Hurricane Preparedness
Southeast Corporate FCU is committed to providing uninterrupted services to our credit union members under normal or adverse conditions and therefore, views business continuity planning as a top priority. Our business continuity plan allows us to conduct all business operations out of either our Tallahassee or Jacksonville facility. Should both facilities become inoperable, we have arranged for delivery of a mobile site providing us a tertiary Disaster Recovery (DR) solution.
Once a hurricane becomes a threat to our coverage area - we will post important communications in the Important Updates section of this page. A banner, on our home page, will also indicate that new information is available. We will keep these messages updated during the course of the hurricane season as necessary. As we have done in the past, Southeast Corporate will do our best to contact members in affected areas and see what assistance we may be able to offer.
Important Updates:
Currently no updates available.
Important Links:
Please review the links listed below for in-depth business continuity information as you make preparations in advance of a storm or resume operations after a storm:
Funds Transfers
Member$MART
Investments / Loans
Item Processing
Virtual Deposit
Cash
APEX/ACH
Emergency Contacts
Disaster Recovery Instant Reference Guide
Funds Transfers
We encourage you to plan ahead in the event that you may need to complete funds transfers from a location other than your office. Be aware that you will need your user IDs, passwords, and any other authentication information required to initiate funds transfers. Make sure you have staff available who can initiate and who can approve funds transfers. If you do not know this level of detail, please contact a MSR today at (800) 342-0203, option 1 to verify your user authorizations.
Member$MART
In the event that your credit union operations are affected by a storm, we will be available to process wires, make transfers or handle other transactions that you typically handle through Member$MART. All associated manual fees will be waived.
Investments / Loans
Options available UPON REQUEST to credit unions affected by a storm may include:
- Waiving the line of credit over limit fees to credit unions affected by a hurricane
- Backdating of interest for missed Funds Plus transfers
- Reversal of settlement loan interest
- Backdating of certificate purchases for maturing investments
Please contact your Financial Strategist to make arrangements at 1-800-342-0203, option 2.
Item Processing
If your credit union is closing early or closing for several days, please alert Southeast Corporate as soon as possible at 800-342-0203, option 1.
Our item processing team will stay in contact with the Fed and will communicate any relevant information to you as it arises. If due to the hurricane your credit union cannot transmit your share draft returns to Southeast Corporate, you may submit your returns on the day that you re-open and all late fees will be waived. Please submit each day separately.
Virtual Deposit's Branch Capture & Merchant Capture
If your credit union uses Virtual Deposit's Branch Capture or Merchant Capture and is closing early or closing for several days, please alert Southeast Corporate's Product Support as soon as possible at 800-342-0203, option 3. They will be able to address specific issues unique to your credit union's situation and the Virtual Deposit processes. Our Virtual Deposit team will stay in contact with the Fed and will communicate any relevant information to you as it arises.
Cash
Your business continuity hurricane plans should include emergency cash stock levels. Having cash on hand after a storm is important to your credit union members. Stockpile additional cash in anticipation of an increased cash demand that you most likely will experience in the aftermath of a hurricane and interruption of the delivery services. We stand ready to assist you. In order to place emergency cash orders, call us at 1-800-342-0203, option 1.
APEX/ACH
Here are some issues to consider if you are closed for an extended period of time and are unable to process your daily ACH activity:
- Receiver files remain within the APEX browser for five (5) business days. Please contact Southeast Corporate immediately for files older than five business days. We can request that U.S. Central reissue receiver files up to 30 days.
The NACHA Operating Rules include a provision for Excused Delay. This provision is intended to apply to processing delays caused by an interruption of communication or computer facilities that is out of the control of the credit union, due to an act of God or war.
If your credit union's ability to process ACH transactions is impacted by a hurricane, East Pay recommends that once your system is operational, you originate your return transactions as you normally would. If you receive these returns back from the ODFI as dishonored returns bearing code R68, Untimely Return, then you should contest the Dishonored Return using code R73, Timely Original Return. If the ODFI contacts you for clarification, you should explain that you are using the Excused Delay provision of the ACH Operating Rules.
You may choose to proactively call the ODFI before sending the original return, but are not obligated under the ACH Rules to do so.
Be aware that some ODFIs may not handle the Contested Dishonored Return correctly and may dishonor it again. This is not allowed under the ACH Operating Rules, and you should contact EastPay at 1-800-749-3774 or Southeast Corporate's Product Support Department at 800-342-0203, option 3 for assistance.
Southeast Corporate Emergency Contacts:
You can reached us at 1-800-342-0203 or direct at Tallahassee, 850-701-4000 or Jacksonville at 904-861-6800; if you have questions on any of these areas before or during a crisis.
