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Virtual Accounts Product Use Compliance

Sila Inc.
Customer Compliance Manual
On Virtual Accounts Product Use Compliance

CR-PC-CCM-002, r.0

Definitions

  • “Account” means the individual virtual bank deposit account (each with designated American Bankers Association account and routing numbers) of each individual consumer or business End User within the scope of Customer’s MSA Virtual Accounts Services Addendum with Sila.
  • “Business Day” means each day, Monday through Friday, except those holidays observed by the Federal Reserve System (see https://www.frbservices.org/about/holiday-schedules). 
  • “Customer” means the corporate entity that has a valid and active Master Services Agreement, Order, and MSA Virtual Accounts Services Addendum with Sila.
  • “Customer Application” has the meaning assigned to it in Customer’s Master Services Agreement with Sila.
  • “Electronic Signature” means electronic data traceable as a signature or digital imprint that complies with the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, 14 U.S.C. §§ 7001-06.
  • “End User” has the meaning assigned to it in Customer’s Master Services Agreement with Sila, but limited only to each End User that has an Account within the meaning of this Manual.
  • “Entry” has the meaning assigned to it in § 8.3 of the Operating Rules of the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA), as amended, available at https://www.nachaoperatingrulesonline.org/.
  • “Operating Hours” means Customer’s hours of operation for responding on the Points of Contact on, minimally, Business Days, for which Customer must keep Sila’s records updated.
  • “Support Email Address” means the email address designated as a point of contact in all applicable End User notices and other communications for the purpose of End User complaints, errors, disputes, and other customer support matters, for which Customer must keep Sila’s records updated.
  • “Support Phone Number” means the phone number designated as a point of contact in all applicable End User notices and other communications for the purpose of End User complaints, errors, disputes, and other customer support matters, for which Customer must keep Sila’s records updated.

Manual

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1. General Requirements:


Customer shall comply with all the following requirements at all times when integrating with and while using Sila’s Virtual Accounts Service:

A. Staffing: Maintain at least 3 full-time staff in direct support of the Customer Application.

B. Operating Hours: Maintain the Operating Hours and promptly update Sila with any changes to be made to the Operating Hours.

C. Customer Support Program: Perform the following:

  1. Maintain operability of the Support Phone Number and Support Email Address at all times.
  2. Establish and maintain a customer support program with policies and procedures that include designated service level targets and measures on End Users of the Customer Application.
  3. Provide copies of all documentation supporting the customer support program to Sila upon Sila’s request, including but not limited to a sample volume report, service level report, and service quality scorecard on End Users of the Customer Application.

D. Complaint Management Program: Establish and maintain a complaint management program with written policies and procedures that promote effective complaint handling practices in accordance with best practices regarding the End Users of the Customer Application.

E. Customer Dispute and Error Handling: Perform the following:

  1. Comply with the Virtual Accounts End User Error and Dispute Handling Manual (and any other supplemental instruction provided by Sila), which provides for intake, response, and appropriate resolution of End User Errors and Disputes (as those terms are defined in the manual) to support compliance with Regulation E and the NACHA Rules; provided that, if there is any inconsistency or conflict between the End User Error and Dispute Handling Manual and the NACHA Rules or applicable laws or regulations as they are directly applicable to Customer, then those  rules, laws, or regulations should be considered to govern.
  2. Maintain for no less than 3 years records of (and produce to Sila upon Sila’s request) all reasonably available documentation that evidences ongoing compliance with the Virtual Accounts End User Error and Dispute Handling Manual.

F. End User Disclosures: Perform the following:

  1. Provide the Required Disclosures specified in Section 2 of this Manual (and any other appropriate disclosures otherwise required by law or Sila at any time) to an End User, and obtain that End User’s express consent to those disclosures by capturing an Electronic Signature before permitting the End User to enroll in a product, service, or feature on the Customer Application that in any way requires opening a Account for that End User.
  2. Provide copies of all above required disclosures available to an End User upon the End User’s request.

G. End User Deposit Agreements: Perform the following:

  1. Provide an accessible copy of or interface displaying the full contents (including pagination and section enumeration) of the appropriate End User Virtual Account Deposit Agreement to an End User, and obtain that End User’s express consent to that agreement by capturing an Electronic Signature before permitting the End User to enroll in a product, service, or feature on the Customer Application that in any way requires opening a Virtual Account for that End User.
  2. Monthly, but in no event later than on the 5th calendar day of each month, deliver to Sila copies of the captured Electronic Signature data for each End User for whom a Virtual Account was opened in the previous month, evidencing a date that is the same date if not before the same date the Virtual Account was opened.
  3. Make copies of the appropriate End User Virtual Account Deposit Agreement(s) available to view or download within the Customer Application or on Customer’s website, and otherwise provide copies to an End User upon the End User’s request.

H. Marketing Content: Adhere to the Marketing Content Prohibitions specified under Section 3 of this Manual, along with any other marketing or advertising guidance or requirements imposed by Sila or applicable law.

I. Applicable Law: Adhere to all applicable rules and regulations related to the Customer Application’s use of Virtual Accounts, including but not limited to Regulation E, Regulation DD, and the NACHA Rules.

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2. Required Disclosures:


Customer shall conspicuously present and capture the Electronic Signature of each of each Virtual Accounts End User consenting to the following required disclosures:

A. Interest: Prominently state that “the account does not accrue interest (APY 0.00%),” using large, bold, or distinctive font.

B. Minimum Balance: Identify any minimum balance required to open the account or avoid the imposition of any fee for opening an account, along with identification of what methods the End User may use to fund the minimum balance in the Virtual Account.

