Payment of income managed funds to Third Party Organisations (TPOs) 103-01050100

Adding a new regular expense may be an appropriate option for the customer where they intend to shop regularly at a TPO or BasicsCard merchant. A regular expense can be made to:

• the BasicsCard
• a contracted TPO
• an uncontracted TPO

Payments to TPOs will be available to access on the customers entitlement period end date (EPED) +1 (allowance payment recipients) or EPED+2 (non-allowance payment recipients).

Transfers to BasicsCard are delivered directly following completion of the ‘GPY’ payment strip. Therefore payments to BasicsCard are available for customers to access the same night as the Fortnight (14-days) balance details date of effect.

Making an immediate transfer of funds to a customer's BasicsCard is the preferred option. This option provides customers with immediate access to income managed funds, which can be spent at any approved BasicsCard merchant.

Eligible customers are able to make immediate transfers from their Income Management account to their BasicsCard using their online accounts. For more information see Transfer of funds between Income Management Account and BasicsCard online.

A One off payment to a contracted Third Party Organisation provides the customer with access to Income Management funds the next working day. TPOs are advised not to allow customers to access goods or services prior to the receipt of funds.

Payments to Third Party Organisations are those made via methods other than the Direct Deduction Facility (DDF) or transfer to the customer's BasicsCard, and can be regular or one off. These payments can be made to contracted and un-contracted TPOs however, some contracted TPOs do not accept payments outside of the Direct Deduction Facility. Staff must always check Office Locator first to determine TPO acceptance of these payments.

Payment methods can be used for urgent payment requests to TPOs but specific criteria apply for such requests.

For urgent request guidelines, see Changes to Income Management expenses.

Payments to TPOs can be made via:

• Scheduled Transfer
• BPAY, and
• Credit card

Income Management payments can be made to TPOs who are not contracted for Income Management. These payments are made by the Income Management Payment and Contact Team (IMPACT) and can be automated once payment details have been set up. Before a payment can be made to an un-contracted TPO, the TPO must first have a record created in the system and an appropriate service reason added to their record. See Resources for a list of Income Management Deduction Service Reasons. This ensures payment details can be linked and reconciled between the un-contracted TPO and the customer.

Before issuing a payment for the first time, IMPACT speak to the un-contracted TPO to confirm:

• contact details
• the goods or services they provide, and
• they agree to the terms and conditions of receiving income managed funds

IMPACT will also discuss the most appropriate method of payment in the following priority:

• BasicsCard Contract
• BPAY
• Scheduled Transfer
• Income Management Contract (for TPOs who sell excluded goods, cannot accept the BasicsCard and are likely to receive a lot of payments)
• Credit card (for TPOs requiring funds immediately, for example travel)

Records for un-contracted TPOs are created by IMPACT when they receive an Expense Request where an existing TPO CRN does not exist.

Service Officers actioning customer requests to obtain goods through a private sale must follow the one off payment process; however, the private seller must not be added to the system. As the seller is an individual and not a business entity, adding the seller as an un-contracted TPO is not appropriate.

The correct process is to select the generic private seller un-contracted TPO record (555 087 273S - Private Seller) when completing the Expense Request on the customers record, and include all payment details relating to the private seller in the request.

A Scheduled Transfer is a payment method available for un-contracted TPOs, which removes the need for IMPACT to make manual payments via bank transfer.

Once a Scheduled Transfer payment method has been created for a TPO by IMPACT, Service Officers can set up regular or one off payments, which will deliver like a direct deduction, removing the need for the expense to go to IMPACT for processing.

Auto BPAY is a payment method available for un-contracted TPOs, which removes the need for IMPACT to make manual payments via Bpay for TPOs registered for Bpay.

Once an Auto Bpay payment method has been created for a TPO by IMPACT on the system, Service Officers can set up regular or one off payments, which will deliver like a direct deduction, removing the need for the expense to go to IMPACT for processing.

Credit card is a payment method available to un-contracted TPOs. Payments are processed by staff in the Income Management Payment and Contact Team (IMPACT) who are issued with a Services Australia administrative credit card. The Credit Card is used for immediate payments over the phone.

When processing a Credit Card payment:

• In most cases, IMPACT sends an ‘intent to shop’ via email or fax with details of the customer's request to the TPO. When the customer has completed their shopping, the TPO contacts IMPACT for a credit card payment over the telephone, which can be equal to or less than the amount of the original request
• The validation of an over the phone or faxed credit card payment authorisation to a TPO is limited to seven days. This includes the authorisation date
• Each credit card payment authorisation must be for only one transaction. This means the TPO must not perform more than one transaction even if the first transaction is for a lesser amount than the authorised amount. For example, if the authorised amount is $100.00 and the goods only cost $95.00, the TPO cannot process the remaining balance of $5.00 in a separate transaction

A Third Party Organisation that has been accepted by the agency to participate in Income Management deductions through the issue of an Approval Letter.

A Third Party Organisation that has been approved by the agency to accept BasicsCard funds via immediate Electronic Funds Transfer.

A Third Party Organisation that has not sought to participate or has not been accepted to participate in Income Management deductions or the BasicsCard through the completion and submission of a Business Application or the issue of a Rejection Letter.

A Service Reason is the code given to expense categories for customer deductions. Service Reason codes differ between contracted and un-contracted TPOs. See Resources for a list of Income Management Deductions Service Reasons.

A customer request for a payment of Income Management funds to a TPO, with no requirement for the payment to be made on an ongoing basis. These payments can be made via the Direct Deduction Facility (DDF), BasicsCard, Scheduled Transfer, BPAY or credit card.

A customer request for a payment of Income Management funds to a TPO on a regular basis (for example, weekly, fortnightly, 4 weekly), with the ability to set a target amount. These payments can be made via the Direct Deduction Facility (DDF), BasicsCard (daily regular payments also available), Scheduled Transfer, BPAY or credit card.

Payments made on behalf of income managed customers via the methods of Scheduled Transfer, BPAY or credit card. These payment methods are most frequently used to make payment to un-contracted TPOs. These payments can be made on a one off or regular basis.

A customer request for a payment of income managed funds to purchase goods/services from a third party who is not trading as a business (for example, private vehicle sale).

Period of time a TPO has been authorised to allow the sale of goods/services for a customer with income managed funds.

The number of credit card transactions approved for the use of income managed funds - this number is always limited to a single (one) transaction.

Access to update Income Management expenses for certain organisations is restricted to a limited number of Region codes or to specific user logon IDs.

If the Service Officer is not authorised to make these changes, they will receive the error message E277PI: No access. Your Region Code is not in the allowed Region Code list. See E2777PI: No access for more information.