EFT Sub-Services
There are a number of different EFT sub-services that incorporate both straight payments (debits and credits) and post-payment processing (such as payment returns).
Payment Processing Sub-Services
There are various sub-services of EFT that can be selected when initiating an outbound debit or credit payment. The selection determines on which processing day an actual payment will be made.
Each individual payment must specify an action date that indicates under which sub-service the payment falls – either same-day, one-day, or two-day.
IMPORTANT
Electrum currently supports only the same-day sub-service for outbound payments.
Electrum supports the same-day, one-day, and two-day sub-services for inbound payments. All banks must be able to receive same-day, one-day and two-day inbound payments from BankservAfrica.
Same-Day Sub-Service
When the homing bank receives the payment instruction from BankservAfrica, it actions the payment against the account on that current processing day. So, settlement takes place on the same day that files are exchanged between the banks and BankservAfrica.
One-Day Sub-Service
When the homing bank receives the payment instruction from BankservAfrica, it actions the payment against the account on the next available processing day. For example, if the payment instruction is received on Tuesday, the payment will be actioned on Wednesday. But if the payment instruction is received on Saturday morning, then the payment will only be actioned on Monday, as Sunday is not a processing day.
This type of service might be used, for example, by a company’s payroll department. The company can ensure that salaries are paid on the correct day by submitting payment instructions the day before, rather than having to wait for the salary payment day.
Two-Day Sub-Service
This is also known as the 'dated' sub-service. When the homing bank receives the payment instruction from BankservAfrica, it actions the payment against the account two available processing days from that day.
Post-Payment Processing
The following sections describe scenarios that may occur as part of the EFT transaction process, but after the actual payment leg. These may be cases in which an EFT payment was not actioned successfully, or is required to be recalled or returned.
EFT Unpaid
EFT unpaids are a form of payment return.
If a debit or credit transaction is unsuccessful, the homing bank will send an ‘unpaid’ – which can be considered as a negative response – to inform BankservAfrica and the originating bank that the submitted payment instruction could not be applied to a customer’s account. Unlike a typical negative response message, however, an unpaid is sent and processed as an entirely new, independent payment, and is settled on its own by BankservAfrica.
The unpaid payment instruction cancels out the original payment instruction.
Important
An unpaid can only be sent up to four days after the original payment was processed. An unpaid can never be declined by the originating bank.
Unpaids do not form a distinct sub-service. They are automatically generated as a result of unsuccessful payments and are submitted to BankservAfrica along with same-day payments in same-day payment files. Unpaid transaction messages must contain a reason for why they are unpaid.
EFT Dispute
EFT disputes are a form of payment return.
An EFT dispute occurs when a customer of a bank initiates a request to reverse a debit that was previously applied to that customer’s account.
Disputes are always initiated by the homing bank of the original payment transaction scenario, and are processed in the same way as an unpaid of an original payment.
EFT System Error Correction (SEC)
An EFT SEC is a request from the originating bank to reverse debit or credit payments that were previously submitted to and have already been actioned at the homing bank.
SEC is used exclusively for cases where a system error at the originating bank has caused a set of transactions to be erroneously submitted to BankservAfrica (and hence to industry banks). These payments could be same-day, one-day, or two-day payments. Therefore a bank can request an SEC for payments that have already been processed and settled. However there is no guarantee that this will be possible. For example, if a payment has been made into a consumer’s bank account, and the person has already withdrawn the funds by the time the SEC is requested, then it may not be possible to reverse the payment.
Important
An originating bank can only initiate an SEC after undergoing an extensive process to obtain approval from PASA (Payments Association of South Africa). SECs can only be requested based on system errors affecting entire EFT files, and are not applied to individual EFT transactions. Although the SEC is applied to the entire file of transactions, not all transactions will be successfully reversed, for the reasons described above.
‘SEC’ is a sub-service of EFT and has its own file types for processing to and from BankservAfrica.
EFT Recall
An EFT recall is a request from the originating bank to remove a previously submitted EFT debit or credit payment that is still waiting to be actioned at the homing bank.
If a bank has already initiated a one-day or two-day payment, and the customer then asks on the same day that the payment be cancelled, the bank can request to ‘recall’ the original payment. Since the payment was only due to be actioned at a later date, it can simply be removed from the queue before this time.
The homing bank must accept and apply the recall. It is assumed that the recall will be successful, and therefore there will be no response from BankservAfrica to indicate success or failure.
Note
A bank can only recall a payment that was due to be actioned at a date later than the current processing day; i.e., a payment that has not yet been actioned. Therefore, recalls are not allowed for the same-day EFT sub-service (as the action day is on the same date as the processing day).
‘Recall’ is a sub-service of EFT and has its own file types for processing to and from BankservAfrica.