NEWS REPORT MasterCard RPPS Continues to Add Value with Wide Variety of Service Enhancements Several recent enhancements promote ease of use and member productivity, with more planned for 2003. From the automated payment inquiry tool to enhanced debit caps that enable increased acceptance of reversals, from expanded multicycle cutoffs to credit counseling biller profiles online—and much more—MasterCard RPPS participants have at their disposal a wide variety of recently implemented enhancements that improve system functionality and promote customer productivity. "We're particularly happy with the way participants have responded to our new automated payment inquiry tool," said Tom Smith, MasterCard RPPS, "and we're confident that several other new enhancements, such as the new debit cap capabilities, will be greeted with similar enthusiasm." Smith noted that the MasterCard RPPS team is working on a number of projects for implementation in the near future, including additional inbound file formats, a fourth daily payment cycle, and RPPS website enhancements. Also, several items are currently being evaluated for future implementation, such as enhancements to the DMP format and a file hold/funds verification function, which would allow MasterCard RPPS® to hold an inbound payment file until the sponsor bank has verified that the funds are available in the customer's account. The following articles offer descriptions and updates on recently implemented and planned enhancements. For more information For more information on any enhancement, please contact MasterCard RPPS Operations and Customer Service at 800-207-7605. Automated Payment Inquiry Tool Scores High Marks with Members Introduced in August 2002, the automated payment inquiry tool has already proven tremendously popular with participants, showing dramatic increases in use every month. The Web-based service provides any licensed member (enrollment available to all RPPS participants at no charge) convenient online access to information on payments processed. Replacing a manual procedure, the enhancement delivers an automated response in just seconds. "Members have embraced this new process enthusiastically," said Paul Graser, MasterCard RPPS, "and it's clear why. The automated process delivers the information they need much more quickly and easily than the manual process it replaced, and they can export that information into Excel and other programs." The new tool is so proficient that automated inquiries accounted for 92% of the January payment inquiry total, well up from 15% in August, the first full month of implementation. "We urge members that haven't yet taken advantage of the new tool to enroll," said Graser. "They'll be able to access the data they need from their PCs, with a significant gain in efficiency." To get started, RPPS participants should call RPPS Customer Service at 800-207-7605. New Debit Cap Capabilities Offer Exceptional Flexibility and Protection in Acceptance of Electronic Payment Reversals Last summer, the Payment Reversal Committee, composed of members from across the industry, proposed three changes designed to increase the number of billers that accept electronic reversals. In addition to new rules, committee members urged that enhancements be made to the debit cap process to provide better control of payment reversals by concentrators and their billers. "We took their recommendation to heart, and in November, we implemented reversal rules and enhancements to the debit caps that permit much greater flexibility," said Tom Smith, MasterCard RPPS®. "In the past, the debit cap process was enforced at the BSP level, not at the biller level. This limited the discretion of BSPs in setting their debit caps and had the effect of reducing the number of electronic reversals they would accept. This, in turn, required that members employ a time-consuming manual process to handle payment reversals. "The new process allows debit caps to be enforced at the biller level, giving BSPs more control and enabling them to further mitigate risk," Smith added. In addition, the new process allows billers to set an additional cap by CSP, for an even finer level of control. "The committee members and MasterCard RPPS feel that this new capability will greatly encourage acceptance of electronic reversals and improve productivity for billers, BSPs, and CSPs alike," said Smith. To get started, call MasterCard RPPS Operations and Customer Service at 800-207-7605. Addition of Fourth Daily Payment Cycle Will Expand the Multicycle Option Moving another step closer to a real-time environment, MasterCard RPPS will soon add a fourth daily payment cycle. "With the new cutoff time, 5:00 p.m. CST, our customers may be able to systematically process more payments on any given day. The new cycle makes it more likely that participants can see a rejected payment returned, corrected, and reposted within 24 hours, ensuring more timely payments," said Tom Smith, MasterCard RPPS. "A rejected payment that takes one day for our multicycle players to turn around could take up to three days for single-cycle participants," Smith added, "because they can't get it back into the system until the next day. Obviously, the multicycle option can boost productivity dramatically, and the implementation of the fourth cycle will only add to that differential." Smith also noted that multicycle West Coast participants have relied heavily on the 8:00 p.m. CST cutoff. The new cutoff will likely reduce the processing load for that cycle and could help improve participants' operational efficiency. The fourth cycle is planned for implementation in May 2003, and cutoff times for the four cycles processed by MasterCard RPPS will be as follows: Cycle Cutoff Time (CST) 1 12:00 P.M. 2 5:00 P.M. 3 8:00 P.M. 4 2:00 A.M. Current multicycle participants will automatically be enabled for the fourth cycle. They need not call MasterCard RPPS to enroll. They will, however, need to perform testing prior to using the new cycle to ensure they can accept the additional file. Single-cycle participants interested in improving their payment timeliness with the multicycle option should call MasterCard RPPS Operations and Customer Service at 800-207-7605 to get started.