MFS Integration Escrow User Guide Last edited: 06.25.2013 2013 Fidelity National Financial
Table of Contents Logging On 3 Logging Off 3 Timing Out 4 Understanding System Maintenance 4 Contacting Support 4 Changing Password 5 Wires III Essentials 6 Viewing 6 Navigating 7 Emailing Detail 8 Using Filter Settings 8 Sorting By 10 Inbound Wires 11 Entering an Inbound Claim Form 11 Pre-Matching/Matching from the Claim (Anticipated Wire) 12 Pre-Matching/Matching from the Unclaimed Wire 14 Finding Unclaimed Wire Detail (Ctrl + F) 15 Viewing Matched Wires 17 Outbound Wires 18 Recognizing Outbound Wire Statuses 18 Handling End State Wire Requests 19 Approving an Outbound Wire Request Workflow 19 Entering an Outbound Wire Request in Impact 20 Entering International Wires 22 Timing Your Outbound Wire Request 23 Wire Approval Portal 24 Logging On 24 Logging Off 24 Timing Out 25 Navigating 25 Pre-Approving an Outbound Wire Request 28 Rejecting an Outbound Wire Request 29 Wires III Terminology 30 Escrow User Guide Page 2 of 30
Logging On The Wires III system is web-based allowing you to log on and off from your internet browser. When your site goes live you receive a URL (website address), your username, and default password. 1. From your internet browser, navigate to your site s website address 2. Enter Login & Password 3. Click the Login button Logging Off Log off Wires III using any of the following three methods: From the Main menu, click Logout From any screen, click the Logout button Simply close your web browser Escrow User Guide Page 3 of 30
Timing Out The Wires III system does not time out during normal business hours. Your session remains logged on until you log off. It is a good habit to log off at the end of your work day. NOTE: if you neglect to log off, remember that Filter Settings are preserved for each session of Wires III, until you change them. To see current day s wire data, update your Filter Settings to reflect the current date. (For more information, see Using Filter Settings on page 7.) Understanding System Maintenance Nightly Maintenance The Wires III system is available 24 hours per day/ 7 days per week. However, nightly system maintenance is performed between midnight and 4am Mountain Time Zone. Though every effort is made not to disrupt users during the system maintenance window, be aware you may encounter irregularities, slowness, or in some cases, your session could be disconnected. If this happens, simply close your browser and log on again. System Maintenance Window (By Time Zone) Pacific Mountain Central Eastern 11:00pm 3:00am 12midnight 4am 1:00am 5:00am 2:00am 6:00am Scheduled Outages When scheduled outages are necessary for system maintenance, the Wires III user community is notified in advance. Contacting Support Should you need support for Wires III, please contact your OAC (Operations Accounting Center) staff. If necessary, the OAC will escalate any support issues to the MFS Support Team. Escrow User Guide Page 4 of 30
Changing Password The Wires III system prompts you to reset your password every 60 days; however you may change your password at any time. Password requirements: Six (6) character minimum Must contain at least one alpha character Must contain at least one numeric character To change your password: 1. From the main menu, click Change Password 2. Enter your existing password 3. Enter your new password 4. Re-enter your new password 5. Click the Submit button NOTE: Wires III and the Approval Portal websites use the same username/password combination. After changing your password on the Wires III website, remember to use that new password on the Approval website. Escrow User Guide Page 5 of 30
Wires III Essentials Viewing From the Main menu, there are four options to view wire data. View Your Wire Forms Wire Claim List screen diplays a list of claim forms (anticipated wires) View Unclaimed Wires Bank Wire List screen diplays a list of incoming, unclaimed (unmatched) wires View Outbound Wires Wire Out List screen diplays a list of outgoing wires View Matched Wires Matched List screen diplays a list of matched wires Escrow User Guide Page 6 of 30
Navigating Screen header Return to main menu Log off Wires III Go to unclaimed wires Screen body Screen name Dates presented in Mountain time zone Click blue button to see details of that item A maroon outline indicates previously viewed detail Screen footer Previous screen View/edit Filter Settings Updates data in list; Refresh if you see Page Expired Send list to printer User logged on NOTE: use the Back and Refresh buttons at the bottom of the screen instead of your browser s Back and Refresh buttons. Escrow User Guide Page 7 of 30
Emailing Detail When viewing the detail of an item, the Email button appears at the bottom of the screen. To email the detail: 1. Click the Email button to access the Email Current Wire Information area 2. Using the Company, Office and Person drop-down menus, filter to select the recipient 3. In the Subject field, enter a subject line for the email 4. In the Message field, enter the message for the body of the email 5. Click the Send button Using Filter Settings Filter Settings allow you to expand or refine the list of items are accessed from the Filter List button at the bottom of the screen operate independently for each menu option are preserved for each session of Wires III, until you change them from the main menu are spontaneously presented when first accessing View Unclaimed Wires View Outbound Wires View Matched Wires from the main menu are never spontaneously presented when accessing View Your Wire Forms From that point forward, you must click the Filter List button to view or edit Filter Settings. You must always click the Filter List button to view or edit Filter Settings. Escrow User Guide Page 8 of 30
NOTE: if you can t find an item in the list, ALWAYS verify Filter Settings first! To view or edit Filter Settings: 1. Click the Filter List button 2. Adjust filter criteria as necessary Edit beginning & ending date range Leave 0.00 to view all items Select a sort order for the displayed list of items Escrow user s default company Multiple select bank accounts by using the Ctrl key 3. Click the Apply Filter button NOTE: figures entered in Minimum/Maximum filter fields must be entered in currency format, or a warning pop-up window appears: Do NOT include a comma to separate thousands DO include decimal point and cents. For example: enter 5000.00 Escrow User Guide Page 9 of 30
