Payment options for customers 277-04280000

Payment options for:

• payees paying overpayments, go to Step 2
• payers can use:
• Express Plus Child Support mobile app
• BPAY ®
• Direct Credit
• Credit/Debit Card
• Billpay
• Mailpay
• International
• Employer Withholding (EW) - deducted from the payer's salary. Pay period frequencies are:
• weekly
• fortnightly
• four weekly
• calendar monthly (any date between the 2nd and 28th), and
• monthly (the 1st of the month)

Note: EW is not considered a suitable option for payers with an unusual pay period frequency, for example a bi-monthly pay period.

Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)

• Express Plus Child Support mobile app - Payers with Child Support collect cases can make payments using a debit or credit card to make one-off payments (surcharge applies to credit cards) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
• BPAY - payments made from the payer's internet or telephone banking service
• Direct Credit - payments made from a bank using the payer's unique 16 digit Customer Reference Number and Child Support bank details
• Credit/debit card payments:
• online via Government Easypay, or
• phone via Services Australia, Payment options for child support deductions

Manual, includes payments made:

• at the post office using cash, cheque or eftpos
• by mail using cheque or money order

Centrelink deductions - payments deducted from Centrelink payments or from Parental Leave Payments (PLP).

Cuba is currently unable to administer Centrelink deductions for s143 parentage overpayment orders. This will be updated when the option becomes available in a future Cuba release. Where the payer of a S143 order refuses to negotiate a suitable debt repayment.

Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) deductions - payments deducted from a DVA pension or allowance.

At registration, inform payers that child support payments can be deducted from their salary, Centrelink, PLP or Veterans' Affairs payments. The benefits of these payment methods are:

• there is no cost to the payer
• it makes paying child support easy and convenient, and
• reduces the risk of accruing a child support debt

PLP is usually administered by Centrelink, but some employers may elect to administer the entitlement instead. Child Support can request deductions from this entitlement regardless of who is administering it.

If payers do not want to use EW, they must make an election for salary deductions not to apply. If the election for EW not to apply is accepted, explain that failure to make payments on time will result in enforcement action such as EW, Centrelink deductions or TRIPs, without further notice. Clearly document the conversation and process the election in Cuba to enable a Service Officer to follow up collection action if required.

If payments are deducted from salary or Centrelink payments, some outstanding child support liabilities may not be covered by the deductions because of the time they take to establish. These payments must be paid manually. Arrange debt repayment of the outstanding amount by Employer Withholding with Arrears (EWA) or manual payments.

Some examples of when this may occur are:

• a new case starts and salary deductions are not established immediately, or
• the maximum Centrelink deduction only covers their ongoing liability

Has the payer elected to pay via a manual or direct credit method?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, go to Step 4

• Payees can choose from the following payment options:
• BPAY ®
• Direct Credit
• Credit/Debit Card
• Mailpay
• International

Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)

• BPAY - payments made directly from the payee's internet or telephone banking service
• Direct Credit - payments made directly from a bank using the payee's unique 16 digit Customer Reference Number and Child Support bank details
• Credit/debit card payments via:
• online - Government Easypay, or
• phone – Services Australia, Payment options for child support deductions webpage contains contact information

The Resources page contains a link to both of these sites.

Manual - includes payments made:

• at the post office using cash, cheque or eftpos
• by mail using cheque or money order

Go to Step 5.

Payers making payments manually or via direct credit can select a payment frequency. The available payment frequencies are:

• weekly
• fortnightly
• 4 weekly
• calendar monthly (any date between the 2nd and the 28th), and
• monthly (the 1st of the month)

A payer's nominated pay frequency will determine their periodic liability calculations in the following ways:

• Weekly - daily rate x 7
• Fortnightly - daily rate x 14
• Four weekly - daily rate x 28
• Calendar monthly - daily rate x 30.4375
• Monthly - daily rate x 30.4375

Monthly and Calendar Monthly – determining start date

If a payer elects to pay monthly, the payment period will always be from the first day of the month until the last day of the month. If a payer elects to pay calendar monthly they must nominate the start date of their payment period, for example from the 15th day of each month, until the 14th of the following month. Payment frequencies default to monthly.

Changing payment frequency

A payer can elect to change the payment frequency part way through a payment period. The due date for the partial payment period will be 7 days after the end of the original payment period, on the original due date as if there had been no interruption.

Payment options can also start in the future. When a payer selects a new frequency, both the payment date and the period of coverage of the liability will be changed. The payer must nominate the start date of their first payment period for the new frequency (this must be a future day). Payments are always due 7 days after the end date of the payment period.

A preferred payment date can be nominated. In this situation, work backwards to calculate the first date of their payment period.

When selecting calendar monthly frequency, the effective start date cannot be after the 28th of the month. If the customer's preferred payment date will fall into this period, negotiate another effective start date between the 2nd and 28th of the month.

