TN 100 (04-18)

The Social Security Administration (SSA) Master Beneficiary Record (MBR) rewrite in 2004 made it possible to include direct deposit data when a Railroad Board Certification claim is going to Railroad Retirement Board (RRB).

A. Policy for direct deposit of RRB payments

A new Social Security RRB claim (LAF-E) does not require a completed form SF-1199 for direct deposit; see Processing Direct Deposit Payments, in section SM 00835.340. Obtain the bank account data, and apply it to the claim. If there is a representative payee, that person or entity must approve the direct deposit data. The Field Office (FO)/Processing Center (PC) includes the electronic funds transfer (EFT) data in the claim. The system sends the EFT data to RRB along with other data. However, for EFT changes, the beneficiary or representative payee must also notify the RRB.

B. EFT process for RRB (LAF-E) applications

The person who takes the claim asks if the claimant wants direct deposit for the benefit payments. The claimant or representative payee provides the routing transit number (RTN) and the depositor account number (DAN).

The EFT information becomes part of the data that goes to RRB through the daily PRCORACE file for certification of LAF-E benefits. RRB uses the data to send the payments to the financial institution (FI). The FO does not send the information separately to the RRB for a new claim. This is an automated process.

See Also

GN 02402.040 Where to Find Routing Transit Numbers (RTNs) and Depositor Account Numbers (DANs) on Account Documentation

C. Processing an EFT change for a RRB (LAF-E) case

When a beneficiary or representative payee reports an EFT direct deposit change for a LAF-E case, take the following steps:

1. Accept the new data;

2. Enter the new data on the MBR via the post entitlement on-line system (POS); and

3. Inform the reporter that he or she must also contact a local RRB office.

   REASON: Although the SSA system does pass the changed direct deposit information to RRB, RRB's system does not process the change automatically. To make the change effective, RRB must manually apply the information to its system after the beneficiary or representative payee notifies RRB about the change.