This happens rarely, but usually when we see orphaned records like this it's because the employee exited their CU*BASE session improperly in the middle of processing a transaction, either by clicking the close button or due to an unexpected power or communications interruption. For example, once a cash transaction is posted and the CTR screens are presented, the user must proceed; there is no way to back up and cancel the transaction at that point. Some users get desperate and click the   More...

At some point during the year your credit union's audit firm may contact your credit union to perform a member account verification. This involves sending statements with a special message and unique return address, so that members respond to the auditing firm rather than the credit union directly. Here are some important tips to ensure your audit is successful: CU*Answers cannot change your credit union's return addresses on statements. CU*Answers uses custom statement envelopes for a  More...

The Audit Tracker is simply a special type of Member Tracker. Trackers are used throughout CU*BASE to keep track of member communications, contacts, and events, for an ongoing record of the member's relationship with your credit union. The Audit Tracker is specifically designed to record events for your credit union's internal auditors. This includes things like BSA-related activities, OFAC scans, and the like. See the flyer referenced below for a current list of items recorded automa  More...

The Audit Link service consists of three interrelated business activities. The first is an overall analysis of the credit unions needs, hot buttons, and recent audit or examination findings. This analysis is designed not only to tailor the program for the credit union but also to facilitate an overall general compliance tune-up. The second area of this initiative is the development of a daily, monthly, and quarterly roadmap of tasks to be completed. This is where the credit union would see the  More...

Because of CU*BASE design to integrate directly to the general ledger is one of its most impressive features, the teller system needs to process as its own section. In order to discourage inaccurate or misleading transaction reversals or back-dating, the dual system segreates the teller drawer (cash) from the member transactions and balances. If the two steps are not completed correctly, the general ledger will be out of balance. Fortunately you can use Tool #31 Reverse Tran/Adjust Drawer (Same  More...

This file is populated when we receive the file from Sage Direct. Sage forwards the audit data to use once ALL statement runs are completed. This will typically occur between the 10th and the 15th of the month.

You can visit the Audit Link website at http://auditlink.cuanswers.com for guidance on upcoming regulations as well as any recent Audit Link news.

More information can be found in Chapter 13 “ODFI Audit Requirements and Rules Compliance” found on OG52 of the NACHA Operating Rules. The first sentence in Chapter 13 states: All ODFIs, Third Party Service Providers performing a function of ACH processing on behalf of those ODFIs, and Third Party Senders must perform an annual audit to determine compliance with all provisions of the NACHA Operating Rules. Third Party Service Providers and Senders are very well defined in t  More...

Performed on a daily basis, Audit Link uses the CU*BASE Dashboard for Negative Balance Analysis to retrieve negative balance data. A daily report summary is provided to your team illustrating negative balance accounts separated as 15-day buckets to assist in quickly identifying possible fraudulent activity and areas that may require immediate action. Also included with the daily report summary are graphical representations and delinquency ratios to assist in identifying key trends affecting your  More...

It is possible to have two people review the same loan application screen. This is helpful if you would like for two people two review the screens together who are on different workstations. For example, you may have a loan officer and a loan underwriter review the screens together. If you review loan application screens this way, the last person to leave the screen will have their changes saved. Let's review this example: Sue Loanofficer and Mary Underwriter are reviewing a loan applic  More...

Use Tool #20 Update Account Information to change the Review date field on the loan account. Depending on how your loan category is set up, this date may control whether or not the member can take additional advances on a credit card or other line of credit loan.

ISA (Foreign Conversion) Fees have two different calculations based on whether the transaction being processed is being done in US funds ('no conv' as displayed on BIN configuration screen) or will require a conversion from the 'foreign' country's currency to US funds (w/conv as displayed on BIN configuration screen) for processing. The way it is determined which fee should be calculated is within the 'transaction' message that your vendor sends to CU*BASE for process  More...

Bill Pay fees post around the 11th of the month. The fee posting will only attempt once. An idea is to use this exception report and manually post fees if needed. Something to keep in mind: even if the member has Overdraft Protection, it may still give the exception listed above because Overdraft Protection does not cover fees.

