Melbourne or to bank accounts that are not RTGS enabled.

The Immediate Payment requests script will automatically check if RTGS is available before displaying it as a method of payment option.

With the exception of FHA and SRSS guided procedures, RTGS can be selected as payment method after 3:30 pm (NSW and VIC time) but the payment will not to be issued until the next business day. If the payment is being made to the smaller bank account and Credit Unions, it may take up 2 working days to be received into the customer's account.

FHA and SRSS guided procedure will not allow RTGS payments after 3:30pm.

The customer should be warned that fees or charges might be applied by their financial institution, depending on the terms and conditions of their account, to receive the RTGS payment if a manual process is used. As the account holder, the customer will be liable for any fees or charges.

Is RTGS available and does the customer accept possible fees or charges?

• Yes, go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 10

• For Farm Household Allowance (FHA) payments, staff must use the guided procedure. See Table 3
• For Status Resolution Support Services (SRSS) payment customers, the guided procedure must be used. See Table 4
• For Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment (AGDRP) or Disaster Recovery Payment for New Zealand Special Category (subclass 444) visa holders (NZ DRP), see Table 5
• For Crisis payments, see How to manually code an RTGS payment
• For other payments, use the Immediate Payment requests script if it is available

Is the Immediate Payment requests script available?

• Yes, process payment by RTGS using the script. The script will pause on the Issue Future Payment (IFP) screen for the correct reason
• Reason: for urgent payment and immediate payment grants use field help '?' to change the reason to:
  DEP-Departmental Delay
  ECI-Extraordinary Circumstances
  EXC-Exceptional and Unforeseen
  FNL-Funeral Expenses
• For any payment reason that falls outside of the above, choose the most appropriate reason from the list available in the field help. More details about the appropriate code reasons are available on the Resources page
• Press [Enter], then select OK on the script
• The script will complete the activity and record a DOC including:
• the outcome and reason for the immediate payment request
• the documents or verifiable evidence provided by the customer (if needed)
• the amount and method of payment. Note: urgent payments are limited to $200 for an urgent payment (this is early payment of fortnightly entitlement), and $1,000 for an urgent payment due to Centrelink delay
• any other assistance offered or referrals made
• Note: a reference to SSAA 1999 Section 55 (payment into bank account etc.) can be included, but as payment delivery is not the significant decision, it is not compulsory
• Go to Step 9
• No, see Table 6

If the payment has been selected by QOL, it is vital that the activity is checked while the customer is still in contact (face-to-face or phone call).

For an RTGS payment to be paid to the customer, the activity must be finalised (this includes completion of QOL) before 3:30 pm Canberra, Sydney or Melbourne time or the payment will not be issued until at least the next business day.

Once the activity has been finalised, tell the customer:

• For an urgent payment from the customer's next entitlement, the amount issued will be deducted in full from the customer's next payday
• For an urgent payment due to Centrelink delay or error, the remaining amount will be issued to their financial institution. Tell the customer when their next regular payment will be
• The payment will be available from the customer's account by close of business on the day of processing if processed before 3:30 pm (Sydney or Melbourne time) or by 9 am the next working day for some credit unions and building societies)
• If processed after 3:30 pm, the payment will not be available until the next business day or the following business day for some credit unions or building societies
• As the customer is the account holder, they will incur any fees and charges that may be associated with the RTGS transaction. Fees and charges will depend on the terms and conditions of their financial institution
• If the funds are going to be withdrawn from an Automatic Teller Machine (ATM), the customer should use an ATM owned by the financial institution the account is held with. If any other ATM is used a fee will be charged to the customer
• Future urgent payment requests can be made by contacting Smart Centre Telephony directly

Procedure ends here.

If the customer's bank does not accept RTGS, discuss issuing the payment to the customer by an alternative payment method, such as immediate payment by payment method Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card.

If the customer advises they have not received their Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) payment, check the Payment Summary (PS) screen to make sure the payment has been processed and issued.

Has the payment been processed and issued to the account on the customer's record?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, process the activity that will issue the payment (for example, this may be a reporting activity, restoration form suspension or cancellation). Procedure ends here

• Yes, see Reissue a payment at a customer's request. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 3

Check the PS screen. A returned payment is labelled as RTN (returned).

