Acct.Gar. - Agency Electronic Levies

Acct.Gar. - Agency Electronic Levies

Electronic Agency Levies: A Game-Changer for Financial Institutions

VIDEO TUTORIAL (3 mins) - coming soon 
This page explains the workflow benefits of setting up electronic levy connections with agencies using Safari, the various types of electronic levies Safari can process, and how these levies automate and streamline your workflow within Safari.

Workflow Benefits of Electronic Levy Connections with Agencies

When Safari establishes an electronic levy connection with an agency, financial institutions doing business in that state gain multiple significant benefits:
  1. Data capture:  No manual data entry is required
  2. Standardized, automated responses:  Safari generates and delivers standard responses to agencies whenever a matter triggers an action.
  3. Fully automated workflows - If you utilize Safari's automated Subject search (see Setup - Automation with API Integrations), and the debtor is not a customer or member, the entire workflow proceeds without human involvement:
    1. Levy is received electronically with full data capture.
    2. Subject search is automatically initiated by Safari.
    3. If no match is found, Safari automatically closes the matter and notifies the agency.
NOTE.  Agency connections not included in the basic Levy Manager product and require the purchase of Safari's ServePort Intake Manager. For more information, see Welcome to Safari! 

Types of Electronic Levies

ANSI X9.129 Format

Overview.  The ANSI X9.129 standard is a cornerstone in the transition to electronic levy processing. This open, non-proprietary framework encompasses initial levy requests and follow-up actions by agencies such as payment date adjustments, modified levy amounts, and full releases. The standard is 2-way, in that it also provides the format for all possible responses by financial institutions.  By defining the necessary file formats and key data fields, X9.129 enables comprehensive automation of legal order processing, benefiting both agencies and financial institutions.  For more information, see the "Bank Benefits" video on the X9.129 website.

History of the Standard.  The ANSI X9.129 standard emerged from a collaborative effort involving financial institutions, government agencies, and industry vendors, all working together within the Legal Orders Working Group of the Accredited Standards Committee X9. This standard underwent extensive development over several years, including numerous pilot programs to refine its specifications. In 2020, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) officially approved ANSI X9.129-2020 (Version 03), recognizing it as a consensus-based standard with broad applicability and reliability in electronic levy processing.

Safari's Role with X9.129 Levy Workflows.  Safari manages all aspects of X9.129 levies, making the process seamless for our customers. We work with agencies nationwide to set up electronic exchanges. Specifically, Safari establishes a secure server (an “SFTP site”) for uploading, downloading, and managing files securely. Using an SFTP site is a standard method for securely transferring files, offering greater safety than physical mail or hand delivery in protecting PII data in levies and responses from accidental disclosure. Although native X9.129 files are not easily readable by humans, Safari converts them into readable documents for our financial institution customers. When a user triggers a response in a matter (e.g., by seizing funds), Safari automatically generates the response in the X9.129 format and delivers it to the agency via the SFTP site. 

Current Status of Agency Adoption.  As of July 22, 2024, about 22 agencies around the country are X9.129 capable, and many more have plans to adopt it in 2025.  To learn which agencies are currently connected, please contact your Safari Customer Success Manager.

PDF Levies

For agencies that are not able to adopt the X9.129 format in the near future, Safari is developing AI technology to be able to capture the same X9.129 data from PDF levies from agencies.  Safari will be enabling this capability in Q3 of 2024, to provide our financial institution customers the same benefits as X9.129 electronic levies.

Workflow Changes in Safari with Electronic Levies

While electronic levies in one sense are no different than any other levies, the standardization eliminates much of the work in Safari.  Here is a list of how your workflow is simplified:
  1. Intake:  Levies are automatically created as matters in Safari with all data fields populated.  Depending on your Subtype setup, they will either show up in the Unassigned matter list, or if the designated Subtype has round robin auto-assignment, then the matter will automatically show up on the Reviewer's 'Assigned to Me' matter list.  No additional matter data entry is required.
  2. Levy Updates:  Follow-up actions by agencies such as payment date adjustments, modified levy amounts, and full releases are automatically updated in the proper matter in Safari with alerts to the Reviewer.
  3. Responses - Matters Closed:  If the debtor is not a customer or member, has no accounts, or has no funds, when the user closes the matter, Safari automatically sends the response to the agency.
  4. Responses - Seized Funds: When you record the seizing of funds in Safari, Safari automatically sends the response to the agency.
For more information, please contact your Safari Customer Success Manager.

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