210.8—Financial institutions.
(a) Status as a Treasury depositary.
The origination or receipt of an entry subject to this part does not render a financial institution a Treasury depositary. A financial institution shall not advertise itself as a Treasury depositary on such basis.
(b) Liability.
Notwithstanding ACH Rules 2.2.3, 2.4.5, 2.5.2, 4.2, and 8.7.2, if the Federal Government sustains a loss as a result of a financial institution's failure to handle an entry in accordance with this part, the financial institution shall be liable to the Federal Government for the loss, up to the amount of the entry, except as otherwise provided in this section. A financial institution shall not be liable to any third party for any loss or damage resulting directly or indirectly from an agency's error or omission in originating an entry. Nothing in this section shall affect any obligation or liability of a financial institution under Regulation E, 12 CFR part 205, or the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, 12 U.S.C. 1693 et seq.
(1)
An ODFI that transmits a debit entry to an agency without the prior written or similarly authenticated authorization of the agency, shall be liable to the Federal Government for the amount of the transaction, plus interest. The Service may collect such funds using procedures established in the applicable ACH Rules or by instructing a Federal Reserve Bank to debit the ODFI's account at the Federal Reserve Bank or the account of its designated correspondent. The interest charge shall be at a rate equal to the Federal funds rate plus two percent, and shall be assessed for each calendar day, from the day the Treasury General Account (TGA) was debited to the day the TGA is recredited with the full amount due.
(2)
An RDFI that accepts an authorization in violation of § 210.4(a) shall be liable to the Federal Government for all credits or debits made in reliance on the authorization. An RDFI that transmits to an agency an authorization containing an incorrect account number shall be liable to the Federal Government for any resulting loss, up to the amount of the payment(s) made on the basis of the incorrect number. If an agency determines, after appropriate investigation, that a loss has occurred because an RDFI transmitted an authorization or notification of change containing an incorrect account number, the agency may instruct the Service to direct a Federal Reserve Bank to debit the RDFI's account for the amount of the payment(s) made on the basis of the incorrect number. The agency shall notify the RDFI of the results of its investigation and provide the RDFI with a reasonable opportunity to respond before initiating such a debit.
(c) Acquittance of the financial institution.
The final crediting of the correct amount of an entry received and processed by the Federal Reserve Bank and posted to the TGA shall constitute full acquittance of the ODFI and the originator for the amount of the entry. Full acquittance shall not occur if the entries do not balance, are incomplete, are incorrect, or are incapable of being processed. In the case of funds collected by an agency through origination of a debit entry, full acquittance shall not occur until the underlying payment becomes final.
(d) Notice of misdirected payment.
If an RDFI becomes aware that an agency has originated an ACH credit entry to an account that is not owned by the payee whose name appears in the ACH payment information, the RDFI shall promptly notify the agency. An RDFI that originates a Notification of Change (NOC) entry with the correct account and/or Routing and Transit Number information, or returns the original ACH credit entry to the agency with an appropriate return reason code, shall be deemed to have satisfied this requirement.