• Yes, see Reissue a payment returned from a financial institution. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 4

Check the PS screen. A rejected NPP or RTGS payment will show on the PS screen, with:

• Type field either being Real Time Gross Settlement/RTGS
• Sent to field will display Rejected Payment rather than Financial Institution account details

Check the customer's account details are correct. If incorrect, see Changing Payment Destination.

A rejected RTGS payment must first be reissued by Direct Credit, and then if the customer needs the funds urgently, the payment can be issued by NPP or EBT card.

To reissue the payment by Direct Credit:

• Go to the system that applies to the payment to be reissued:
• PEN - Age Pension, Disability Support Pension, Carer Payment, Parenting Payment Single
• NSS - JobSeeker Payment, Youth Allowance
• FAO - Family Tax Benefit (FTB)
• ISS - Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) - (code 'SVPES' in the Next field to access the PS screen)
• PGA - Parenting Payment Partnered
• Access the PS screen
• Select the payment that has been rejected by keying R next to the payment line and press [Enter]
• The Issue Payment Select (IPPRE) screen will display

On the IPPRE screen:

• The system will automatically 'S'elect the Re-deliver Rejected Payment: field
• The Default Destination: field will be Direct Credit
• Press [Enter]
• The Re-Deliver Returned Payment (RDRP) screen will display

On the RDRP screen code the following:

• Using the Next and Back buttons, find the page that has the Reissue All field
• Key 'Y' in the Reissue All (Y/N): field
• Finish the activity

Payment will now display on the PS screen as Immediate and will be paid by direct credit.

To issue the payment by NPP or EBT card:

• Access the PS screen
• Select the payment that shows as Immediate in the Delivery Date field, by coding R next to the payment line and press [Enter]
• The IPPRE screen will display

On the IPPRE screen:

• The system will 'S'elect the Immediate/Arrears Payment: field
• The Default Destination: field will need to be changed to the payment method needed. If NPP is unavailable, the system will advise this and will not allow for it to be selected
• Press [Enter]
• The Issue Future Payment (IFP) screen will display
• Complete the following fields
• Issue Amt: - this will be the amount of the payment
• Reason: - REJ
• Notes: - (why payment is being issued)
• Source: - (method the customer has used to contact)
• DOR: - (Date of Receipt)
• Finished (Y/Q/N):
• DOC the record to advising payment has been reissued.

Note: a reference to SSAA 1999 Section 55 (payment into bank account etc.) can be included, but as payment delivery is not the significant decision, it is not compulsory.

Procedure ends here.

Staff will need to have the following role approved in ESSentials:

• Role name: FCC – PAYMENT REISSUE
• Description: FCC Reissue Payment

If the customer can wait one day for payment, issue the urgent payment by direct credit. Procedure ends here

If the customer has either had:

• the FHA claim granted and the arrears are above the system arrears limit?
• FHA restored or has reported and payment is needed today?
• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, the customer is not eligible for an immediate payment using RTGS and the payment will be paid by direct credit in the next payment strip. Procedure ends here.

After the payment has been granted, restored or outstanding reports have been completed; the following action must be completed before payment will be available to issue by RTGS.

From the Customer Summary page, select:

• Cases tab
• Farm Household Allowance Benefit Case
• Activities tab
• Release EPED Action hyperlink
• Scheduled Actions tab
• Execute hyperlink next to Release EPED Action. Note: this action may need to be completed twice for the status in the Executable column to update from 'Yes' to 'Done'
• Save

The payment can now be released by RTGS. Go to Step 4

Note: standard system limits apply to FHA payments made via RTGS. Payments made above system limits will reject with no warning or error messaging.

• Run the Issue RTGS Payment guided procedure
• Access the guided procedure by Workspace > Financial Customer Care
• The guided procedure comprises 3 steps:
• Select benefit type: Farm Household Allowance, then select Next
• Select payment for issue: a table showing due payments will display. Select a payment for issue by RTGS, then select Next
• Issue RTGS payment: enter the amount to be paid by RTGS for the selected payment, then select Finish
• Record details of RTGS payment in a DOC using the FHA RTGS Paid Fast Note
  Note: a reference to SSAA 1999 Section 55 (payment into bank account etc.) can be included, but as payment delivery is not the significant decision, it is not compulsory

Procedure ends here.

Only SRSS customers who have not received their regular entitlement due to a Centrelink delay or error and are in severe financial hardship are eligible for an immediate payment.

