31 Cfr 208.4

cprice-sewell on DSK89S0YB1PROD with CFR

Fiscal Service, Treasury

§ 208.4

(f) ETASM means the Treasury-designated electronic transfer account
made available by a Federally-insured
financial institution acting as a Financial Agent in accordance with § 208.5 of
this part.
(g) Federal payment means any payment made by an agency.
(1) The term includes, but is not limited to:
(i) Federal wage, salary, and retirement payments;
(ii) Vendor and expense reimbursement payments;
(iii) Benefit payments; and
(iv) Miscellaneous payments including, but not limited to: interagency
payments; grants; loans; fees; principal, interest, and other payments related to U.S. marketable and nonmarketable securities; overpayment reimbursements; and payments under
Federal insurance or guarantee programs for loans.
(2) For purposes of this part only, the
term ‘‘Federal payment’’ does not
apply to payments under the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C.).
(h) Federal/State EBT program means
any program that provides access to
Federal benefit, wage, salary, and retirement payments and to State-administered benefits through a single
delivery system and in which Treasury
designates a Financial Agent to disburse the Federal payments.
(i) Federally-insured financial institution means any financial institution,
the deposits of which are insured by
the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation under 12 U.S.C. Chapter 16 or, in
the case of a credit union, the member
accounts of which are insured by the
National Credit Union Share Insurance
Fund under 12 U.S.C. Chapter 14, Subchapter II.
(j) Financial Agent means a financial
institution that has been designated by
Treasury as a Financial Agent for the
provision of EBT services under any
provision of Federal law, including 12
U.S.C. 90, 265, 266, 1767, and 1789a, and 31
U.S.C. 3122 and 3303, as amended by the
Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations
Act, 1997, Section 664, Public Law 104–
208.
(k) Financial institution means:
(1) Any insured bank as defined in
section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insur-

ance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813) or any bank
which is eligible to make application
to become an insured bank under section 5 of such Act (12 U.S.C. 1815);
(2) Any mutual savings bank as defined in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813) or
any bank which is eligible to make application to become an insured bank
under section 5 of such Act (12 U.S.C.
1815);
(3) Any savings bank as defined in
section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813) or any bank
which is eligible to make application
to become an insured bank under section 5 of such Act (12 U.S.C. 1815);
(4) Any insured credit union as defined in section 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1752) or any
credit union which is eligible to make
application to become an insured credit union under section 201 of such Act
(12 U.S.C. 1781);
(5) Any savings association as defined
in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813) which is an
insured depository institution (as defined in such Act) (12 U.S.C. 1811 et
seq.) or is eligible to apply to become
an insured depository institution under
the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12
U.S.C. 1811 et seq.); and
(6) Any agency or branch of a foreign
bank as defined in section 1(b) of the
International Banking Act, as amended
(12 U.S.C. 3101).
(l) Individual means a natural person.
(m) Recipient means an individual,
corporation, or other public or private
entity that is authorized to receive a
Federal payment from an agency.
(n) Secretary means Secretary of the
Treasury.
(o) Treasury means the United States
Department of the Treasury.
§ 208.3 Payment by electronic funds
transfer.
Subject to § 208.4, and notwithstanding any other provision of law, effective January 2, 1999, all Federal payments made by an agency shall be
made by electronic funds transfer.
§ 208.4

Waivers.

Payment by electronic funds transfer
is not required in the following cases:

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§ 208.5

31 CFR Ch. II (7–1–10 Edition)

(a) Where an individual determines,
in his or her sole discretion, that payment by electronic funds transfer
would impose a hardship due to a physical or mental disability or a geographic, language, or literacy barrier,
or would impose a financial hardship.
In addition, the requirement to receive
payment by electronic funds transfer is
automatically waived for all individuals who do not have an account with
a financial institution and who are eligible to open an ETASM under § 208.5,
until such date as the Secretary determines that the ETASM is available;
(b) Where the political, financial, or
communications infrastructure in a
foreign country does not support payment by electronic funds transfer;
(c) Where the payment is to a recipient within an area designated by the
President or an authorized agency administrator as a disaster area. This
waiver is limited to payments made
within 120 days after the disaster is declared;
(d) Where either:
(1) A military operation is designated
by the Secretary of Defense in which
uniformed services undertake military
actions against an enemy, or
(2) A call or order to, or retention on,
active duty of members of the uniformed services is made during a war
or national emergency declared by the
President or Congress;
(e) Where a threat may be posed to
national security, the life or physical
safety of any individual may be endangered, or a law enforcement action may
be compromised;
(f) Where the agency does not expect
to make more than one payment to the
same recipient within a one-year period, i.e., the payment is non-recurring,
and the cost of making the payment
via electronic funds transfer exceeds
the cost of making the payment by
check; and
(g) Where an agency’s need for goods
and services is of such unusual and
compelling urgency that the Government would be seriously injured unless
payment is made by a method other
than electronic funds transfer; or,
where there is only one source for
goods or services and the Government
would be seriously injured unless pay-

ment is made by a method other than
electronic funds transfer.
§ 208.5

Availability of the ETA SM.

An individual who receives a Federal
benefit, wage, salary, or retirement
payment shall be eligible to open an
ETA SM at any Federally-insured financial institution that offers ETAs SM.
Any Federally-insured financial institution shall be eligible, but not required, to offer ETAs SM as Treasury’s
Financial Agent. A Federally-insured
financial institution that elects to
offer ETAs SM shall, upon entering into
an ETA SM Financial Agency Agreement with the Treasury, be designated
as Treasury’s Financial Agent for the
offering of the account pursuant to
Public Law 104–208. Treasury shall
make publicly available required attributes for ETAs SM and any ETA SM
offered by a Federally-insured financial
institution shall comply with such requirements. The offering of an ETA SM
shall constitute the provision of EBT
services within the meaning of Public
Law 104–208.
§ 208.6

General account requirements.

(a) All Federal payments made by
electronic funds transfer, including
those made through an ETA SM, shall
be deposited into an account at a financial institution. For all payments
other than vendor payments, the account at the financial institution shall
be in the name of the recipient, except
as provided in paragraph (b) of this section.
(b)(1) Where an authorized payment
agent has been selected, the Federal
payment shall be deposited into an account titled in accordance with the
regulations governing the authorized
payment agent.
(2) Where a Federal payment is to be
deposited into an investment account
established through a securities broker
or dealer registered with the Securities
and Exchange Commission under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or an
investment
account
established
through an investment company registered under the Investment Company
Act of 1940 or its transfer agent, such
payment may be deposited into an account designated by such broker or

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