Nacha issued ACH Operations Bulletin #1-2023 on March 27, 2023. This bulletin alerted financial institutions of an update to the sample Written Statement of Unauthorized Debit (WSUD) within the Operating Guidelines. The update includes a disclosure informing consumers of the risks of making false claims of unauthorized ACH debits to their financial institutions.
Nacha became aware that some consumers may have received advice that could lead them to unknowingly violate federal law when seeking to recover investment losses. For example, a consumer might authorize one or more ACH debits to transfer funds to an investment account or cryptocurrency wallet. Subsequently, after the investment or cryptocurrency has lost value, the consumer might be advised to make a claim to his or her financial institution that the debits were not authorized to recover lost amounts.
To educate consumers, and as an anti-fraud measure, Nacha and EPCOR have added the following verbiage to their sample WSUD form:
Any intentional attempt to obtain money from a financial institution by misrepresenting whether a transaction was authorized may result in the imposition of fines up to $1,000,000, or imprisonment up to 30 years, or both under the provisions of Federal law (18 U.S.C. §1344).
During our 2023 Payments Systems Update we discussed the requirement under Regulation E, to ensure a consumer is notified of when their account will be recredited and when final disposition occurs. This applies to ACH and debit card transactions. Under the ACH Rules, a Receiving Depository Financial Institution (RDFI) is required to recredit an account “promptly” for any WSUD it receives. While “promptly” is defined in the Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA) as “within one business day,” use of this term on the WSUD is unclear. To ensure clarity and compliance with Regulation E 1005.11, RDFIs should provide a final disposition letter in situations involving consumer disputes of unauthorized ACH transactions.
To assist RDFIs in more easily complying with this requirement, EPCOR’s sample WSUD was also updated to include language regarding the timing of recredit and final disposition. These new fields are optional and may be utilized by an RDFI at its discretion. The following verbiage has been added:
Note to Account Holder: Your account will be recredited no later than_____________________. A copy of this form (paper or electronic) may be provided to you upon return of the debit(s) as notice of final disposition and recredit to your account.
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For Financial Institution Use Only
Accepted by_____________________________________ Date______________________________
Date Entry(ies) Returned and Recredit Applied to Account__________________________________
Date copy of form provided or made available to the account holder _________________________
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Again, these new fields are not required to be utilized; however, they may be used as a method of notifying consumers of final disposition of an ACH debit error. Your institution may provide final disposition notices to consumers using a different way.
The updated WSUD form is available in the online store as part of the EFT Dispute Resource Package. Members who have purchased the Electronic Resource License, may download a new copy of the form at no additional charge. For those members who purchased the EFT Dispute Resource Package in 2023, you may view your previous orders in the online store and download the new version at no charge.
If you have any questions, please reach out to Member Support via phone (800.500.0100), email (memserve@epcor.org) or website chat (epcor.org).