Iowa Administrative Code
Agency 187 - Banking Division
Chapter 10 - Electronic Transfer of Funds
Rule 187-10.4 - Compliance Examinations of a Central Routing Unit

Universal Citation: IA Admin Code 187-10.4

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 13, December 25, 2024

(1) Performance examinations. A central routing unit shall be subject to examination by the administrators for the purpose of determining compliance with Iowa Code chapter 527. Such an examination may be conducted after the central routing unit is operating under the approval of the administrators and shall be conducted at the time the approval of the administrators is sought in accordance with rule 10.3(527).

(2) Compliance factors. A compliance examination of a central routing unit conducted by the administrators shall consider the following factors to ensure that the central routing unit and all other components of an electronic funds transfer system are in full compliance with the requirements of Iowa Code chapter 527:

a. Transaction charges. The transaction charges paid to the central routing unit by each financial institution which utilizes the central routing unit must be consistent with the schedule of charges set forth in the application to operate a central routing unit and must be consistent with the requirements of Iowa Code subsection 527.5(6).

b. Transmission capabilities. The central routing unit must be capable of accepting and routing and, if approved to operate, is being operated to accept and route transmissions of transaction data originating at any satellite terminal located in the state, whether receiving transaction data from a satellite terminal or from a data processing center or other central routing unit.

c. Connections with data processing centers. The central routing unit must be directly connected to every data processing center that is directly connected to a satellite terminal located in the state.

d. Transaction requirements. A central routing unit must ensure that an electronic funds transfer system consistently complies with the following transaction requirements:
(1) All cardholders initiating transactions at satellite terminals must use an access device and an electronic personal identifier issued by the cardholder financial institution, unless the use of an electronic personal identifier is not required by Iowa Code chapter 527 for transactions initiated at specified types of satellite terminals.

(2) All transactions must originate at satellite terminals certified by a central routing unit. Satellite terminals located in this state must meet all applicable state and federal requirements.

(3) All transactions shall be authorized either on an on-line real time basis or on a batch basis through a data processing center or a central routing unit.

(4) If the establishing financial institution's data processing center cannot authorize or reject a particular transaction, then the transaction must be routed to a central routing unit.

e. Validation. A central routing unit must validate and edit all transaction messages flowing through the electronic funds transfer system to ensure transaction integrity.

f. Error recovery.A central routing unit must be responsible for error recovery of all of the central routing unit's owned or controlled hardware, software, and communication facilities and must define all necessary interface requirements for data processing centers, satellite terminals, and financial institutions.

g. Authorization services. A central routing unit shall provide authorization services for all cardholder financial institutions which have agreed to such authorization services if:
(1) The cardholder financial institution's data processing center is unavailable or is responding slowly; or

(2) The cardholder financial institution's cardholder information is retained at the central routing unit for card authorization services.

h. Third-party audits. Third-party audits of an electronic funds transfer system, including a central routing unit, must be conducted at least annually to ensure adequate security and controls and must be documented for review by the administrators, upon request.

i. Duplication of critical processing hardware. A central routing unit must provide duplication of critical processing hardware to ensure functional integrity of the central routing unit.

j. Electronic funds transfer system reliability standards. A central routing unit must be available for processing transactions 99 percent of the time, on an annual basis, during the schedule of operation established by the central routing unit. To provide this continuous service to cardholders and the respective cardholder financial institution, a central routing unit must provide for data processing center backup service for all cardholder financial institutions which utilize a data processing center. This may be accomplished by either of the following:
(1) Cardholder financial institutions may maintain a cardholder authorization file at the central routing unit; or

(2) A central routing unit may authorize transactions based on cardholder financial institution's established parameters when the cardholder financial institution's data processing center is responding slowly or is in an inoperative state.

k. Confidentiality.
(1) A central routing unit shall not divulge specific transaction information to any person or financial institution concerning any cardholder, or an establishing or cardholder financial institution, unless such person or financial institution is part of, or is necessary to effect, the specific transaction, or unless disclosure of such information is required by applicable state or federal law.

(2) A central routing unit shall not divulge any statistics on the operations of any establishing or cardholder financial institution to any third party without the written consent of the particular financial institution.

(3) A central routing unit may disclose total terminal statistics that are generic to the central routing unit and which do not identify any particular financial institution or the operations of any particular financial institution.

(4) A central routing unit may disclose transaction(s) data to any federal or state regulatory authority as required by law.

(3) Certification processes of a central routing unit to demonstrate compliance. To assist the administrators with compliance examinations of a central routing unit, a central routing unit shall certify financial institutions, satellite terminals located in the state, and data processing centers directly connected to the central routing unit located in this state or directly connected to cardholder financial institutions, to demonstrate that satellite terminals located in this state and the central routing unit are performing in accordance with the requirements of Iowa Code sections 527.5 and 527.9.

a. Certification of financial institutions. All establishing financial institutions and their data processing centers must comply with the following procedures, which shall be confirmed and certified by a central routing unit:
(1) The establishing financial institution and its data processing center must ensure that all transaction data transmitted by the establishing financial institution's data processing center conforms to the central routing unit's electronic communication format standards.

