The release notes for April 2023 are organized as follows:
Release Overview
2023-04 provides several new features and significant improvements to Forth. Note that the acknowledgment of releases that originated as requests via the Forth Aha IdeaBoard are assigned an Aha Number in the following format - "CRM-I-XXX".
What's New
Saving Settlement Offers - Now Allowing Negative Balances
This new feature enables a client the ability to better govern their settlement workflow!
Introducing "Save Negative Settlements" - a new role permission that allows you to save negative settlement offers in any status, or complete an offer, even when funds are not available. We understand that sometimes settlements need to be completed urgently, and negotiations between creditors and DSRPs can be time-sensitive. That's why we developed this feature to help you manage your settlement process more efficiently.
To enable this feature, log in to the CRM, click the "Admin" tab, and select "Roles" from the Navigation Bar. Scroll down to the Settlements section and click "Save Negative Settlements".
X9 File Creator for Checks
This new feature generates an X9 file format for all the checks to return in a file. The Image Cash Letter (X9) format is a Raster file format developed by the Accredited Standards Committee X9 Inc and supported by the MAVRO (imaging) X9 Viewer.
The file format is used in electronic banking systems to represent checks as images in files. Each file can contain a number of checks, each check having two images: one for the front side and one for the back side. The file also contains information about each check and the whole Cash Letter. For more information, refer to https://www.checkimagecentral.org/check-information and download the technical report X9.100-187.
Non-Truncated Status Names in Trigger Conditions
This new feature will now display the full names of file types, stages, and statuses without truncation when selecting them for use in trigger conditions. This ensures that the correct item is selected and improves the accuracy and reliability of our trigger conditions. The former trigger conditions truncated the names of statuses when selecting them for use in the condition. This can cause confusion and errors in the triggers, especially with multiple items with similar names but different suffixes.
Allowing Blank SSN Credit Pulls via Xactus 360
Xactus does not support the last 4 numbers of a social security number (SSN) as a viable method to pull credit. They can do an SSN absent pull if the date of birth is present, but our system formerly prevented that. This update allows customers to pull credit if an SSN is not present.
New Xactus 360 Debt Type Mappings
Xactus had additional debt/loan types that we did not have code to map internally to their respective debt types for. This update adds support for the additional types and maps them to our system debt types in Forth CRM.
New Role Permission to Restrict Original Debt Balance
You requested the capability to lock the original debt balance of a debt upon enrollment. We added a new role permission for “Edit Original Debt Post Enrollment” in the enrollments section of Roles, to select which roles can modify this field after the contact has been enrolled into the program. Since original debt never changes, a user should not be able to modify it any further especially after a client is enrolled in the program. This new feature enables the ability to lock fields post-enrollment.
What's Improved
"Edit Triggers" Permission Now Tied to New Trigger Interface
The former triggers system’s setting to control access was tied to a now deprecated triggers interface/experience. With this update, we standardized permissions to use the most up-to-date version of the triggers system and updated that permission to point to the ability to update and edit the triggers interface.
When enabled, the user who is in the modified role will have access to view, modify, and update triggers in the system from the triggers listing page.
Client Portal Password Reset Function - Replaceable Tags Now Functional
Previously, when client portal users attempted to reset their password from the client portal itself, any {tags} included in the email template would not properly pull the data from the contact. We have updated this functionality, so now whether a CRM user resets a client portal user's password on the contact dashboard, or the client portal user themselves resets the password on the portal, the following replaceable tags will function properly:
{FULLNAME}
{DATE}
{ID}
{ASSIGNED_SERVICINGCOMPANY_LOGO}
{ASSIGNED_SERVICINGCOMPANY_PHONE}.
{ASSIGNED_SERVICINGCOMPANY_NAME}
{ASSIGNED_SERVICINGCOMPANY_ADDRESS}
{ASSIGNED_SERVICINGCOMPANY_CITY}
{ASSIGNED_SERVICINGCOMPANY_STATE},
{ASSIGNED_SERVICINGCOMPANY_ZIP}
{ASSIGNED_SERVICINGCOMPANY_EMAIL}
{ASSIGNED_SERVICINGCOMPANY_PHONE}
{ASSIGNED_SERVICINGCOMPANY_FAX}
Enrollment Details Page Alerts
The objective of this requirement is to update the Enrollment details page alert to match the functionality of the updated dashboard alerts recently implemented across the Forth system.
API Updates
Budget Fields to the Century API
The Century client wanted to add all the budget fields under Monthly Income and Monthly Expense on the budget setup page in their account. In addition, the client also wanted three fields to be added to the Century integration - sACCOUNTHOLDER, sACCOUNTTYPE, and sBALANCEDATE.
The main goal of adding all budget fields under Monthly Income and Monthly Expense on the budget setup page was to:
- Provide the client with a more comprehensive view of their income and expenses. This will help them to better track their spending and make informed financial decisions.
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Provide increased transparency and accountability: By adding all budget fields and new fields for Century integration, the client now has greater transparency and accountability regarding their finances. This makes it easier for the client to monitor their financial progress and hold themselves accountable for their financial decisions.
Advance Custom Fields in Response for GET Advance By ID Endpoint
Object custom fields are currently supported to add custom fields to the Advances object. This allows users to attribute custom values to advances and fill them in as they complete advance offers in the system. Formerly, the API did not support the ability to view these fields if they are present in the advance. This update enables greater visibility into Advance attributes via the API and enables further customization of fields that are present on the API based on unique custom fields in the user’s account.
Limit Lender to Lender Endpoints
We added an additional setting to the "Service" type user setup on the edit user page in the CRM to specify via a new checkbox whether or not they are an API Lender. If you select this new checkbox, it only allows access to two specific submission endpoints and is forbidden from using others.
There were concerns that lenders using the endpoints designed for them in the submissions project would have been able to see/extract other information with their API keys from the client’s system. With this change, we can now better secure API keys and restrict access based on the user type and additional parameters of the user in the system that the key is tied to.
New Credit America Integration - ProgramStartDate field
New Credit America asked us to change the value of the parameter ProgramStartDate we send them. We used to send the first payment date and they requested this should be updated to the clients' enrolled date in the CRM. This modification updates the API Parameter to be aligned with the partner’s expectation for that field. In addition, the Enrolled date gets set upon a client enrolling or re-enrolling in the program.
All System and Custom Advance Fields Now Available for Lender Submission via API
This now enables Brokers to include and submit all critical information stored at the Advance level, including system and custom advance fields when submitting deals to Lenders. This will improve the accuracy and completeness of the information provided to Lenders needed to process the deals ensuring that the additional advance level fields are mapped correctly to the Lender's required fields and validated against system requirements.