SRSS customers are not to be approved for an immediate payment when the customer has contributed to the delay in their regular payment. For example, failing to:

• attend an interview
• lodge a completed or signed form
• advise of a change of payment destination, or
• advise the agency of any change in their circumstances, or report on their required reporting date

Customer's regular entitlement not received due to Centrelink delay or error, customer in severe financial hardship and customer did not contribute to the delay?

• Yes, record the outcome of the decision. Use Fast Note - select Auto text, use Multicultural > Update > SRSS RTGS Outcome. Go to Step 2
• No, the customer is not eligible for an immediate payment by RTGS and the payment will be paid by direct credit in the next payment strip
• Record the outcome of the decision. Use Fast Note - select Auto text, use Multicultural > Update > SRSS RTGS Outcome
• If the customer is in financial hardship, see Department of Home Affairs and contracted Service Providers responsibilities for Status Resolution Support Services (SRSS) payment
• Procedure ends here

Staff will need to have the following role approved in ESSentials to access the Issue RTGS Payment guided procedure.

• Role name: FCC - PAYMENT REISSUE
• Description: FCC Reissue Payment

Staff without access to the guided procedure should record their decision using the Fast Note and escalate to the Level 1 SRSS support team for action.

Run the Issue RTGS Payment guided procedure.

Access the guided procedure by Workspace > Financial Customer Care.

Note: standard system limits apply to SRSS payments made via RTGS. Payments made above system limits will reject with no warning or error messaging.

The guided procedure comprises steps:

• Select benefit type: Status Resolution Support Services, then select Next
• Select payment for issue: a table showing due payments will display. Select a payment for issue by RTGS, then select Next
• Issue RTGS payment: enter the amount to be paid by RTGS for the selected payment, then select Finish
• DOC the record with the outcome
• If the RTGS is being actioned by Level 1 SRSS support referral, annotate the SRSS RTGS Outcome DOC to confirm payment has been issued via RTGS
• Note: a reference to SSAA 1999 Section 55 (payment into bank account etc.) can be included, but as payment delivery is not the significant decision, it is not compulsory

Immediately escalate issues to the SRSS Level 1 Helpdesk.

If the customer advises they have not received their RTGS payment, check the following to make sure the payment has been processed and issued (Please note it may take up to two hours for a payment issued via RTGS to credit into the customer's account and display in the below GPs):

• Payment List (Financial Customer Care) GP
• Payment Delivery Search GP
• DL (Document List)

Has the payment been processed and issued to the account on the customer's record?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, issue the customer's payment using the Issue RTGS Payment (Financial Customer Care) GP and DOC the customer's record using the SRSS RTGS Outcome Fast Note. Procedure ends here

Check the Payment List (Financial Customer Care) GP. The returned payment will display as Returned and display the reason for return. In addition, check PASB in Process Direct to see if a lock is displaying.

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, and the payment was issued prior to today:
• Request evidence (bank statements) that the payment did not credit to the customer's account
• Refer the matter to the SRSS Level 1 Helpdesk via email. Procedure ends here

Investigate the reason the payment was returned, confirm the customer's account details and that the customer's account is currently active.

Customer's account details are not correct

• Update the details using Changing Payment Destination. This will remove the lock
• Once the lock no longer displays in PASB, reissue the returned payment using the Issue RTGS Payment (Financial Customer Care) GP
• DOC the customer's record using the SRSS RTGS Outcome Fast Note
• Procedure ends here

Customer's account details are correct

• Raise an incident using mySupport for the lock to be removed and the payment reissued
• If the payment is to be reissued via RTGS contact the SRSS Level 1 Helpdesk for an ICT Service Desk escalation
• Procedure ends here

See Current emergency management events for a list of emergency payments and more details on how to assess eligibility

Note: while there is no payment limit for emergency payments, payments made by priority direct credit (NPP and RTGS) are limited to a maximum of $3,000.

Go to the FSP system (code 'SVAAA' in the Next field and make sure the system is ISS)

If:

• the customer has already been granted an emergency payment to be paid by direct credit, but needs an immediate payment, go to Step 2
• the emergency payment is a DRA or NZ DRA and has not yet been granted, go to Step 2
• the emergency payment is an AGDRP or NZ DRP and has not yet been granted:
• run the Disaster Recovery workflow. See Processing AGDRP and NZ DRP claims in Customer First
• on the Claim Decision screen of the workflow, choose Yes and Priority Direct Credit under 'Immediate Payments Options'. Enter the amount to be delivered immediately
• if the customer is not current on any other payment, enter their bank details in the Immediate and Non-Immediate options
• the system will issue the payment by NPP if the account is NPP reachable, once the claim is finalised

If the payment fails to deliver by NPP, or the account is not NPP reachable, it will issue by RTGS. Check the Payment Summary (PS) screen to confirm the method of delivery.