(2) The establishing financial institution's data processing center must be certified or recertified to support new terminal types or models, to utilize any new satellite terminal vendor, or to perform terminal hardware upgrades or software version updates, prior to actual transmission of transaction data by that data processing center to the central routing unit.

(3) Use of any satellite terminal located in this state must be available to all cardholders of cardholder financial institutions and other establishing financial institutions on a nondiscriminatory basis. A cardholder financial institution shall have the right to offer to its cardholders any type of transaction which is supported by a central routing unit. Establishing financial institutions must offer to all cardholders of any establishing or cardholder financial institution the same type of transactions at their satellite terminals located off the premises of the establishing financial institution as are offered to cardholders of the establishing financial institution.

(4) An electronic personal identifier must be issued by a cardholder financial institution for each cardholder access device. A central routing unit must provide for cardholder entry of the electronic personal identifier for all transactions transmitted to the central routing unit. The requirement to issue an electronic personal identifier is not applicable to access devices which are only for use at a limited function terminal, as defined by Iowa Code section 527.2.

(5) A central routing unit must approve access devices displaying its logo or trade name which are issued by cardholder financial institutions, including any access devices that are redesigned, so that the central routing unit may control the operational quality of the access devices and ensure uniform implementation of changes of such access devices.

(6) A control record must be maintained by a central routing unit for every satellite terminal deployed by an establishing financial institution which participates with the central routing unit.

(7) The establishing financial institution's data processing center must be responsible for forwarding transactions which it cannot authorize or reject to a central routing unit for further routing. The establishing financial institution's data processing center must set a timer for that particular transaction at the time the transaction is forwarded to the central routing unit. If the establishing financial institution's data processing center does not receive a transaction transmission response from the central routing unit within the time frames established by the central routing unit, then the establishing financial institution's data processing center must immediately generate and transmit a reversal for that particular transaction. The cardholder financial institution's data processing center must accept the reversal from a central routing unit and the cardholder financial institution must post valid reversals to the particular cardholder's customer asset account. To monitor such reversals, a central routing unit must log each transaction routed through the central routing unit, validate each transaction's completion and ensure that all transactions are sent to and received by the appropriate data processing centers for both the cardholder financial institution and the establishing financial institution.

(8) A central routing unit must certify all satellite terminals (whether switch-in-front or switch-behind) that an establishing financial institution proposes to use in conjunction with the central routing unit. This certification process shall test each satellite terminal for its ability to satisfactorily perform all transaction functions supported by the central routing unit in accordance with operational standards for satellite terminals as established by the central routing unit.

(9) An establishing financial institution must ensure that each of its satellite terminals provides a record of all approved or denied transactions at the satellite terminal by either an audit journal or the creation of duplicate receipts held within the satellite terminal and must ensure that the satellite terminal generates a customer receipt in compliance with 12 CFR 205.9 (Regulation E) and requirements established by the central routing unit.

(10) Proper maintenance and service of satellite terminals on both a regular and emergency basis are the responsibilities of the establishing financial institution.

b. Certification of data processing centers. All data processing centers connected to a central routing unit must comply with the following procedures and requirements, which shall be confirmed by a central routing unit:
(1) A data processing center shall operate in such a manner as to comply with all requirements established in Iowa Code chapter 527.

(2) A data processing center shall conform to a central routing unit's standards including, but not limited to, the following:
1. Format and message content.

2. Electronic personal identifier encryption.

3. Communications protocol.

4. Certification of on-line transaction transmissions for data processing centers, new terminals, and all establishing and cardholder financial institutions directly or indirectly connected to the central routing unit.

(3) A data processing center must meet minimum response time goals established by a central routing unit. Satellite terminal transactions shall be handled on a first-in, first-out basis. No data processing center may prioritize satellite terminal transactions.

(4) Rescinded IAB 10/25/06, effective 11/29/06.

(5) If a satellite terminal located in the state is not directly connected to an approved central routing unit, then the satellite terminal must be directly connected to a data processing center which is directly connected to an approved central routing unit. A data processing center or central routing unit is directly connected to a satellite terminal when a transaction transmission from the satellite terminal is received by the data processing center or central routing unit prior to being received or processed by or routed to any other data processing center or facility which categorizes, separates or routes the transaction transmission. A data processing facility certified by a central routing unit and a front-end processor directly connected to an on-line point-of-sale satellite terminal and directly linked to the data processing facility both constitute a data processing center for purposes of this paragraph.