Example 1: A customer is currently paying monthly. The payment cycle runs from the 1st of the month until the last day of the month and is due for payment on the 7th of the following month. On the 5th May the payer elects to begin paying fortnightly with their first payment due on the 22nd May. The matching cycle would be running from 2nd May to 15th May, due date 22nd May because this cycle would be starting before the election date child support cannot start the new payment arrangement then. The applicable payment cycle will be running from 16th May to 29th May, due date 5th June. The liability must now be paid in 2 parts.

The 1st - 15th May is due on the 7th June as this was part of the original monthly cycle and was always due on the 7th of the following month. The new period 16th May - 29th May is due on the 5th June (7 days after the completion of their new fortnightly cycle).

Example 2: A payer is currently paying monthly. The payment cycle runs from the 1st of the month until the last day of the month and is due for payment on the 7th of the following month. On the 5th February the payer elects to begin paying monthly with their first payment due on the 22nd February. The payment period would be running from 16th January to 15th February, due date 22nd February; as this payment period would be starting before the payer's election date (5th February) Child Support cannot start the new payment arrangement then. The relevant payment period will run from 16th February to 15th March, due date 22nd March. The liability must now be paid in 2 parts.

The 1st - 15th February is due on the 7th March as this was part of the original monthly cycle and was always due on the 7th of the following month. The new period 16th February to 15th March is due on the 22nd March (7 days after the completion of their new monthly cycle).

The frequency of the payment arrangement must match the frequency of the Periodic Liability Amount to avoid payment default intrays.

If the payer has selected a payment frequency, go to Step 4.

Payment frequencies automatically default to 'monthly' and a method of 'manual'. If the payer elects to change these options, process the change in Cuba.

To update a payment frequency in Pluto or Cuba see Payment options in Child Support.

To start or end a payment option of Employer Withholding or Centrelink deductions, update the Payer Collection and Centrelink Deduction windows respectively. See the Employer withholding (linking) Cuba Process Help or Centrelink Deductions Cuba Process Help.

Payers only payment options

To start or end a payment option of Employer Withholding or Centrelink deductions, update the Payer Collection and Centrelink Deduction windows respectively. See the Employer withholding (linking) Cuba Process Help or Centrelink Deductions Cuba Process Help.

If a customer or employer advises they have made a payment and it is not showing on their account, complete the Payments Search Request macro and paste the document into the notepad on a Payment Enquiry intray which auto-routes to the Payment Services team at:

Office: ALBURY

Stream/Team: MC SPT1 PAYMENT PROC

Position: NONE

A return Payment Response intray with the outcome will be sent to the requesting Service Officer/Employer Services Service Officer.

The Payment Reference Number is 16 characters in length. All 16 characters must be used even if it includes leading zeros. However, any spaces in the formatting of the number must be ignored.

Note: Staff must not provide a Payment Reference Number to customers who do not have a child support liability. arrears or an overpayment.

• If a customer calls to request a Payment Reference Number and they do not have a genuine need:
• ask why they need it
• advise a Payment Reference number cannot be provided without a valid reason
• If a customer does not have a valid reason report the customer interaction via the Report Suspected Fraud and Corruptions system. Include the:
• customer name
• CSID
• phone number they called from
• reason the number was requested

The correct Payment Reference Number must be entered into the System Lodgement Reference Field. If this number is not entered correctly the payment will not be automatically allocated to the correct account.

If an employer has been issued with a Remittance Booklet, their Payment Reference Number can be found on the Payment Slips.

An individual's Payment Reference Number can be found on the Payment Slip section of their Payer Account Statement or the payee payment slip. Payee payment slip can be issued from the Letter Details window in Cuba.

If they cannot locate the Payment Reference Number, use the Customer payment reference number calculator or generate a manual payment slip in Cuba.

BPAY payments are made via a financial institution's telephone or internet banking service. These payments can be made 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Some financial institutions do not allow BPAY payments using credit cards.

BPAY payments take approximately 2 to 3 working days; including the day of payment, to be credited to the parent's account.

To make a BPAY payment, customers need to know the Child Support Biller Code and their own 16 digit Payment Reference Number.

Child Support Biller Code: 201509

Unable to process a BPAY payment using telephone banking or internet banking

Advise the customer they must be registered with the financial institution for telephone or internet banking. Check the customer has:

• the correct Biller Code
• the correct Payment Reference Number and has used all 16 digits including zeros, and
• sufficient funds in the bank account

Australia Post provide a similar service to BPAY called Billpay. Billpay uses a 4 digit code where BPAY uses a 6 digit code. Where the customer is attempting to pay using BPAY with a Billpay code the payment will not work.

If neither of the above apply, the customer should contact their financial institution to seek further information.

