Check management

For check management, Cross River offers both check writing (withdrawals) and check deposits using Mobile Deposit Capture (MDC). Cross River works with lockbox service providers to process paper check deposits.

By default, all Cross River partners have checks blocked (turned off) for their products. This means a customer can order checks using a third party, and issue a check, but that check will automatically be rejected by Cross River when presented by the Federal Reserve for payment. You can request that CR enable checks per product or even per specific account. If you want to offer checking to your customers on an individual basis, you can keep checks blocked for the product and have CR enable you to have each customer opt in individually, after which you perform a fraud review on the customer.

In Cross River, checks have two different flows:

  • Deposit. In the deposit flow, you deposit a check into your CR account. In CR this is referred to as an outbound forward item because the check needs to be sent (out) to the Federal Reserve and presented to the drawee bank (paying bank) for payment.

  • Withdrawal. In the withdrawal flow, you write a check on your CR account to pay someone. In CR this is referred to as an inbound forward item because the Federal Reserve sends the check (in) to CR for payment and attempts to clear the check on your account. Your check clears when the transfer of funds succeeds.

In addition, whether deposited or used as a payment, a check might be returned for a number of reasons.

  • A returned check presented to CR by the Federal Reserve is considered an inbound return.

  • A check returned by CR is considered an outbound return

Availability policies

Availability policies define how quickly funds can be made available to the payee.

Availability of funds from a deposited check is based on rules specifically mandated by the Federal Reserve under Regulation CC (Reg CC). Reg CC defines how long a bank can hold funds based on various types of deposits. It's important to understand check processing and how Regulation CC (12 CFR 229) laws effect availability of funds. Learn more about Regulation CC.

COS defines the availability policy of any given deposit when the deposit is successfully received. COS assigns the policy of the deposit based on that business day's deposits to that specific account. You can use the availability policy API to update the policy of a specific deposit.

Important
Availability policies can only be updated prior to the check being batched and released to the Fed.

Payment scheduling

When you deposit a check with the API, the response shows the assigned availability policy in the policy field and the payment schedule in the schedule field. For example, in the response below, the check is assigned the NewAccount availability policy along with the schedule. The schedule shows the amount of funds from the check deposit that will be available in the customer's COS account each day starting with the first day (Day 1), which is defined as the value in the processedAt field. In this example, all the funds (100 or 1.00 USD) are available on the third day.

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Check deposit response sample

GET /v1/payments/{id}

{
  "id": "9a44fdbf-89e2-4300-8f05-ad9501439bb1",
  "accountNumber": "2193590144",
  "referenceId": "C2436F698K0D",
  "paymentType": "Forward",
  "checkType": "Standard",
  "direction": "Outbound",
  "status": "Completed",
  "source": "Api",
  "posting": "Posted",
  "postingCode": "OK",
  "coreTransactionId": "21ba5fb0-e609-4560-a36f-ad9501439bb1",
  "memoPostId": "dc20e619-c5f7-4890-b3c8-ad9501439bb1",
  "originalPaymentId": "9a44fdbf-89e2-4300-8f05-ad9501439bb1",
  "customerId": "700f0d35-9940-4132-8608-ad89013927a9",
  "payerRoutingNumber": "021200339",
  "payerAccountNumber": "123456789",
  "payeeName": "",
  "checkNumber": "1237",
  "bofdRoutingNumber": "021214891",
  "sequenceNumber": "1353885824",
  "amount": 100,
  "currency": "usd",
  "micr": "d021200339dc12345678c1237",
  "recognizedAmount": 100,
  "iqaPassed": true,
  "hasFrontImage": true,
  "hasBackImage": true,
  "isRedeposit": false,
  "policy": "NewAccount",
  "schedule": [
    0,
    0,
    100
  ],
  "createdAt": "2021-08-31T15:38:13.28-04:00",
  "rejectedAt": "2021-08-31T15:38:17.527-04:00",
  "wasReturned": false,
  "purpose": "ENTERED BY #60C367E26DD36A0068580230#",
  "depositBusinessDate": "210831",
  "productId": "d5dc52bb-df80-4a5d-a5a8-ad89013844bd",
  "partnerId": "ede1a60d-3d51-47e8-9a9b-ad8901381f9e",
  "lastModifiedAt": "2021-08-31T15:38:17.5280148-04:00"
}

If you look at the deposit in Explorer, the same schedule would appear as:

Using the deposit scenario above, this means that $1.00 will be available in the account ending in 0144 on Thursday, September 2nd. Below is a more detailed breakdown of the schedule depicted in the payment details above:

Day # Date Amount Available

1

Tuesday, August 31, 2021

$0.00

2

Wednesday, September 1, 2021

$0.00

3

Thursday, September 2, 2021

$1.00

Stop payments

If the payer has passed a check that the payer FI has not yet processed, they can put a stop payment on the check.

