This document discusses the process that applies ONLY for Firstsource Advantage (FSA) settlements. For other creditors, DPG will release other documents over time outlining their specific procedures.
The following provides an overview of the settlement negotiating process and describes the current procedures required to convert settlement payments from an existing payment type to Direct Pay (Click here to learn more about Direct Pay)
Overview:
For normal ACH/Check by phone payment types there are 5 steps involved in the negotiating process. With Direct Pay, the last step, there is no longer a need to call creditors to set up scheduled payments.
🔺For all FSA settlements, please inform your team not to call in payments as they can cause duplicate payments with this creditor.
🔺 FSA is a multi-payee credit/collection firm. Its important to select the correct payee account when completing the settlement set up. If you are unsure which account to select, please contact your FSA contact for confirmation.
Scheduling Settlements:
For Direct Pay payments, the information filled out in the Creditor Payee Details section is significantly changed. Once you have selected the payment method under the payment terms as direct pay, the CREDITOR PAYEE DETAILS section (left-hand side of the screen) updates with Direct Pay Details.
Please copy the Firstsource Advantage OUR ACCOUNT number exactly as listed on the settlement letter agreement to ensure the proper consumer’s account is credited when paid. Please note the purple arrow that shows the specific info that should be copied over to the creditor reference field. Do not include the consumer’s name in parenthesis, append the reference field with words like File # or Account#, etc. or shorten the reference number field. Failure to adhere to this process may delay or cause the payment file to fail and require manual intervention. Payments could possibly be lost and show as UNPAID.
Please, double check the entries are correct before saving the settlement.
MULTIPLE PAYEES
Currently, FSA has 6 dedicated payee accounts. Please note the original creditor to select the appropriate payee.
Payee Selection Guidelines
- Typically, the original creditor should be account you should select: e.g. BOA, please select Bank of America/BOA payee.
- Bank of America (BOA) typically begin with a 5 in the reference #.
- GEM is General Electric (GE) Money or Synchrony accounts. e.g. TJ Maxx and other retail stores excluding Walmart or Target.
- Walmart is represented by Capital One.
- Target is represented by TD Bank
- Note: Capital One (CAP) and 1st Party Digital Capital One (COF) are two separate trust accounts. If you are unsure which to choose, please contact your Firstsource Advantage representative to clarify.
Settlement Payment Decisions:
It's important to note that moving forward, FSA settlements that are set up as Direct Pay will no longer be viewable on the Decisions Page.
Why?
DPG will be sending funds to creditors based upon the process date for FSA settlements eliminating your daily task of approving each settlement payment. Furthermore, settlement payments will be paid only if the consumer has sufficient funds in their special purpose account. Any shortage in funds will result in the transaction remaining in Low Balance status until funds are available or advanced to the client.
What about low balance accounts? How do I advance if the decisions page is gone?
To help you manage this, DPG has created reports that enable you to make advances to address these exceptions.
DPG Reports:
-
Uncollected Settlements - lists out all uncollected/unpaid settlements in pending, shipped or low balance status. (Click here to learn more)
- Low Balance Forecast Report - list out all potential low balance accounts up to 2 weeks out. Features advance button to facilitate on-the-fly account adjustments. (Click here to learn more)
At the beginning of each month, FSA will be sending out its own Uncollected Debt Payments report to you. It will STILL be your responsibility to review these reports and manage these missing or late payments directly with Firstsource Advantage.
Questions:
Should you have any questions about this process or need further information, feel free to contact us at settlements@debtpaygateway.com.