Payment Management Leads Change to Implement Treasury's All Electronic Initiative
Assistant Commissioner of Payment Management and the Chief Disbursing Officer, Sheryl Morrow, discusses the changing federal payment landscape as Treasury moves to an All-Electronic environment. More

Direct Express^® Debit Card Reaches New Milestone–2 Million Enrollments
In May 2010, FMS reached the milestone of one million Direct Express^® debit card enrollments – now just a few days past the one year mark the enrollments have doubled. More

FPA's Collaborate on Efforts to Increase Medical Payments Electronically
FMS representatives, along with those from the Department of Labor, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Health and Human Services/Centers for Medicaid and Medicare, are working together to increase the percentage of medical fee payments made electronically each year to medical providers and hospitals. More

FMS Partners with VA to Broaden EFT Outreach
Under the final rule 31 CFR Part 208 all new beneficiaries applying for federal benefits are required to use electronic funds transfer beginning May 1, 2011. The Department of Veterans Affairs, a partner with FMS on EFT since 2008, recently broadened its outreach efforts to veterans receiving federal benefit payments in order to increase the use of EFT. More

With 100 Percent FPA Conversion, PAM Focuses Ahead to Release 4.0
For the Payment Application and Modernization (PAM) project 2011 has been a very successful year. With the release of 3.0 (the functionality needed to make ACH and check types of payments for salary, travel, vendor and misc. payments) in place and more than 200 agencies now successfully transitioned to the new PAM payment process – what's next for PAM? More

The Go Direct^® Campaign Reaches Out to ETA^SM Providers
Today nearly 400 Electronic Transfer Account (ETA^SM) Providers (financial institutions) are helping FMS to spread the word about the Go Direct^® Campaign to federal benefit recipients. Is your financial institution an ETA^SM Provider? More

From the Philadelphia Regional Financial Center:
FMS Revises 150.1 Form Making ACH Non-Receipts Easy
FMS' newly updated Form 150.1, used to confirm the receipt of an ACH payment, now provides a more convenient mechanism for financial institutions to respond to FMS and also reduces the additional steps for all parties in the follow up. More

From the San Francisco Regional Financial Center:
Treasury Expands the Purchase of Savings Bonds Using Tax Refunds
FMS, the Bureau of Public Debt and the Internal Revenue Service joined with the Federal Reserve Bank this year to expand the use of taxpayers customizing their Savings Bonds registrations through federal income tax refund purchases. More

EFTPS Sets New Tax Payments Record on June 15, 2011
The Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) experienced significant growth in fiscal year 2011 largely due to the end of a paper-based system for paying business taxes. On June 15, EFTPS settled a one-day record of 2,241,594 payments, surpassing the 2009 record of 2,235,306. More

FMS Recognizes EPA for Achieving Goal of 100 Percent Electronic Collections
FMS recognized the Environmental Protection Agency recently for being the first federal program agency (FPA) to reach Treasury's goal of 100 percent electronic collections. More

CCMM 2011: On Track for All Fall Milestones
FMS' Collections and Cash Management Modernization (CCMM) looks back at the collections milestones achieved in 2011 with the Debit Gateway, OTCnet, and PATAX, and also discusses what's ahead this fall. More

FMS Prepares FPA's for CA$HLINK II Shutdown in December 2012
FMS' new Transaction Reporting System (TRS) will replace CA$HLINK II in December 2012. Everyone who works at an FPA and uses CA$HLINK II must enroll in TRS no later than September 30, 2012. Is your agency currently a TRS user? More

Treasury Mandates Electronic Invoicing to Cut Taxpayer Cost, Improve Efficiency
The Internet Payment Platform (IPP), when fully implemented by all of Treasury's bureaus, is estimated to save $7 million annually. Combine that with a government-wide IPP implementation and the savings are estimated at more than $800 million over five years. What does this new IPP initiative mean for the federal government? Lower costs for taxpayers, faster payments for private sector companies doing business with the federal government and the new mandate also supports Treasury's High Priority Performance Goal of promoting paperless transactions. More

FMS and BPD Leverage Resources to Cut IT Costs and Increase Efficiencies
Treasury's two bureaus comprising the Fiscal Service, FMS and the Bureau of Public Debt (BPD), assessed recently where improvements could be made in the effectiveness and efficiency of their IT infrastructures. The result—a Fiscal IT project that consolidates data centers; creates a single corporate governing body to manage the new IT infrastructure; in-sourcing of select contract functions; and the consolidation of application development—all at a cost savings of more than $125 million over five years. More

Secure Payment System Readies FPA's for GWA Changes in 2012
FMS' Secure Payment System (SPS) provides the mechanism by which FPA's create payment schedules for checks, ACH, and Fedwire. In fiscal year 2010, more than 2400 SPS users generated more than 288,000 schedules, which accounted for more than one million payments. As Government-wide Accounting (GWA) now makes plans to implement new reporting requirements in 2012, SPS staff is preparing users for the graphical interface that will change in SPS as well. More

FMS Investigates Forensic Document Challenges in a Check 21 World
When Check 21 was implemented, financial institutions were permitted to destroy the original negotiated U.S. Treasury checks that forensic document examiners used to detect fraud. Today, however, FMS' Questioned Documents (QD) Staff continues to combat fraud and abuse of Treasury instruments and also assists other FPA's in a new Check 21 world. More

Korea Credit Information Association Visits FMS
As part of FMS' International Program, the Office of Legislative and Public Affairs hosts international delegations to provide information and technical assistance in areas related to the bureau's role as the government's central financial manager. Recently, the Korea Credit Information Association visited FMS to meet with representatives of FMS' Debt Management Services (DMS). More

FMS 2011 Contact Directory

Don't miss this edition of the Financial Connection with our updated 2011 FMS Contact Directory inside. Used by FPA's year-round, it's also available online with direct contacts for most FMS program areas.

FMS Events

Michael Keegan, of IBM's Business of Government Hour talks with Commissioner Lebryk about FMS' strategic vision, key initiatives, management challenges and successes.
fms.treas.gov/news/media.html

FMS Payment Modernization Technical Sessions
September 13-14 ▪ October 11-12 ▪ Washington, D.C.
November 29-30 ▪ Denver, CO

FMS is conducting one day sessions on information that FPA's must use to submit payment requests to FMS in the future. It will include detailed walkthroughs of GWA TAS/BETC requirements, SPS 440 format and PAM Standard Payment Request (SPR).

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