Manage the Release Settings for a Merchant

You can set up, view and update a merchant's Release Settings at the Manage Merchant Release dialog box. You can attach an existing Release ID to a merchant's Release Settings, copy an existing Release ID's settings and modify them for the merchant as required, or manually enter your own Release Settings for the merchant.

1. Search for the merchant to open the Merchant Management frame for that merchant.

   You can search for merchants that are already set up on Reserve Funding to view or maintain their settings, or search for merchants without Reserve Funding so you can set them up.

   To search for a merchant:

   1. If not already selected, from the main menu bar, select Merchant Search.

      The Merchant Search page opens.

      

   2. Select one of the following Search Method option buttons:
      • All: To search through all merchants, both those that are and those that are not set up for Reserve Funding.
      • No Reserve: To search only for merchants not set up for Reserve Funding.
      • On Reserve: To search only for merchants that are set up for Reserve Funding.
   3. Enter information in any of the following fields for the merchant you are searching for:
      • Bank: From the drop-down list, select the Bank ID for the merchant you are searching for.

        The 4-digit unique Bank ID.

      • Group

        The 6-digit unique Group ID.

      • Association

        The 6-digit unique Association ID.

      • Merchant Number

        The 16-digit unique Merchant ID.

      • DBA Name

        The Doing Business As (DBA) name associated with a merchant.

      • Reserve/Release ID

        The ID assigned to the Reserve and Release Settings, created at the bank level and assigned to a merchant.

      • Reserve DDA

        The bank's Reserve DDA number where funds are held on reserve, to which a merchant is associated.

      • Number Of Days

        Indicates the number of days funds are reserved for the merchant.

        When managing the settings on the Manage Merchant Reserve, Add New Reserve ID, or Maintain Reserve ID box, if the Bank selected is setup for Rolling Reserve and you select Yes from the Rolling Reserve Indicator drop-down list, the box refreshes to include the Number Of Days field, where you can enter the number of days the funds are to be reserved.

      • Reserve Amount

        This field and its adjacent drop-down lists enable you to search for merchants based on an allocated reserve amount. Select the required operator (>, =, or <) from the drop-down list, and enter the required amount in the adjacent field.

        For example, to search for merchants allocated a reserve amount of more than $5000, select > from the drop-down list, and enter 5000 in the adjacent field.

      • Reserve Percent

        This field and its adjacent drop-down list enable you to search for merchants based on an allocated reserve percentage. Select the required operator (>, =, or <) from the drop-down list, and enter the required percentage in the adjacent field.

        For example, to search for merchants allocated a reserve amount of more than 10%, select > from the drop-down list, and then enter 10 in the adjacent field.

      • ACH Deposit Cap

        This field and its adjacent drop-down list enable you to search for merchants based on an ACH deposit cap The maximum deposit to fund to the merchant. Any amount over the deposit cap is placed into reserve., that is, the maximum deposit to fund to the merchant. Select the required operator (>, =, or <) from the drop-down list, and then enter the required amount in the adjacent field.

        For example, to search for merchants with an ACH deposit cap of less than $2000, select < from the drop-down list, and enter 2000 in the adjacent field.

      • Release

        This field and its adjacent drop-down lists enable you to search for merchants based on an allocated release amount. Select Amount or Percent from the first drop-down list, select the required operator (>, =, or <) from the second, and then enter the required amount in the adjacent field.

        For example, to search for merchants allocated a release amount of less than $2000, select Amount from the first drop-down list, < from the second, and enter 2000 in the adjacent field.

      • Last Updated From

        At the Merchant Search frame, this field enables you to search for a merchant whose reserve funding details were updated after a certain date. Enter the required date in the field or click the calendar icon and select the date from the pop-up calendar.

      • Last Updated To

        At the Merchant Search frame, this field enables you to search for a merchant whose reserve funding details were updated before a certain date. Enter the required date in the field or click the calendar icon and select the date from the pop-up calendar.

        Note: If, from the Search Method option buttons, you selected No Reserve, only the Bank, Group, Association, Merchant Number, and DBA Name fields are available.

   4. Click Search.

      If you entered an existing Merchant Number with or without any other valid search criteria, the Merchant Management frame for that merchant opens, where you can view and update the merchant's Reserve Funding details.

      Otherwise, the Merchant Results frame listing the merchants meeting your search criteria opens beneath the Merchant Search frame.

      

      Tip: Click any of the column headings to sort the results by those criteria. Clicking repeatedly alternates the list between ascending and descending order.

   5. From the Merchant Results frame, you can:
      • Click a Merchant Number in the Merchant Number column to open the Merchant Department Management frame for that merchant, and then click the required Department for the merchant to open the Merchant Management page, where you can view and update the merchant's Reserve Funding details.