Note

Once a check has been processed by the payer FI, a stop payment cannot be made. Instead, a dispute must be filed by the payer.

If the payee deposits the check after the check has had a stop payment put on it, the payee FI generally charges the payee a penalty fee. The payer bank will likely also charge for the stop payment service.

Usually the check amount, check number and account number is included the stop payment instructions.

For further guidance, please refer to: Reg E 1005.10 Preauthorized Transfer (c) Customer's Right to Stop payment section in the following link:

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1005/10/#a-1

Bounced Checks

When someone writes a check for an amount larger than what is held in their checking account, the check can't be processed because there is not enough money (insufficient/non-sufficient funds, you can use either term) in the account. Not enough money is also referred to as "NSF." When there is not enough money in the account, this is known as a “bounced check”. A bounced check usually means a penalty fee for the payer. In some cases the payee is also charged a fee.

Positive Pay

CR's Positive Pay feature lets you or your customer make sure that only legitimate checks get deposited in their accounts. Either you or the account holder define which specific checks will be accepted. This helps prevent check fraud.

You can think of Positive Pay as the opposite of Stop Pay. In a sense you are providing an allowed list of authorized checks for deposit. Your or your customer provide the check number and amount for authorized checks. COS takes this Positive Pay information and matches it against inbound forward items presented by the Fed. If a match is found the check is paid. Otherwise the check is rejected.

Note

Your product must be configured by CR in order to use the Positive Pay feature. Once Positive Pay is enabled, any checks presented by the Fed that are not authorized will automatically be rejected and returned to the depositing bank.

Important

The date time within the expiresAt field of the response is ignored. If a check matching that positive pay criteria is received after the date in the expiresAt field it will be automatically rejected and returned to the depositing bank.

Business reference information

Type

Description

Standard

A check drawn from a business or personal account at another bank

OnUs

A check drawn from a CR account

Treasury

A check drawn on the US Treasury and issued by the US Department of the Treasury

MoneyOrder

A pre-paid traceable certificate used to transfer funds in amounts of up to 1000 USD

FedReserveBank

A check drawn on the Federal Reserve Bank

FedHomeLoan

A check issued by a member Federal Home Loan bank

StateLocalGovt

A check issued by a state or local government

Certified

A check guaranteed by the issuing FI to be valid and that the account it is drawn on has sufficient funds to cover the amount

Unknown

Check type cannot be determined

Direction

Description

Inbound

A check drawn from a COS account, deposited at another bank

Outbound

A check deposited into a COS account, drawn from an account at another bank

Status

Description

Created

We have received the payment, but have not started processing it yet. This status should only appear briefly under normal circumstances.

Pending

The payment is waiting to be batched and sent to the Federal Reserve

Hold

Payment is being held at the moment and reviewed by our Operations Team

Batched

The payment has been batched and a final review is being done before we send it out in a file to the Federal Reserve

Processing

For inbound payments, we are attempting to post the payment to the receiving account. For outbound payments, the payment has been sent to the Federal Reserve, but has not posted yet.

Completed

The payment has been posted and accepted by the Federal Reserve (in the case of outbound payments). This is a final status.

Rejected

Your check has been rejected for compliance reasons. Applies to Outbound payments only. This is a final status.

Canceled

An outbound payment has be canceled at the request of the partner. A payment may only be canceled while either pending or on hold. This is a final status.

Status

Description

Authorized

The check has been authorized for positive pay

Paid

An authorized check has been presented by the Federal Reserve and paid by the Bank

Revoked

The check's positive pay authorization has been revoked

Type

Description

Forward

A forward item is a check that has been presented for deposit and will be sent to the payer bank

Return

Relates to a previous forward item which the payer bank has returned

The details below provide the length in days as to when funds from a check deposit will be available in the customer's account.

Type

Details

Standard

- $225 or less of the aggregate amount deposited daily to be available next business day.
- Remainder amount available on the 2nd business day after the deposit date

NewAccount

- $5,525.00 or less of the aggregate amount deposited daily to be available 2nd business day
- Excess of $5,525 available on the 7th business day after the deposit date

LargeDeposits

- $225 or less of the aggregate amount deposited daily to be available next business day
- $5,300 or less of the aggregate amount deposited daily to be available on the 2nd business day
- Remainder of the deposit to be available on the 7th business day after the deposit date

RedepositedCheck

- Total amount of the deposit to be available on the 7th business day after the deposit date

RepeatedOverdrafts

- Total amount of the deposit to be available on the 7th business day after the deposit date

OnUs

- Total amount of the deposit to be available on the 2nd business day after the deposit date

RCNoticeOfUnpaidReturn

- Total amount of the deposit to be available on the 7th business day after the deposit date

RCSuspectFraud

- Total amount of the deposit to be available on the 7th business day after the deposit date

RCFundingAccountOverdrafts

- Total amount of the deposit to be available on the 7th business day after the deposit date

