Member Services
Training Services
Member Benefits
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Payments Services

ACH and Payments Services

The Answer to All Your Member Needs

Benefits of SFE Membership

Types of Membership

If you are not a Southern Financial Exchange member
We encourage you to become a member and take advantage of the value that Southern Financial Exchange (SFE) can add to your electronic payments program. This guide describes our member services and how they can benefit your organization. As the movement to electronic payment systems accelerates, as the variety of electronic payment applications multiplies, and as the complexity of related rules and regulations increase, Southern Financial Exchange's expertise is an asset you cannot afford to be without.

If you are already a Southern Financial Exchange member
We encourage you to become reacquainted with the services of your association as outlined in this guide to ensure that you are maximizing the value of your membership. You will certainly find something in here to benefit your organization that you did not know was available!

Education
The ACH Network is all about growth. Electronic transaction volumes are rising dramatically every year. The variety of ACH payment applications is continually increasing and the rules that govern these transactions can change several times a year! To keep up with this growth, minimize risk exposure, and ensure compliance, you need to stay educated. SFE provides the electronic payments education you need to keep current. Courses are either full- or half-day, and are taught by Southern Financial Exchange's Accredited ACH Professional staff and other industryrecognized experts.

Workshops
Our annual calendar of workshops covers our service area and typically includes sessions such as:

• ACH Audit & Compliance
• ACH Exception Item Processing: An In-Depth Study
• ACH Fundamentals
• ACH Origination: Growing While Managing Risk
• ACH Risk Workshop
• What's New in Payments: ACH Rules Implementation
• Advanced ACH Rules Review & AAP Review Course
• Bits-N-Bytes
• Customer Service & ACH: Fundamentals for Branch Personnel
• E-Checks: The Rules and Regs of Conversion vs.Truncation
• Payment System Fraud & Managing the Risks
• RDFI Responsibilities & Compliance
• Treasury Day - How to be a "Survivor" Processing Government ACH Payments
• Wire Transfer Basics

See our entire training schedule online here. Member contacts also receive workshop brochures approximately four to six weeks prior to each workshop. We encourage you to check our website frequently for additions and changes to the calendar. Currently, SFE accepts registrations by telephone, fax, or mail. If you do not see what you need, call us! We also offer customized in-house training at reasonable half-day and full-day rates. See the In-House Training and Consulting section in this guide.

Annual Conference
Southern Financial Exchange's annual conference is held in March or April of each year. With a focus on electronic payments, this multi-day event is designed by our Conference Planning Committee to provide attendees with the strategies to maximize business efficiencies, improve payment processes, reduce risk, and increase client satisfaction. It is also a great chance to network with industry peers and payment technology providers. The conference is approved for AAP re-certification credits as allowed by NACHA, and may also qualify for CPE and CCM/CTP credits granted by the National Registry of Certified Public Accountancy, and the Association of Financial Professionals, respectively.

ACH Audit Services
We provide audit services to financial institutions and third party processors. Southern Financial Exchange will review each aspect of your ACH operation including receiving, originating, exception item processing, risk policy, security access, contingency, and federal payment processing. Many SFE members have taken advantage of this service. We will:

• Provide Documentation Requested by Examiners
• Help You Manage Risk and Minimize Losses
• Insure Compliance with ACH Rules
• Enhance ACH Quality and Customer/Member Satisfaction and
• Improve Operational Efficiencies and Lower Processing Costs

Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) Audit Services

The law firm of Watkins Ludlam Winter & Stennis, P.A. (WLWS) is now available to conduct on-site BSA Audits for SFE members.

Recently issued Interagency Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering Examination procedures continue to emphasize the importance of independent reviews for compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and other anti-money laundering related issues.

The BSA audit will include: BSA/AML risk assessment; BSA/AML compliance program review; BSA reporting and recordkeeping requirements; Customer Identification Program (CIP) implementation; adequacy of policies, procedures and processes; adherence to bank policies, procedures and processes; appropriate transaction testing, with particular emphasis on high-risk operations; adequacy of training for appropriate personnel. The audit will also include a written report setting forth the results of the audit and any appropriate recommendations or corrective action.

For SFE members, the cost for a BSA audit is $2,400 for a one day visit to your institution, and $1,800 for each additional day (if required), plus out of pocket incidental expenses (mileage, etc.). There will be no charge for travel time. The pricing for this BSA audit service is for SFE members only. Call SFE at (800)626-4733, or contact Carroll Ann Tornabene with WLWS directly at (601)949-4815, if you are interested in knowing more about SFE's BSA audit service.

Professional Certification
The Accredited ACH Professional (AAP) certification is awarded annually by NACHA and is administered locally by Southern Financial Exchange in our service area. Candidates for the certification examination, which is given each October, must register directly with NACHA. The registration fee includes a study guide. The pass rate for the exam has historically been about 50% nationwide, indicating the complexity and depth of the information covered. It is recommended that an eight-to ten-month study plan be considered to include appropriate Southern Financial Exchange educational opportunities and supplemental publications. SFE conducts review courses in multiple locations prior to the exam to help guide your preparedness.

Compliance Support
Let's face it – the ACH Rules book is not light reading, and sometimes you just can't find what you are looking for in there, or you're not sure you understand what you are reading. That is where Southern Financial Exchange can help. We have a toll-free number so that you can reach an Accredited ACH Professional to help you with those NACHA rules interpretation questions, or questions about Regulation E, the Treasury Green Book, and other regulations. When in doubt – don't guess. Call Southern Financial Exchange for a quick answer.