        Note: If the Bank ID you selected only has one Department set up, clicking a Merchant Number will open the Merchant Management frame directly for that merchant.

      • Click a Reserve ID in the Reserve column to open the Maintain Reserve ID dialog box for that Reserve ID.
      • Click a Release ID in the Release column to open the Maintain Release ID dialog box for that Release ID.

        Note: If, from the Search Method option buttons, you selected No Reserve, only the Merchant Number column links are available.

        Tip: An entry in the RR Num Days column indicates the merchant has current Rolling Reserve activity, although an entry in this column may not appear if there are reserves for more than one department for the merchant.

2. Click the options menu icon, and from the Action Menu, select Manage Merchant Release.

   

   The Manage Merchant Release box opens.

   

3. Under Release Settings, enter the following information as required:
   • Start Date

     The date when the merchant's Release Settings should begin to take effect. Enter the required date in the field or click the calendar icon and select the date from the pop-up calendar. The default is the current date.

     Note: The Stop Date cannot be before the current date or after the Stop Date.

   • Stop Date

     The date after which the merchant's Release Settings will no longer be applied. This field is optional. Enter the required date in the field or click the calendar icon and select the date from the pop-up calendar.

     Note: The Stop Date cannot be before the current date or the Start Date.

4. If you want to attach an existing Release ID to the merchants's Release Settings, from the Apply Release ID option buttons, select the Attach Release ID to Merchant button, click the icon to open the Select Release ID list, select the required Release ID, and then click Load.

   Note: If you attach an existing Release ID to the merchant's Release Settings, the Release ID values cannot be changed at the Manage Merchant Release dialog box. These can only be changed at the Maintain Release ID dialog box. If you want to copy the values of an existing Release ID and modify them, select the Copy Release ID to Merchant button as described next.

   -or-

   If you want to copy an existing Release ID to the merchants's Release Settings, from the Apply Release ID option buttons, select the Copy Release ID to Merchant button, click the icon to open the Select Release ID list, select the required Release ID, and then click Load.

   Note: If you copy an existing Release ID to the merchant's Release Settings, you can modify the settings at the Manage Merchant Release dialog box without affecting the actual Release ID values, which can only be changed at the Maintain Release ID dialog box.

   The Copy Release ID to Merchant option button is only available if the merchant currently has no existing Release ID attached.

   -or-

   If you do not want to apply an existing Release ID to the merchants's Release Settings but want to manually enter your own settings, from the Apply Release ID option buttons, select the No Release ID Attached button, and then enter the Release details in the following fields:

   • Frequency

     The frequency at which the reserved funds will be released from the reserve account to the merchant’s DDA account. The value can be set either in a bank-level Release ID or as a merchant-level Release Setting.

     Select one of the following options from the drop-down list:

     • Daily: Releases funds back to the merchant once a day in the last ACH run.
     • Monthly: Releases funds back to the merchant once a month, in the last ACH run on the last processing day of the month.
   • Release

     This field and its adjacent drop-down list enable you to specify the dollar amount or percentage of funds that will be released from the reserve account.

     Select Amount or Percent from the drop-down list and enter the dollar or percentage amount in the adjacent field.

     Note: The amount or percentage of funds you are able to release or reserve may be controlled by your system administrator.

   • Reserve Floor

     The minimum threshold amount specified for the reserve account. Once the reserve balance reaches the Reserve Floor, no more reserve funds will be released. The value can be set either in a bank-level Release ID An ID, unique by Bank, to identify bank-level Release settings, that can be assigned to merchants. or as a merchant-level Release Setting.

     Note: A value entered in the Release Remaining Balance field must be greater than the Reserve Floor value.

   • Release Remaining Balance

     You would typically enter a value in this field if the Release field specifies a percentage (Percent) of funds to be released from the reserve account.

     Once the reserve balance drops below this Release Remaining Balance value, the remaining reserve balance amount is released at one time.

     Note: A value entered in the Release Remaining Balance field must be greater than the Reserve Floor value.

   • Forgive Carry-over Balance

     Selecting this check box resets the current Carry Over Balance The current carry-over balance that the merchant has pending. to zero for the merchant.

     Note: This does not change the status of the Carry-over Indicator This value indicates whether carry over will be used when reserving funds. This is set as a Bank Default, but the value can be changed when adding or updating a Reserve ID or as a merchant-level Reserve Setting..

     Clear the check box if you do not.

5. In the Note field, enter a note regarding the release setting activity.

   This field allows you to enter a note when creating or editing merchant reserve or release settings. The note is saved for audit reporting each time the settings are saved, allowing you to enter a new note each time you edit the settings.

   The note entered appears on the Merchant Management screen, in the Activity: Last 10 Users Actions section. The note also appears on the Online Activity Report.

6. Click Submit.