RCUnverifiedEndorsement

- Total amount of the deposit to be available on the 7th business day after the deposit date

RCInconsistentInformation

- Total amount of the deposit to be available on the 7th business day after the deposit date

RCErasuresOrAlterations

- Total amount of the deposit to be available on the 7th business day after the deposit date

RCOutOfDateRoutingNumber

- Total amount of the deposit to be available on the 7th business day after the deposit date

RCPostDatedOrStaleDate

- Total amount of the deposit to be available on the 7th business day after the deposit date

RCPayingBankNotPaidIndication

- Total amount of the deposit to be available on the 7th business day after the deposit date

RCLostOrDamaged

- Total amount of the deposit to be available on the 7th business day after the deposit date

EmergencyConditions

- Total amount of the deposit to be available on the 7th business day after the deposit date

Reason

Description

ImageAnalysisFailure

 

PostingException

 

AmountMismatch

 

MaxItemAmountExceeded

 

MaxDepositAmountExceeded

 

MaxItemsPerDayExceeded

 

Duplicate

 

PayerRoutingNumberInvalid

 

PayerAccountNumberInvalid

 

CheckNumberInvalid

 

NotSpecified

 

Code

Description

A

Not Sufficient Funds

B

Uncollected Funds Hold

C

Stop Payment

D

Closed Account

E

Unable to Locate Account

F

Frozen/Blocked Account

G

Stale Dated

H

Post Dated

I

Endorsement Missing

J

Endorsement Irregular

K

Signature(s) Missing

L

Signature(s) Irregular

M

Non-Cash Item (Non-Negotiable)

N

Altered/Fictitious Item

P

Item Exceeds Dollar Limit

Q

Not Authorized

R

Branch/Account Sold (Wrong Bank)

S

Refer to Maker

T

Stop Payment Suspect

W

Cannot Determine Amount

X

Refer to Image

Code

Description

2000

General exception

2001

Invalid payment status

2002

Invalid posting status

2003

Payment cannot be canceled

2004

Account not found

2005

Payment must be outbound

2006

Payment must be inbound

2007

Payment must be an inbound origination

2008

Payment must be status completed or rejected to be corrected

2009

Invalid change code

2010

Payment must be an inbound return

2011

Payment must be an origination

2012

Payment must be status completed or rejected to be returned

2013

Payment must be status completed or rejected to be dishonored

2014

Invalid return code

2015

Invalid dishonored return code

2016

Original payment not found

2017

Cannot link to same payment ID

2018

Payment type must be return or notification of change

2019

Original payment must be completed

2020

Payment must be on hold to request a rescan

2021

No scan lists are configured for account

2022

Scan already pending

2023

Previous payment not found

2024

Previous payment must be a completed outbound origination

2025

Receiver account not found

2026

Active holds found

2027

Posting account cannot be changed due to current payment status

2028

Posting status must be pending or failed to change posting account

2029

Posting status must be failed to attempt a retry

2030

Originator profile address missing or invalid

2031

Payment image data not available

2032

Invalid front image format

2033

Invalid back image format

2200

Batch not authorizing

2201

Batch requires one or more payments

2202

No filters were found on the request

2300

No active configuration found for account

2301

Deposits not allowed for account type

2306

Max payment amount exceeded

2309

Origination not allowed from a restricted account

2310

Account config change not approved

2311

Account config change not pending

2312

Account config change approval requires dual control

2313

Account configuration not found or is invalid

2314

Global profile not found or is invalid

2315

Global profile change not approved

2316

Global profile change not pending

2317

Product change not pending

2318

Product change not approved

2319

Global config change approval requires dual control

2320

Global config required

2321

Global config accounts must be unique

2323

Inbound Suspense Account not found

2324

Outbound Suspense Account not found

2325

Return Account not found

2326

Operator Account not found

2327

Unposted Account not found

2328

Product config change approval requires dual control

2329

Account config required

2330

Product config required

2400

Distribution must be generating

2401

Distribution already canceled

2402

Distribution must be pending

2403

Distribution must be on hold

2404

Distribution must be verified

2405

Distribution must be released

2406

Distribution must not be released

2407

Distribution must be transmitted

2408

Distribution must be acknowledged

2409

Distribution must be processing

2410

Distribution must have been previously transmitted

2411

Distribution release requires dual control

2412

A distribution is currently generating

2413

No payments to distribute

2414

Distribution is currently processing and can no longer be acknowledged

2415

Distribution is currently complete and can no longer be acknowledged

2416

Cannot verify distribution with exceeded limits

2417

No filters were found on the request

2500

Submission import count cannot exceed total payment count

2501

Submission process count cannot exceed total payment count

2600

Hold is not active

2601

Hold payment not found

2602

No filters were found on the request

2603

This action requires dual control

3000

General exception

3001

Flags not allowed

3002

Clearing hold exceeds user permissions for payment amount

3200

Access denied