Information
Knowledge is power, and a steady flow of vital information is the key to that power. Southern Financial Exchange strives to keep its members informed of developments in the rapidly-changing arena of electronic payments through a variety of means. Our website is updated frequently with the latest in education and marketing opportunities, as well as up-to-the-minute compliance alerts and other payments developments. Certain features of our website, such as our online Routing/Transit number lookup and current ACH Rules Work Group Reports, are most useful to members. If you like receiving updates via email, our optional members-only bulletins, NACHA Newswire and WEB Bulletins provide a convenient way to stay informed. We also offer our paper-based Payments Update on a quarterly basis and we distribute the Electronic Payments Review and Buyer's Guide at our conference and other events.

E-mail Notification Service
As the payments industry continues to evolve, SFE will continue to provide timely information needed for your institution to meet the challenges of electronic commerce.

NOW, you can sign up for our e-mail subscription service on our web site. This way you will get news from SFE through e-mail. We will use this service to inform you of SFE events and about topics of immediate and grave concern to the financial community.

Look for this box on our web site and sign up today!

Publications
In conjunction with NACHA and the other Regional Payments Associations, we are proud to offer our members significant discounts on a wide variety of payments-related publications developed by nationally-recognized experts. Catalogs are available in print and online. All of our member institutions receive a complimentary copy of the updated ACH Rules book each year. Each copy includes free access to a searchable on-line version of the rules.

In-House Training and Consulting Services
What if Southern Financial Exchange's regularly-scheduled workshops do not fit your organization's schedule, or do not cover a topic your staff needs? Do you have a specific operational issue that you could really benefit from an expert's experience and guidance? Southern Financial Exchange's AAP certified staff can provide customized in-house training and consulting services or address your organization's specific needs.

A sample of the topics we can cover includes, but is certainly not limited to, the following:

• Considering ACH Origination? A close look from A to Z
• Advanced ACH Origination Issues: Implementing POP, TEL ARC, RCK
• Operations Risk Management: Identifying potential problems
• ACH 101 and Exception Item Processing
• AAP Certification Review

Contact the Southern Financial Exchange office to discuss your specific areas of need and to get pricing information. We will be glad to craft a solution from a single half-day session to a multi-day consulting engagement.

Teleseminars
Teleseminars are a convenient and cost-effective way to learn! No travel is required, and one registration fee covers as many people as you want on a single line. SFE is please to be able to offer our members access to over 50 teleseminars per year on a variety of topics in conjunction with the other Regional Payments Associations and NACHA. Each session typically lasts 90 minutes to 2 hours. Check out the complete course listing in our educational calendar.

Payments Academy On-line
The Payments Academy On-line is a series of web-based courses developed as a cooperative effort of the Regional Payments Associations and NACHA. The Academy provides payment systems participants with a continuallyexpanding curriculum, including courses on ACH, eCommerce, Electronic Check Conversion, Internet Payments, Checks, Wires and more. Designed to accommodate many learning styles, courses include vital information, quizzes and a final exam to assess your knowledge of the topic. Communications tools include threaded discussion groups, text-based chat and document-sharing, and class mailbox and integrated e-mail. The Academy can be accessed from our website by clicking on the Payments Academy logo.

Advocacy and National Representation
Southern Financial Exchange is your voice at the national level. Through participation in the national ACH rules-making process, we represent the interests of our members as the operating rules of the network are developed and submitted for approval. Our staff participates in NACHA's Internet Council and education work groups. The depth of knowledge our staff gains through participation in these cutting-edge groups adds further value to your membership.

In the event that a participant in the ACH Network does not adhere to the ACH operating rules, the National System of Fines may be used to sanction a party for willful disregard of the operating rules. SFE members submit Rules Violation Reports to NACHA and they are monitored by Southern Financial Exchange. Consulting and education alternatives are often recommended by SFE to avoid repetitive incidents.

Types of Membership
SFE offers regular memberships to financial institutions. The membership investment for financial institutions is a tiered schedule based on deposit size.

Affiliate and Professional Memberships are available for organizations which are not financial institutions and for individuals employed by these organizations. These members are assessed a flat annual fee. See our membership application for specific dues information.

Affiliate Membership - this membership is for organizations which are not financial institutions, such as vendors, service providers, businesses, government agencies, and payments processors.

Professional Membership - this membership is for individuals not employed by a financial institution. It is especially designed for CPAs, accountants, consultants, attorneys, computer programmers, sole proprietorships, etc.

Payments Services
Regular members participate in Automated Clearing House (ACH) services as Receiving Depository Financial Institutions (RDFIs). Regular members are eligible to participate in ACH services as Originating Depository Financial Institutions (ODFIs). ACH Operator processing is available through the Federal Reserve ACH services or the Electronic Payments Network (EPN). To learn more about ACH Operator services, visit www.frbservices.org and www.epaynetwork.com.

Affiliate members may participate in payments services through account relationships with regular members.

Image Exchange Rules
Through a sponsorship agreement with ECCHO, Southern Financial Exchange members can join ECCHO to use its rules for exchanging images.

ECCHO is the only national clearinghouse with a comprehensive set of image exchange rules. ECCHO is recognized and supported by many organizations, including SFE, as the national provider of ECP and image exchange rules.

Since existing check law does not addresses check image exchanges, every institution engaged in check image exchange needs to be covered by an image exchange agreement. The best coverage is obtained through clearinghouse rules such as the ECCHO rules.

Contact Us to Learn More