BULLETIN #2001-01
January 9, 2001

• Phase 1 is reporting of all charged off accounts (accounts more than 210 days past due).

• Phase 2, scheduled for Spring/Summer 2001,will be reporting of all cancelled accounts.

Authority. Cardholders must comply with the terms and conditions of the Bank of America Cardholder Agreement, including the timely payment of account balances.

When they sign, activate, or use their charge card, cardholders agree to comply with the agreement. Under the terms of the Bank of America Cardholder Agreement and the SmartPay contract, cardholders are obligated to pay the undisputed individually billed balance due on their account by the Payment Due Date specified on their Statement of Account.

Definitions.

Cancelled Account. Any account with an undisputed individually billed balance that remains unpaid 96 calendar days after the date of the statement of account on which the charge first appeared.

Charged Off Account. A cancelled account with a balance that continues to remain unpaid 210 days is determined to be uncollectable by the bank and written off as "bad debt".

Masked Account Number. An account number using only enough of the account number for verification purposes. Other segments of the account number are deleted for security purposes.

Action.

Information to Be Reported. All accounts reported to the credit bureau will include the following information:

• Masked account number
  
• Balance upon reporting event (i.e., cancellation or charge off)
  
• Credit limit
  
• Current balance
  
• Business Account Type (Account issued based on employment, not personal credit; creditors will take this into account when reviewing an individual's credit history and look at the balance upon reporting event more than the credit limit)
  
• Current status

DOI Integrated Charge Card Program Guideline, Section 2.10 "Account Suspension and Cancellation Related to Late Payment of Charge Card Bills, Mission Critical Designation, Charge Card Account Reinstatement, and Disputing Charges".

DOI Charge Card Internet Homepage: www.doi.gov/pam/charge.html

Bank of America Cardholder Agreement is posted at: https://www.gcsuthd.bankofamerica.com/forms/default.asp under Account Setup Forms, Integrated Card Account Setup/Application for the Department of the Interior.

Questions.

If you have any questions regarding this bulletin, please contact your Agency/Organization Program Coordinator (A/OPC).

BULLETIN # 2001-02
January 9, 2001

Definitions. Disposable Income. Biweekly gross pay less deductions required by law, i.e., retirement, thrift savings plan, Federal, State and Local taxes, Medicare, OASDI, regular life insurance and health benefit premiums, and any debt owed to the United States Government.

Salary Offset. The process to collect delinquent amounts owed on individually billed charge card accounts from future salaries paid to employees. Deductions may be up to 15% of disposable income from an employee's pay.

Action. The first salary offset included employees whose account had been "charged off" by the bank, e.g., it was not paid for 210 days. Approximately 150 accounts with past due balances began offset in the payroll period 01 (checks arriving Saturday, January 6 and EFT deposits scheduled for Tuesday, January 9). Salaries will continue to be offset bi-weekly until the balance due to Bank of America is paid in full.

Beginning in February 2001, all accounts with a balance that is 90 or more days past due will be placed into salary offset. Unless account holders pay their balance in full or establish an acceptable payment agreement with Bank of America, their wages will be offset beginning 60 days after the notification from Interior's Payroll Operations Division.

Affected employees have been notified of impending offset action by letter from the Payroll Operations Division. Any employees who need help are encouraged to contact their Employee Assistance Program representative to arrange for counseling.

References/Attachments:
Employee Salary Offset Notification Letter - (pdf Format), (MS Word Format)