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

Expand all

Helpdesks

Level 2 Policy Help Desk - Online Query Form

mySupport

Contact details

SRSS Level 1 Helpdesk

Intranet

Social Work Services Branch

Multicultural and Tailored Services Branch

Hours of operation for Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS)

The hours of operation of the RTGS facility for staff are based on the NSW and Victorian times of 8.00am to 3.30pm.

If the payment has been selected by QOL, it is vital that the activity must be checked immediately, If QOL is not completed and the RTGS activity released and received by the RBA prior to 3:30pm (NSW and Vic time), the RTGS payment will be unsuccessful and will result in the payment being delivered overnight.

Payment may not be received by the customer until after 9am the next working day, or the following working day.

Table 1

	Daylight Savings		Standard
State	Start	Finish	Star	Finish
NSW	8:00am	3:30pm	8:00am	3:30pm
VIC	8:00am	3:30pm	8:00am	3:30pm
QLD	7:00am	2:30pm	8:00am	3:30pm
SA (incl. Broken Hill)	7:30am	3:00pm	7:30am	3:00pm
WA	5:00am	12:30pm	6:00am	1:30pm
TAS	8:00am	3:30pm	8:00am	3:30pm
ACT	8:00am	3:30pm	8:00am	3:30pm
NT	6:30am	2:00pm	7:30am	3:00pm

Timeframes and fees

The time taken for the individual financial institution to credit a customer's account may vary depending on whether:

they are large financial institution using an automated process or a smaller financial institution using a manual process
the account is overdrawn

Customers must be told the payment will be delivered by close of business on the day the payment was processed (next day for some Credit Unions and Building Societies).

Staff are to make sure customers understand that fees or charges may be applied by the financial institution, depending on the terms and conditions of their account and if a manual process is used.

The amount of the fees or charges are decided by the financial institution.

Specific RTGS time frames and fees information is not available to Services Australia.

Issue Future Payment (IFP) screen codes

Table 2: Note: staff need to assess the language used by the customer and determine the correct code to use. For example, the customer may say they have a crisis. However, the correct code would be an urgent payment using the code extraordinary circumstances (ECI). Incorrect use of a code may affect ongoing customer entitlement to immediate payments.

Code	Description	Use
ARP	Anticipated Release Payment	Only when coding a customer for an anticipated release from prison
CEP	CEP third party early release	Not for use. Relates to payments to a Third Party for ABSTUDY or ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement
CNR	Cheque not received – no longer in use	Do not use. Centrelink no longer issues payment by cheque
CRI	Crisis Payment	Only use when eligible for a Crisis Payment
DEP	Agency/Centrelink/Departmental Delay	When there has been a delay in customer receiving funds due to Centrelink delay
DNR	Direct Credit not received	Customer did not receive their funds as expected
DST	Cheque destroyed or damaged – no longer in use	Do not use. Centrelink no longer issues payment by cheque
EBT	EBT card cancelled	Use when an EBT card has been cancelled and there is a residual balance to be returned to the customer
ECI	Extraordinary circumstances	When the customer's circumstances significantly exceeds the threshold for the normal grant of an urgent payment
EXC	Exceptional and unforeseen circumstances	When the customer meets the criteria for exceptional and unforeseen circumstances
FNL	Funeral expenses	Use when the customer meets the criteria for expenses associated with a funeral
HAR	SSAA Hardship Advance	Use when the customer is waiting for first payment and is in hardship
IMA	Income Management arrears	Staff do not need to use this code as it is automatically coded when the customer subject to Income Management
LST	Cheque Lost – no longer in use	Do not use. Centrelink no longer issues payment by cheque
REJ	Rejected payment	When a payment has been rejected by the financial institution and it needs to be reissued to the customer
RTN	Returned payment	When a payment has been returned to the agency by a customer, financial institution or third party
STL	Cheque stolen – no longer in use	Do not use. Centrelink no longer issues payment by cheque

FAQs - What is Real Time Gross Settlement?