If the payment has been delivered by RTGS, check the operating times and tell the customer of the expected delivery time of the payment. Warn the customer that fees or charges might be applied by their financial institution (to receive the RTGS payment), depending on the terms and conditions of their account. As the account holder, the customer will be liable for any fees or charges.

Procedure ends here.

If the emergency payment is a DRA or NZ DRA, and has not yet been granted, run the Disaster Recovery workflow, see Processing New Zealand Disaster Recovery Allowance (NZ DRA) claims in Customer First.

After an emergency payment has been granted, run the Issue Emergency Payment workflow accessed by Customer First - Workspace.

• Select the emergency payment. RTGS will only display as a payment method option if the customer's account is not NPP reachable
• Enter the amount to be issued as an immediate payment
• The payment will be reissued by RTGS on completion of the workflow

If the Issue Emergency Payment Workflow is not available, manually reissue the emergency payment by an immediate payment method:

• Go to Payment Summary (PS) screen
• Select the emergency payment by typing 'R' next to the payment line and press [Enter]
• The Issue Payment Select (IPPRE) screen will display
• On the IPPRE screen:
• The system will automatically 'S'elect the Early Payment from current Pay Period field (or the most appropriate option) and the Default Destination will be direct credit
• update the Default Destination field to 'Real time Gross Settlement (RTGS)' and select Continue
• The Issue Future Payment (IFP) screen will display
• The system will automatically 'S'elect the Immediate/Arrears Payment field
• The Default Destination field must be changed to the payment method needed
• Press [Enter]
• The IFP screen will display
• Complete the following fields:
• Issue Amt: - this will be the amount of the payment
• Reason: - DEP (Departmental Delay)
• Notes: - (why payment is being issued)
• Source: - (method the customer has used to contact)
• DOR: - (Date of Receipt)
• Finished (Y/Q/N):

If the payment fails to deliver by RTGS, check the operating times and tell the customer of the expected delivery time of the payment. The new claim activity must be finalised and released from Quality On Line (QOL) before 3:30 pm (NSW and VIC time) for the customer to be paid the same day. If the activity is finalised after 3:30 pm EST, the payment will be delivered to the customer the next working (week) day.

Warn the customer that fees or charges might be applied by their financial institution (to receive the RTGS payment) depending on the terms and conditions of their account. As the account holder, the customer will be liable for any fees or charges.

Procedure ends here.

These steps must only be undertaken if the Immediate Payment requests script is not available or a Crisis Payment has been granted.

• Go to the Payment Summary (PS) screen
• Select the payment that has not been received by keying 'R' next to the payment line and press [Enter]
• The Issue Payment Select (IPPRE) screen will display
• On the IPPRE screen:
• The system will automatically 'S'elect the Early Payment from current Pay Period: field and the Default Destination will be direct credit
• Update the Default Destination field to Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and select Continue
• The Issue Future Payment (IFP) screen will display

On the Issue Future Payment (IFP) screen, code the following fields:

• Issue amount: the amount of the payment to be delivered
• Reason: for crisis payment and urgent payment grants use field help '?' to change the reason to:
• DEP-Departmental Delay
• ECI-Extraordinary Circumstances
• EXC-Exceptional and Unforeseen
• FNL-Funeral Expenses
• CRI-Crisis Payment
• For any payment reason that falls outside of the above, choose the most appropriate reason from the list available in the field help. More details about the appropriate code reasons is available on the Resources page
• Finished (Y/Q/N):'Y'
• Notes: the reason for issue
• Source: and DOR: fields
• Select Continue to complete the activity.
• Record details of immediate payment on a DOC.

Note: a reference to SSAA 1999 Section 55 (payment into bank account etc.) can be included, but as payment delivery is not the significant decision, it is not compulsory.

If the activity is selected by Quality On Line (QOL), it is vital that the activity is checked while the customer is still in contact (either face to face or phone call). For an RTGS payment to be paid to the customer, the activity must be finalised (this includes completion of QOL) before 3:30 pm NSW and VIC time.