EWB and Card Status Enhancements (ATM/Debit/Credit Card)

Updated: December 21st 2011

Project Overview

This project makes changes to CU*BASE ATM, Debit and Credit Card tools to allow CUs better control over Early Warning Bulletin (EWB) services from VISA and MasterCard and to add more clarity and precision to how Card Status codes are added and monitored by credit union staff.

1. Make the Card Status descriptions on CU*BASE mirror what you see on your administrative terminal. We are adding a new configuration so that the Card Status descriptions your staff sees in CU*BASE will match what you are used to seeing on your admin terminal (more tailored to the switch). Every switch is unique, and our current method of using general-purpose codes for all switches is causing confusion and lack of precision about exactly what will happen at the switch.
2. Let you make the ultimate decision about when an Early Warning Bulletin should be posted for a card. We’re adding new settings to the BIN configuration so CUs can set default rules for how changes to card status will result in EWBs being sent in an automated fashion from CU*BASE to the vendor. Then, on the Card Status update screens in CU*BASE, we will present the "Issue an EWB?" question to the employee according to the CU’s configuration, with a two-part confirmation step—meaning that you decide and confirm when you want to spend the money for EWB services.
3. Log your decisions in a file you can audit. The new programs will automatically log both card status changes and EWB posting instructions to a new audit file so that you will be able to easily track and research exactly what your staff is instructing CU*BASE to do on a daily basis. This is a lot like when we added to CU*BASE the monthly credit reporting file, where you can run a report of everything sent to the bureaus. We want the same kind of verifiable data for what was sent your EFT switch for card status and EWBs.

Our goal is to give you far more control over how much money you are spending with VISA and MasterCard on EWBs and make sure that the business logic being used is based on your perspective and policies.

We Need to Work Together

What we also hope to discover is just how much precision and consistency there is out in the field, even among credit unions using the same vendor. If Credit Union A logs in to their admin terminal, do they always see the exact same codes that Credit Union B sees? Based on what we’ve learned so far, we suspect it is possible a credit union’s administrative terminal might not even be in synch with all of the capabilities of the switch, and might not even process all of the codes that are possible in the switch’s platform. Unfortunately, CU*Answers cannot verify that.

We're hoping that between the new configuration and allowing your CU to keep a closer eye on this activity, you will help us keep the CU*BASE codes and capabilities in synch with what you can do directly with your vendor. This will allow our 3-way partnership (you, CU*Answers, and your EFT processor) to better confirm how everyone thinks this should work.

Learn More

Review the original announcement that was sent to those credit unions for whom EWB automation was recently deactivated in CU*BASE, pending these design changes.

Status: Work is progressing and the project is currently slated to be included in the 12.0 release.

If you would like a copy of the working project specifications, please contact Dawn Moore directly.

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