New Forms Available for Submitting Missorts

To improve the quality of our return item service, the Fed has adopted a new policy for handling adjustment cases submitted with the investigation type "Not Our Item" (NOI).

Cases classified as NOIs are "missorts"--cash items or return items charged to your institution in error by the Federal Reserve. Missorted forward collection items have been charged to you even though you are not the paying bank; missorted return items do not bear your endorsement as the bank of first deposit. Missorts should not be handled as adjustments. Rather, they should be sent to the return processing area for settlement.

To help ensure missorts are handled correctly, we have developed two special cash letter forms to use when forwarding NOI items: one for forward collection items (8H-3879) and one for return items (8H-3880). By using these forms, you will:

• receive more timely credit on missorted items;
• reduce the losses that can occur when items remain uncollected during these delays;
• enjoy the convenience of bundling multiple missorted items in a single form.

In addition, there are no fees associated with these cash letters. We don't believe you should pay for returning items charged to you in error, so using these new forms will prevent your institution from being charged any cash letter or per-item fees for missorts.

This process will help ensure that NOIs are handled more timely, efficiently and accurately. We will start accepting these new forms on June 22.

If you have any questions or would like a supply of these forms, please contact your account executive.