Table 3

Item	Description
1	What is RTGS and how does it work? The agency has the capacity to deliver Real Time Gross Settlement payments in a secure environment. RTGS is a payment mechanism that enables funds to be delivered to a customer's bank account (if it is RTGS enabled) within the day, or by 9 am the next working day, rather than the traditional direct credit, 1 or 2 working day waiting period.
2	What payments can be paid by RTGS? RTGS is restricted to urgent payments, Hardship Advances and emergency payments.
3	Doesn't Real Time mean instantly, why does it take an hour for the payment to be delivered? Settlement in 'real time' means the payment transaction is not subjected to the traditional direct credit 1 and 2 working day waiting period. However, payments by the NPP will be delivered immediately in actual real time 24 hours a day, every day of the year including public holidays. 'Gross settlement' means the transaction is settled on a one-to-one basis without bunching with any other transaction. Once processed, payments are final and irrevocable.
4	What is the order of preference for issuing payments? The order of preference for methods of payment is: Direct Credit (the preferred method) into the customer's account NPP into the customer's account (if available) RTGS into the customer's account (if NPP is not available) EBT card
5	How much can be issued by RTGS? In accordance with existing policy, the amount paid should be limited to the minimum amount needed to satisfy the customer's immediate hardship need. The maximum amount that can be paid by RTGS is $3,000.

FAQs - How RTGS payments are made

Table 4

Item	Description
1	Why is RTGS not showing as a method of payment option in the script? The Immediate Payments requests script will only display RTGS as a method of payment if it is: the BSB of the customer's bank account is not NPP-reachable a business or working day not a national or concurrent public holiday in Melbourne or Sydney the BSB of the customer's bank account is RTGS enabled, and RTGS is available, that is, there is no system outage
2	Does the customer need to attend a service centre to be paid by RTGS? No, the RTGS payment will be made directly into the payment destination account.
3	Can service centre Service Officers issue RTGS payments or is it just limited to Smart Centre staff? RTGS payments can be issued by service centre and Smart Centre Telephony Service Officers.
4	Can an RTGS payment be made to a Payment Nominee or Parent? Yes, an RTGS payment can be made to Payment Nominee or Parent's (of an under 18 dependent Youth Allowance or ABSTUDY customer) existing payment destination bank account and is preferred to an EBT card.
5	Can an RTGS payment be made to a customer who has a Payment Nominee arrangement or payments are being made to a parent? No, an RTGS payment can only be paid to the Payment Nominee or parent's existing payment destination bank account. If the Payment Nominee or parent approves an alternative method of payment to be paid to the customer, the reason 'Payment nominee or parent approved alternative payment method' is to be recorded in the Immediate Payment requests script and an alternative method of payment is to be used, such as an EBT card.
6	If it is close to the RTGS closing time, should an alternative method of payment be used? If available, RTGS should be used up to the 3:30 pm closing time. If the activity is selected by QOL and it is checked and released quickly, it may still be delivered before the close of business. A small buffer of a couple of minutes has been built into the system for these rare cases. RTGS will be able to be selected as the payment method after 3:30 pm (NSW and VIC time) but the payment will not be issued until the next business day. If the payment is being made to the smaller banks and credit unions, it may take up to 2 working days to be received into the customer's account. Customers requesting an urgent payment by IVR or Centrelink online account can choose 'priority direct credit'. This will deliver using NPP by default, or RTGS if account is not NPP-reachable. The same delivery rules will apply to this as when payment is made by a Service Officer.
7	If I change the payment destination, can I then issue the urgent payment by RTGS? No, an RTGS payment is only be made to an account the customer has a history of receiving their regular Services Australia payments in. If the customer requests to change their payment destination, this is to be done as a separate activity. When the urgent payment assessment has been completed, the reason 'New payment destination account' is to be recorded in the Immediate Payment requests script and an alternative method of payment is to be used, that is, Direct Credit or an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card.
8	Why are the hours of operation limited to 8:00 am to 3:30 pm (NSW and Victoria time)? RTGS is operated by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) in offices in New South Wales and Victoria. The hours of operation are set by the RBA and make sure that the payments issued by Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) are delivered on the same day they are processed. Select hours of operation for Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) for details of how this works for the different time zones within Australia.
9	Why is RTGS not available on concurrent public holidays in Sydney and Melbourne? The RBA operates the RTGS system from its offices located in Sydney and Melbourne. On national or concurrent public holidays, both of these offices will be closed. If the public holiday is in either Sydney or Melbourne, the other office will operate the system, allowing payment by RTGS to be made.

