DMBM210510 - Transfer from OAS SAFE

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Where it is identified that a payment in the Overpayments Accounting Summary (OAS) system is proper to a SAFE customer or charge record it has to be reallocated. The following paragraphs explain the process.

Only a member of the Banking Operations Team in either Cumbernauld or Shipley may reallocate a payment from their OAS system.

Payments within SAFE do not have to be allocated to a specific charge. Where a payment in OAS is identified as appropriate to a SAFE customer record but no charge exists (for example a payment in advance of an Enquiry Settlement charge) then that payment can be reallocated from OAS to the suspense account, Unallocated Payments, attached to the customer record. This will ensure the payment is correctly positioned when the charge details are received at some point in the future.

A payment is reallocated from OAS to SAFE by using the SAFE function Process Payment Lot (Reallocate from OAS).

At the start of the on-line day the Aspire Support team will release a maximum of 99 Payment Lots to each of the Banking Operations Teams.

If at the start of the on-line day the Payment Lot functionality is not available refer tothe National Help Desk.

To transfer a payment to SAFE the following details are input to the Payment Lot

  • Amount
  • Selection Category (I or R) – to indicate a SAFE customer (I) or charge reference (R)
  • Charge reference (14 characters) or customer reference (15 characters)
  • Payment Type – possible values BAC, BGP, BGT, BLP, CHP, DCP, DDP, NGB, NGE, NGP, PYM or a Cheque number in the range of 000000-999999.
  • Additional information – OAS number
  • Effective Date of Payment (EDP).

Validation checks are made against the data input to ensure that a charge record exists. An amount greater than the outstanding charge will be accepted and any excess will be allocated to the Unallocated Payment (suspense account).

Once the first entry has been made in the Payment Lot there are several options for working the Lot during the course of the on-line day. Typically items will continue to be added to the Payment Lot during the day. It is possible to save the Lot, for example when going to lunch, re-opening and adding as required.

While the Payment Lot is open, any items already listed may be amended or deleted. An automatic process at the end of the on-line day posts the payments. These will appear on the Customer Records the next on-line day. If items have been entered into a Lot which is not saved at the end of the on-line day the payments are not posted and will have to be re-input.

During the course of the day Payment Lots will be created in both Cumbernauld and Shipley. SAFE will identify the originating OAS system and create a computer file that will generate the contra postings to be recorded on the OAS records. When the IRIS COAS function is used to view the OAS records the reference number and amount allocated to SAFE is displayed.

A transfer from OAS to SAFE will be shown on the OAS Statement as an ORD posting type.

Payments held in OAS that are to be allocated to a SAFE record must always be reallocated directly from the general holding area of OAS and not as a RFOC item. This is important to maintain the integrity of the accounting within the OAS system.