Members can update personal information on the Personal Information page. As a security measure, credit unions can elect that these changes require their review before changes are accepted and changed in the system. This approval setup is activated on the Update Credit Union Online Banking Settings page accessed via Tool # 569: Online/Mobile Text Banking VMS Config and then Online/Mobile Web Online Banking. On this screen, the credit union can select to either have the changes reviewed or re  More...

When you use the filter buttons on the File Maintenance Inquiry dashboard (Tool #159: Audit File Maintenance Inquiry (CUFMNT)), indicators note which programs, fields/columns, and files/tables AuditLink has flagged as “critical” for auditing teams to monitor on a daily basis. You can quickly sort by that indicator and select only those items for a quick scan of maintenance that directly affects member accounts. Below is a listing of these critical items. Columns/Fields Field Why   More...

Check out the CU*Answers store for assistance in preparing for your BSA audit. See the related links below to learn more.

Credit unions can choose to hide the 000 account for select memberships. This is a business decision that may be elected for special accounts, for example business accounts. This feature must first be activated for the credit union in the Master Parameters in the OPER screens. Then credit unions activate it by using the Membership Designation configuration. Once activated in the membership designation, the feature will cause the 000 account to be ignored (for accounts of this membership des  More...

There are two methods used to track delinquent loans for reporting purposes in CU*BASE: Method One (for Collections tracking) We have always tracked delinquency in two separate fields for “Months” and ‘Days” in the member files. When a loan is 30 days delinquent, it shows as “0 Months, 30 Days” delinquent. When a loan is 31 days delinquent, it is “1 Month, 0 Days” delinquent. A month is always considered 30 days regardless of the actual number o  More...

Using CU*BASE to Comply with New Rules for Tracking Beneficial Ownership FinCEN has issued new rules under the Bank Secrecy Act that require financial institutions to identify and verify the identity of the beneficial owners of all legal entity members (corporations, etc.). Under the final rule, credit unions are required to have written procedures to identify and verify beneficial owners of legal entity members who open new accounts on or after May 11, 2018. In addition to identifying and coll  More...

No, our CSRs will not reset the 2-character CU*BASE Employee IDs for your staff. This must be done by an internal CU security officer. Use Tool #762 Reset Employee ID Password . (This can also be done via Tool #327 CU*BASE Employee Security using the Reset PW option.) It is important that credit unions insure proper training to their employees regarding the expiration of their CU*BASE Employee ID password. We deliver a warning message of expiration 7 business days prior to the staff member.   More...

Special care should be taken when adding distribution records for a member who has more than one deposit coming for the family from the same institution. Take the time to research the member ACH records using the ACH inquiry screen, and if there isn't enough information on this screen, go to CU*SPY and find the PACXTB report to review the ACH detail. For example, the Smith family receives three ACH payments for Social Security benefits: one for the husband, John, one for the wife, Mary, and   More...

The NSF Statistics Dashboard (Tool #557) will track this information for you automatically. It is separated into the NSF category and the Courtesy Pay Category. Credit unions are using this dashboard to help predict averages of NSF/Courtesy Pay fee income and also to track how many members may be using the service. You can click on any of the origins (listed in blue text) and you can drill further to members who had more than X transactions in a specific month. There are a lot of graphical oppor  More...

The differences ultimately come down to control and cost. The online ASP system is the fastest, simplest, most inexpensive way to get started with an e-documents strategy for your credit union. With online ASP you offload the back-end service management headaches to CU*Answers. We manage, backup, secure, and patch/upgrade the eDOC servers and databases and these processes fall under our SAS 70 and third party security audits. The online ASP system consists of electronic storage of receipts, loan  More...

Our policy is to adhere to PCI Data Security Standard/Security Audit Procedures mandates (these are the rules from Visa about how ATM, Debit, and Credit Card information is protected) which read as follows: 3.3 Mask PAN when displayed (the first six and last four digits are the maximum number of digits to be displayed). Note: This requirement does not apply to employees and other parties with a specific need to see the full PAN; nor does the requirement supersede stricter requirements in  More...

With the 16.10 release we have developed a new cross-reference system that will automatically funnel all incoming company IDs from the Social Security Administration and treat them as if they came from one, consistent company ID we’re referring to as the “Primary ID.” Refer to the linked to Answer Book items for more information about this feature. At implementation of the release two reports were placed in your credit union’s HOLDxx OUTQ. The first, CNV40003, lists all  More...