FAQs - Accessing RTGS payments

Table 5

Item

Description

A Passbook is attached to the savings account

If the customer has a passbook account, they need to attend the branch to have the passbook updated, until this has occurred the customer will not be able to access the funds.

The customer should be given the option to choose another payment method before the urgent payment process is finalised.

Credit Unions and Building Societies

The RBA has advised that Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) payments directed to some Credit Union and Building Society accounts will be available at 9:00 am the next working day and a processing fee may be charged.

Service Officers should check with the customer if their payment destination account is held with a Credit Union or Building Society. If this is the case, the customer should be told that the payment may not be available until 9 am the next working day and that a fee may be charged to receive the payment.

The customer should be give then option to choose another payment method before the urgent payment process is finalised.

FAQs - Troubleshooting problems encountered with RTGS

Table 6

Item	Description
1	Delays in receiving payment See Request the return of a payment made to an incorrect recipient.
2	What will happen if the activity is selected for Quality On Line (QOL)? If an urgent payment by RTGS is selected by QOL, the payment will not be issued until the activity has been checked and finalised. For this reason, it is vital that the activity is to be urgently checked and finalised during the customer contact (either on the phone or face-to-face). The customer is then to be advised of the outcome and that the payment will be delivered before the close of business. If the QOL activity is not finalised and the activity released by 3:30 pm the payment will not be delivered until the next working day.
3	What will happen if the payment is made to an overdrawn bank account? When an account is overdrawn (even if it is only by a few cents), it needs manual intervention by the Financial Institution's staff for the funds to be credited to the account. This will cause a delay. The customer will need to attend the Branch and make a repayment agreement with them before the funds are credited to their account. If the payment is made to an overdrawn account, all or part of the payment may be withheld by the bank to repay the customer's overdrawn balance. While the banking industry has committed that only 10% of a regular income support payment made by the agency will be withheld for this purpose, the customer will need to contact the bank and may need to make a payment arrangement with them before the funds are returned. If the account is overdrawn, the customer must decide if they wish to have the payment made this way. The customer should be advised that the financial institution may withhold some or all of the overdrawn amount from the payment and that there may be a delay in the payment being deposited into their account. If the customer does not want the payment into the account because it is overdrawn, the reason 'Customer's account overdrawn' is to be recorded in the Immediate Payment requests script and an alternative method of payment is to be used, such as an EBT card. For more information, see Protection of customer payments.
4	If the payment has been made to an overdrawn bank account, can it be reissued? No, if the urgent payment amount has been made to an account that the customer has legal access to - the agency has met it payment delivery obligation, the customer is not entitled to have the payment reissued.
5	If the bank account is overdrawn, should I increase the amount to be paid by 10% or pay another urgent payment to cover this amount? No, the agreement the Banking Industry made to only withhold 10% of a payment made by the agency only relates to regular Income Support Payments by Direct Credit. It does not relate to Immediate Payments issued by RTGS. Immediate Payments will be withheld to repay overdrawn accounts. Before issuing the urgent payment, the Service Officer should check with the customer if their account is overdrawn. If it is, the reason 'Customer's account overdrawn' is to be recorded in the Immediate Payment requests script and an alternative method of payment is to be used, such as an EBT card.
6	What will happen if the payment is made to a closed bank account? Just like a direct credit, if the payment is made to a closed bank account the payment will be returned and should be reissued. The 'RTN' or 'REJ' code may not appear on the customer's Payment Summary (PS) screen immediately. In these cases, the Service Officer should call the customer's bank and verify the account is closed before reissuing the payment to the customer. For more information, see Request the return of a payment made to an incorrect recipient.
7	What will happen if the payment is made to an incorrect recipient? Just like a direct credit, if the payment is made to an incorrect recipient's account the payment is to be recalled and should be reissued. In these cases, the Service Officer should call the customer's bank and verify the customer does not have legal access to the account before reissuing the payment to the customer. If the customer does have legal access to the account, they are not entitled to have the money reissued. If the customer does not have legal access to the account, the funds are to be recalled and then reissued to the customer. For more information, see Request the return of a payment made to an incorrect recipient.

Operational Information