C. Services and Features: List and describe all services, features, and transaction types available to the End User with use of the Virtual Account, for example, the following statement: “You may use your account with us to    <insert descriptive list>  . Some of these services may not be available to you. Call or email us using the contact information above if you are uncertain whether or how you may access certain services.”

D. Opening Fees: Identify the amount of any fee imposed directly or indirectly on the End User to open the Virtual Account.

  1. NOTE: CUSTOMER IS PROHIBITED FROM CHARGING ANY ACCOUNT MAINTENANCE FEES OR ACH RETURN FEES TO END USERS WHATSOEVER).

E. Other Fees: If Customer intends to impose any other fee on an End User for use as part of the Customer Application, such as transaction fees or recurring subscription fees, then describe this fee and state that the fee will be charged to the End User’s external (linked) account rather than against the balance in the Virtual Account.

  1. NOTE: CUSTOMER IS PROHIBITED FROM CHARGING ANY FEES WHATSOEVER DIRECTLY TO AN END USER’S VIRTUAL ACCOUNT.
  2. NOTE: Customer shall not impose any transaction fee to be charged against an End User for any Entry or other transaction to or from the End User’s Virtual Account unless those fees are charged in either of the following manners:
        1. When the End User funds the Virtual Account by originating a second ACH debit to the linked external account (separate /issue_sila from the one funding the Virtual Account) that would separately enter a passthrough digital wallet in the End User’s name and, upon settlement, move by /transfer_sila to whatever wallet the Customer uses for fee collection.
        2. When any transaction fee is built into one single amount for the payment or transfer initiated by the End User from the Virtual Account (no separate fee charge).

F. Transaction and Account Limits: Identify any and all limitations imposed on transactions or End User Virtual Accounts, such as limits on the frequency or value of electronic fund transfers. See the following examples (DO NOT COPY AND PASTE):

  1. “You may make no more than   <insert number>       <insert service or funds transfer type>      with us within any given    <insert time period>    .”
  2. “You may debit no more than   <insert debit limit>   from any external account or card belonging to you to fund your account or wallet with us.”
  3. “You may withdraw no more than   <insert credit limit>   from your account or wallet with us to fund any external account or card belonging to you.”
  4. “You may not transfer more than   <insert number>   for any one    <insert service or funds transfer type>    you initiate with us using your account.”

G. General Communications Notice: Prominently state the following: “If you believe any transaction made in connection with your account was made without your permission, or if you believe any transaction was made in error or for the incorrect amount, then call   <insert Support Phone Number>   or send an email to   <insert Support Email Address>  . If for any reason you are unable to reach us at the phone number or email address above, then please send an email to our service provider, Sila Inc., at account-support@silamoney.com.”

H. Errors & Disputes Notice: Include the following statements:

  1. “In Case of errors or questions about your electronic transfers, call us by phone at    <insert Support Phone Number>    or email us at    <insert Support Email Address>   as soon as you can if you think your account statement or transaction receipt is wrong or if you need more information about a transfer listed on the statement or receipt. We must hear from you no later than 60 days after we sent the FIRST account statement on which the problem or error appeared.”
  2. “You must provide us with the following information: (1) tell us your name and account number (if any); (2) describe the error or the transfer you are unsure about and explain as clearly as you can why you believe it is an error or why you need more information; and (3) tell us the dollar amount of the suspected error.”
  3. “If you tell us orally, we may require that you send us your complaint or question in writing within ten 10 business days. We will determine whether an error occurred within 10 business days after we hear from you and will correct any error promptly. If we need more time, however, we may take up to 45 days to investigate your complaint or question. If we decide to do this, we will credit your Account within 10 business days for the amount you think is in error, so that you will have the use of the money during the time it takes us to complete our investigation. If we ask you to put your complaint or question in writing and we do not receive it within 10 business days, we may not credit your Account. For errors involving new Accounts, point-of-sale, or foreign-initiated transactions, we may take up to 90 days to investigate your complaint or question. For new Accounts, we may take up to 20 business days to credit your Account for the amount you think is in error.”
  4. “We will tell you the results within three business days after completing our investigation. If we decide that there was no error, we will send you a written explanation. You may ask for copies of the documents that we used in our investigation. If we credit your Account with funds while investigating an error, you must repay those funds to us if we conclude that no error has occurred.”

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3. Marketing Content Prohibitions:


Customer is strictly prohibited from making public statements about any Customer Application products, features, or services supported by Virtual Accounts as to any of the following and in any form, whether oral or written, including but not limited to any marketing or advertising materials:

A. Account Representations: Customer shall not make any misleading or inaccurate representations or misrepresentations about the Customer Application or Virtual Account services, features, 0.00% interest accrual, fees, or transaction types or that are otherwise inconsistent with the Required Disclosures.

B. Relationship Representations: Sila and Sila’s Financial Institution Partner are strictly service providers; Customer shall not make any misleading or inaccurate representations or misrepresentations about Customer’s relationship to Sila or Sila’s Financial Institution Partner, or about the applicable End User Deposit Account Agreement, explicit consent to and acceptance of which is required from each End User (or other terms governing the account).

C. Representations of Costs: Customer shall not describe Virtual Accounts as free or no cost if direct or indirect payment from End Users of a monthly platform application subscription fee, account opening fee, or transaction fees are charged to End Users in connection with or as a condition of access to use Virtual Accounts.

D. Deposit Insurance: Customer shall not make claims in advertisements or marketing materials that funds held in any Virtual Account are “FDIC insured.” While deposits held in Virtual Accounts may be eligible for insurance under applicable FDIC rules, with the sole exception of FDIC-insured financial institutions, businesses are prohibited from claiming that any funds in storage or in transit are insured in any respect related to their products or services. What Customer may do is state that the Customer Application and Virtual Accounts are supported by Sila Inc. and “Evolve Bank & Trust, member FDIC.”