Payment made by BPAY and has not been credited to the customer's account

Where:

• no payment has been received
• at least 2 working days has passed since the customer made the payment
• the customer has a receipt number, and
• the funds have been debited from the customer's account
• advise the customer to contact their financial institution and request  a trace on the BPAY payment

See Step 5 in Table 1.

Payment made via BPAY was credited and reversed.

Advise the customer there has most likely been a processing error with the financial institution and to contact their financial institution.

Direct Credit is the transfer of funds directly from the customer's bank account to the Child Support account. Direct credit can be arranged with the customer's financial institution.

Payments can generally also be made through internet banking. Internet payments can be made 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. These payments can be transferred on an ad hoc basis as well as being programmed to transfer automatically on a pre-determined date.

Direct Credit payments can take approximately 2-3 working days including the day of payment, to be credited to a customer's account.

To make a Direct Credit payment a customer will need Child Support's bank account details and their Payment Reference Number.

Bank: Reserve Bank of Australia

Account Name: Services Australia Child Support

BSB No: 092009

Account No: 116755

Note: Direct Credit is also known as Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT).

Unable to process a Direct Credit payment

Check the customer has the correct Child Support account number and their own 16 digit Payment Reference Number.

If the customer has the correct numbers and the payment does not work, they should contact their financial institution.

Payment made via Direct Credit and has not been credited to the customer's account

If the payment was made and is not showing in the Payment List window, check with the customer the payment was made at least 3 working days ago.

Cut off times for Direct Credit transfers are around 5:00pm however this varies with each financial institution.

If the payment is not showing, confirm the bank account the customer transferred the funds to. If the account details are not correct, advise them to check their bank account because the payment may have been returned. If not, the customer needs to contact their financial institution to recover the funds on their behalf.

If the bank account details and CRN keyed into the Payment Reference field are correct, Child Support will need to investigate further as the payment may be sitting in the Suspense Account. To initiate a payment search in the Suspense Account, see Step 5 in Table 1.

The customer has been trying to make a Direct Credit and cannot transfer the payment

Check if the customer is transferring funds from their cheque or savings account and they have sufficient funds in the accounts. The customer should ensure all the available funds have been cleared by the financial institution.

Advise the customer to contact their financial institution or internet banking helpdesk for assistance.

Note: the receipt number recorded on Cuba for a Direct Credit will not be the same as the receipt number issued to a customer by their financial institution.

Employers, domestic and international customers can use Government EasyPay 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to make a credit or debit card payment using Visa or MasterCard. Payments can be made

• online using Government Easypay, or
• phone. Services Australia, Payment options for child support webpage contains contact information

The Resources page contains a link to both of these sites.

The use of this service will incur a card payment fee. When making a payment, customers will be advised of the fee amount before finalising the transaction. Customers must agree to the Terms and Conditions of this service before making a payment. Encourage customers to consider the most appropriate and cost effective payment option available to them before using the EasyPay system. The Resources page contains a link to the Terms and Conditions.

To make a credit/debit card payment, customers will need to have their Payment Reference Number, credit card number, card expiry date, security code and the amount they wish to pay. The minimum payment amount is $10.00.

Payments will appear on the customer's account within approximately 24-48 hours. The payment will be processed on the next business day if the payment is made:

• after 6:00pm Sydney Australian Eastern Standard Time
• on a weekend, or
• on a public holiday

Note: while staff can assist customers to make the payment via Government Easypay, they cannot process a payment transaction on a customer's behalf.

Never ask for, record or store, credit card details and/or the security code.

If payment confirmation is required for immediate action, such as withdrawing enforcement action or revoking a Departure Prohibition Order, seek permission from the payer to remain on the call while they process the payment transaction online or over the phone.

Assure the payer that any credit card details they enter apart from the last three numbers of the credit card will not be heard by the agency. Remain on the call, obtain a payment receipt number and confirm that the payment has been made in real time from the payer.

Billpay payments can be made at any Australia Post outlet. Payers must present their original bar-coded Payment Slip at any Australia Post counter. Australia Post does not accept photocopies. Payments can be made using cash, cheque, or Eftpos.

Note: if a payer has an old original payment slip this can be used to make a payment via Billpay.

When making a payment at Australia Post, payers who receive a statement should take the payment slip section of their Payer Account Statement.

Note: the payment slip must be the original and not a photocopy.

If a payer does not receive a statement, an additional payment slip can be issued from the Letter Details window in Cuba.

Australia Post will accept eftpos, cheque, money order or cash payments, however daily eftpos payment limits may apply. Limits vary between financial institutions. The payer will be given a receipt as a record of the payment.

Australia Post payments take approximately 3 days including the day of payment to be credited to the payer's account.

Australia Post do not offer child support payments or overpayments electronic Billpay service on their website however customers can use BPAY or Direct Credit.

When making a payment at Australia Post, employers will need to produce an original bar coded Payment Slip from their Employer Remittance Booklet.

