Immediate payment by payment method New Payments Platform (NPP) 003-18092746

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Cheque stolen – no longer in use

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Centrelink no longer issues payment by cheque

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Description

1

Why is NPP not showing as a method of payment option in the script?

The Immediate Payments requests script will only display NPP as a method of payment if:

• the BSB of the customer's bank account is reachable via the NPP
• NPP is available, that is, there is no system outage
• Payment via NPP has not been attempted previously that day
• the payment is an eligible payment delivered in the ISIS system

Eligible payments are:

• Immediate payments
• Crisis Payments (CrP)
• Emergency payments:
• Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payments (AGDRP)
• Disaster Recovery Payment for New Zealand Special Category (subclass 444) visa holders (NZ DRP)
• Disaster Recover Allowance (DRA)
• Disaster Recovery Allowance for New Zealand Special Category (subclass 444) visa holders (NZ DRA)
• Australian Victim of Terrorism Overseas Payment (AVTOP)
• One-off Income Management payments:
• Restricted Direct Payments (RDP)
• Unrestricted Cash Payments (UCP)

2

How much can be issued by NPP?

Although Priority Direct Credit (NPP/RTGS) payments up to $3,000 can be processed, the amount paid should be limited to the minimum amount required to satisfy the customer's immediate hardship need. This is in accordance with existing policy for each payment type.

Note: urgent payments have their own payment limits. For urgent payments due to:

• exceptional and unforeseen or extraordinary circumstances, the limit is $200 (this is early payment of fortnightly entitlement)
• Centrelink delay the limit is $1,000

3

Can an NPP payment be made to a Payment Nominee or parent?

Yes, an NPP 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 RTGS or an EBT card.

4

Can an NPP payment be made to a customer who has a Payment Nominee arrangement or payments are being made to a parent?

No, an NPP payment can only be paid to the Payment Nominee or parent's existing payment destination bank account. The BSB and nominated account must also be enabled to use the NPP.

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.

5

If I change the payment destination, can I then issue the urgent payment by NPP?

No, an NPP payment is only be made to an account where the customer has a history of receiving their regular Centrelink payments. This account must also be enabled to use the NPP.

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.

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Description

1

What will happen if the payment is made to an overdrawn bank account?

When an account is overdrawn (even if only by a few cents) it requires manual intervention, by the Financial Institution, 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 be required 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.

2

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 its payment delivery obligation and the customer is not entitled to have the payment reissued.

3

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 Banking Industry agreement 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 via NPP. 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.

4

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.

5

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 reissued to the customer.

For more information, see Request the return of a payment made to an incorrect recipient.

6

Customer's bank account is NPP-reachable, but payment rejects

If an account is NPP reachable, but the payment fails to deliver, it will automatically re-issue via RTGS if available, or via direct credit. Check the PS screen to confirm.

7

Customer's bank account is NPP-reachable, payment does not appear within 30 minutes

This may occur where there is a delay in the banking network. The payment will show as successfully delivered on the PS screen, but has timed out from being delivered. In these instances an automatic notification will have been sent to the ICT Service Desk, who will reissue the payment to the customer as soon as possible.