The Canadian Payments Association has issued amendments to Automated Clearing and Settlement System (ACSS) Rules and Standards, which came into effect on April 22, 2013.

The rules that were amended include RULE E3, which governs the Exchange of credit-driven Canadian dollar electronic data interchange (EDI) Payment Items amongst Canadian financial institutions, for the purpose of Clearing and Settlement. Part I sets out the general rules relating to the Exchange of such Items for the purpose of Clearing and Settlement (including systems, software maintenance and disaster recovery), and Part II sets out the technical specifications applicable to the Exchanges.  The amendments deal with the Direct Participant’s reporting obligations to the CPA in the event of encountering a Severity 1 Contingency Situation.  A “Severity 1 Contingency Situation” occurs when the Direct Participant cannot receive or process EDI Transmissions.

Amendments were also made to Standard 014, the Clearing Replacement Document Design Standard, which sets out the minimum mandatory requirements for the creation and use of Clearing Replacement Documents (CRDs).  “Clearing Replacement Document” or “CRD” means a form of Image Printout that meets the specifications in Standard 014, and which may be used for presentment and return purposes in place of an original paper Payment Item in accordance with Rule A10.  This standard will ensure that all CRDs that are generated for the purpose of replacing an original paper payment item (e.g. a cheque) for presentment to a Drawee may be processed accurately and efficiently by the Drawee.

In addition to financial institutions, Mobile payments processors and software developers need to ensure the images of payment items created by mobile devices will meet the technical requirements of Standard 014.