If the employer has not been issued with a Remittance Booklet, 1 can be ordered from the Letter Details window in Cuba.

If the employer is required to provide employee deduction details they are to post or fax this information to the appropriate office.

Post Office will not accept the payment because the Payment Slip is a photocopy

A photocopy does not provide print quality necessary for the Australia Post scanning equipment to read the embedded data accurately. Advise the customer new payment slips can be sent to them, or to pay via BPAY or Direct Credit.

Post Office will not accept the payment because the barcode is corrupt

The barcode may have been misprinted, have a fold across it or liquid spilt on it and the scanning equipment cannot read the embedded data accurately. Advise the customer new payment slips can be sent to them, or to pay via BPAY or Direct Credit.

Post Office will not accept the payment as the barcode is not scanning correctly

Check if the customer has provided the full payment account statement or just the slip. If the customer only has the upper portion of the account statement or transaction statement this cannot be used to make a payment. They need the tear off portion of the account statement.

If the customer has presented the tear off part of the account statement, the barcode may have been damaged or misprinted and will not scan properly. Advise them new payment slips can be sent to them, or to pay via BPAY or Direct Credit.

Post Office will not accept the payment- payment limit issue

Eftpos payments are subject to limits imposed by financial institutions and these vary depending on the policy of the bank or credit union.

Payments made at Australia Post have not been credited to the customer's account

On occasions the child support payment might be credited to another biller.

If the customer has a receipt, check at least 3 days has passed since the payment was made and the receipt shows the payment being made to either Child Support or the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Ask the customer for:

• the Australia Post receipt number
• date of payment; and
• the payment amount

Child Support will investigate the missing payment and contact the customer to advise of the outcome.

See Step 5 in Table 1 and Suspense account management.

If the customer does not have receipt details then Child Support cannot investigate. Recommend the customer contact Australia Post as they may be able to trace the payment internally.

Payments can be posted to Services Australia Locked Bag.

To make a Mailpay payment, customers must:

• make cheques and money orders payable to 'Services Australia, Child Support'
• include a valid Payment Slip with their payment
• not use pins, staples, paper clips or adhesive, and
• not send cash

Employers can mail a cheque or money order with a Payment Slip from their Employer Remittance Booklet and Employee Deduction Details to CSA Employer Services.

If an employer has not received a Remittance Booklet, issue from the Letter Details window in Cuba.

Employers should post payments to:

Child Support Employer Services

PO Box 9815

Melbourne VIC 3001

Customers can mail a cheque or money order with the Payment Slip section of their Payer Account Statement or their payee payment slip.

If a customer does not receive a statement, an ad hoc Payment Slip can be issued from the Letter Details window in Cuba.

Individual customers should post payments to:

Services Australia

Locked Bag 11

A'Beckett Street

Melbourne VIC 8006

There are various reasons why cheques can be dishonoured and in some circumstances, a customer might not know why this has happened. When a payment is dishonoured, the debit to the child support account is accompanied by a reason code such as:

• a stop/cancelled cheque request applied
• insufficient cleared funds being available, or
• insufficient funds

When a customer contacts Child Support in relation to a dishonoured cheque, confirm the payment they are referring to has been dishonoured in the Payments Details window.

See Step 5 in Table 1.

Customers who are overseas can make payments to Child Support by the following methods:

• Credit Card, go to Step 2
• Mailpay, go to Step 3
• Billpay/BPAY, go to Step 4
• Direct Credit, go to Step 5

International customers can use Government EasyPay 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to make a credit/debit card payment using VISA or MasterCard, see Table 4.

International customers can mail a cheque or money order with the Payment Slip section of their Payer Account Statement or Payee Payment Slip.

If a customer does not receive a statement, an ad hoc Payment Slip can be issued from the Letter Details window in Cuba.

Individual customers must send their Payment Slip and Cheque or Money Order in Australian Dollars to:

Services Australia

PO Box 9815

Melbourne VIC 3001 Australia

Note: advise customers to allow up to 25 working days for cheque payments funds to be cleared from their account.

International customers must contact their financial institution to make a BPAY payment from a cheque or savings account.

To make a BPAY payment, customers will need to know the Child Support Biller Code and their Payment Reference Number.

Child Support Biller Code: 201509

Note: this payment option is only available from an Australian bank account.

International customers can make a Direct Credit payment by transferring funds from their bank account to:

Address: 20-22 London Circuit CANBERRA ACT 2600 AUSTRALIA

Bank: Reserve Bank of Australia

Account Name: Services Australia Child Support

BSB: 092009

Account No: 116755

SWIFT Code: RSBKAU2S

Note: payment via Direct Credit will incur a transfer and processing fee for each payment which is imposed by the customer's bank or financial institution.

Customers will need their Payment Reference Number.