(6) This subrule does not limit the authority of a data processing center to authorize or reject transactions requested by cardholders of a cardholder financial institution pursuant to an agreement whereby the data processing center authorizes or rejects requested transactions on behalf of the cardholder financial institution and provides to the cardholder financial institution, on a batch basis and not on an on-line real time basis, information concerning authorized or rejected transactions of cardholders of the cardholder financial institution.

c. Nonsupport of a satellite terminal by a central routing unit. A central routing unit has the authority to refuse or discontinue support of any satellite terminal (either switch-in-front or switch-behind) that is not established or maintained by the establishing financial institution in accordance with the certification procedures and requirements of this subrule if the central routing unit reasonably determines that initial or continued support of the noncomplying satellite terminal may jeopardize the safety and soundness of the operation of an electronic funds transfer system. If such action is contemplated by a central routing unit, written notice of the intended action and the reasons for not supporting particular satellite terminals shall be sent by the central routing unit to the appropriate establishing financial institution by certified or restricted certified mail, with a copy provided to the administrator, within 30 days of the date such action to discontinue support is to be taken, or within 10 days from the date the central routing unit determines it appropriate to refuse initial support of a newly established satellite terminal.

d. Appeals to division administrator.
(1) Whenever a central routing unit provides notice concerning the nonsupport of any satellite terminal located in the state upon the determination that the satellite terminal will not be, or is not being, maintained by the establishing financial institution in accordance with the requirements of this subrule and Iowa Code chapter 527, the establishing financial institution has the right to file a written appeal to the administrator within 30 days from the date the central routing unit issued a written notice of such action. The written appeal shall set forth any facts in dispute and shall state the reasons why the decision of the central routing unit to refuse initial or continued support of its satellite terminal or terminals should be reversed by the administrator. If the establishing financial institution fails to file a written appeal to the administrator, the financial institution is deemed to have consented to the nonsupport of its satellite terminal or terminals by the central routing unit.

(2) The administrator shall conduct hearings and exercise any other appropriate authority conferred by Iowa Code sections 527.3 and 527.5 regarding the operation or control of a satellite terminal which a central routing unit has initially determined to be operating in a manner inconsistent with the requirements of this subrule and Iowa Code chapter 527.

(3) Upon appeal, the administrator may affirm, modify, or reverse the initial determination of a central routing unit that a satellite terminal located in Iowa is not being operated or controlled in accordance with the requirements of this subrule and Iowa Code chapter 527.

(4) In the event of consent by the establishing financial institution, or if upon the record made at the hearing the administrator affirms the initial determination of the central routing unit, the administrator may initiate proceedings to revoke the privilege of the establishing financial institution to continue operation and control of the satellite terminal or terminals determined to be in noncompliance in accordance with the procedures established in paragraph"e " of this subrule, or may deny the initial application to establish or operate such noncomplying satellite terminals in accordance with rule 10.5(527).

(5) If the initial determination of the central routing unit is either reversed or modified, the administrator shall document the reasons for determining that the satellite terminals in question comply with the requirements of this subrule and Iowa Code chapter 527 or why the initial determination of the central routing unit has been modified and shall deliver a copy of these findings to the establishing financial institution and the appropriate central routing unit. Any further proceedings or hearings on the same subject matter shall be governed by the provisions of Iowa Code chapter 17A relating to contested cases.

e. Revocation of privilege.
(1) Whenever the administrator determines, upon notice and hearing pursuant to Iowa Code chapter 17A, that a satellite terminal located in this state, a data processing center, or a central routing unit is being operated within an electronic funds transfer system in violation of Iowa Code chapter 527 or the compliance procedures and standards established by this subrule, the administrator may revoke the approval to operate within the electronic funds transfer system. If the administrator does not have any direct authority over the facility because of the provisions of Iowa Code section 527.3, the administrator may revoke with respect to any financial institution over which the administrator does have direct authority the privilege to engage in transactions through or with that facility. With respect to revocation of the approval to operate a central routing unit, all of the administrators specified in Iowa Code section 527.3 may jointly participate, since all types of financial institutions may be served by the central routing unit. All references to the term "administrator" in this paragraph"e " shall signify all of the administrators with respect to revocation of the approval to operate a central routing unit.

(2) The administrator shall have additional authority to cause such revocations as established in Iowa Code section 527.12.

(3) If a central routing unit or satellite terminal of an establishing financial institution is determined by the administrator to fail to comply with the requirements of Iowa Code chapter 527 or this subrule at the time of application to the administrator, then the application may be denied by the administrator without the need for notice or opportunity for hearing.

(4) A revocation by the administrator performed pursuant to this subrule shall be effective when ordered by the administrator, anything in Iowa Code chapter 17A to the contrary notwithstanding.

(5) The administrator may bring an action in the district court in the name of the state to enjoin any financial institution or other person who continues to utilize or to operate a satellite terminal, data processing center, or central routing unit after the approval has been revoked.

(6) The administrator may bring an action to enjoin any person who fails to obtain any approval required by Iowa Code chapter 527.

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