Sorting By The Filter Settings for each menu option have unique sort preferences, as well as additional filter fields. Sort claim forms (anticipated wires) by: Amount, Date, Account, File Number, or Borrower. Sort unmatched wires by: Amount, Date, Account, or File Number. Select to display a wire details in the list Sort outbound wires by: Amount, Date, Status, or File Number. Select to display a single outbound wire status Sort matched wires by: Amount, Date, Account, or File Number. (not used by Escrow) Escrow User Guide Page 10 of 30
Inbound Wires Entering an Inbound Claim Form Only those with Wires III credentials should enter anticipated wire details in Impact to create a claim form. If you do not have a Wires III log on, your anticipated wire will not create a claim form, and therefore will not auto-match in Wires III. 1. From the Wires menu, select Incoming 2. Verify (or enter) file number 3. Click the OK button In the Wire Ins for Escrow Number window, enter incoming wire details 4. In the Amount field, enter the dollar amount of the incoming wire 5. In the Customer Name field, enter the remitter s name On a loan funding, the remitter is the Lender, not the sending bank Funds received from a principal or third party, the remitter is the party s name, not the sending bank NOTE: per auditing requirements, do not leave the Customer Name field blank. Leaving the field blank, creates a blank on the General Ledger for your branch. 6. Click the OK button When the inbound wire claim form is auto-matched to the wire in Wires III the user who entered the inbound wire claim form is notified via email the funds are receipted into the Impact file and are available for disbursement Escrow User Guide Page 11 of 30
Pre-Matching/Matching from the Claim (Anticipated Wire) You may investigate and pre-match an inbound wire while looking at the detail of the claim form. If you locate an unclaimed wire, and are reasonably confident the wire is yours, contact your designated Escrow user or Accounting to claim the wire on your behalf. 1. From the Wires III main menu, click View Your Wire Forms 2. Click the corresponding blue button to view the detail of the claim form Potential wires with a higher possibility of matching are promoted to the top Claim form detail View detail of potential match When viewing detail, filters the list of potential matches List of potentially matching unclaimed wires NOTE: if you see no potential unclaimed wires, click the Filter List button to verify Filter Settings. 3. Click the corresponding blue button to view the detail of the potential unclaimed wire Escrow User Guide Page 12 of 30
4. Compare the details of the unclaimed wire side-by-side with the claim form Unclaimed wire detail Claim form detail 5. If you are reasonably confident the wire is yours Contact your designated Escrow user or Accounting to claim the wire on your behalf PERMISSION-BASED FEATURE: Click the Match button If the unclaimed wire is not a match click the Back button to return to the list of potential matches (repeat Steps 3 5) click the Main button to return to the menu Escrow User Guide Page 13 of 30
Pre-Matching/Matching from the Unclaimed Wire You may investigate and pre-match an inbound wire while looking at the detail of the unclaimed wire. If you locate an unclaimed wire, and are reasonably confident the wire is yours, contact your designated Escrow user or Accounting to claim the wire on your behalf. 1. From the Wires III main menu, click View Unclaimed Wires 2. Click the corresponding blue button to view the detail of the unclaimed wire 3. Click the corresponding blue button to view the detail of the potential claim form 4. Compare the details of the claim form side-by-side with the unclaimed wire 5. If you are reasonably confident the wire is yours Contact your designated Escrow user or Accounting to claim the wire on your behalf PERMISSION-BASED FEATURE: Click the Match button If the claim form is not a match click the Back button to return to the list of potential matches (repeat Steps 3 5) click the Main button to return to the menu Escrow User Guide Page 14 of 30
Finding Unclaimed Wire Detail (Ctrl + F) You can use the Find feature of your web browser to locate specific wire details. Set your Filter Settings to Show Additional Wire Information for unclaimed wires, then use the Ctrl + F keyboard shortcut. 1. From the Bank Wire List (unclaimed wires) screen, click the Filter List button 2. In the Filter Settings window, select the Show Additional Wire Information check box 3. Click the Apply Filter button 4. From the Bank Wire List (unclaimed wires) screen, press the Ctrl + F keyboard shortcut 5. Enter a key word of the wire detail you wish to find (for example: borrower name, property address, or Impact order number) 6. Press the Enter key The Find feature indicates how many instances of that key word are on the web page. Escrow User Guide Page 15 of 30
7. Click the Next button to locate the next instance of that key word Escrow User Guide Page 16 of 30
Viewing Matched Wires Depending on your location s Impact configuration, you may edit and/or delete your claim form (anticipated wire request) in Impact. Before editing or deleting your Impact claim form, ALWAYS verify that the inbound wire has NOT already been matched. NOTE: if you edit or delete the claim form of an already-matched inbound wire, Wires III can no longer communicate with the Impact file. You will receive an email notification that you attempted to edit or delete a claim form for an already-matched inbound wire. If this happens, contact your OAC to manually adjust the funds in your Impact file. To verify, the inbound wire has not been matched: 1. From the Wires III main menu, click View Matched Wires Side-by-side comparison of wire and claim information 2. If the you do not find the wire on the matched list, it is safe to edit or delete your claim form (anticipated wire) in Impact NOTE: while researching matched wires, click the corresponding blue button to view the detail of the matched wire including Wire Description. Escrow User Guide Page 17 of 30
Outbound Wires Recognizing Outbound Wire Statuses An outbound wire request is entered in Impact. As each player acts upon the request, the status changes. There are two end state statuses: Wired and Rejected. Player Action Status Author Enters outbound wire request into Impact New Escrow Pre-Approver Approves outbound wire request in Approval Portal website Pre-Approved If the outbound wire request is OAC Approver Approves outbound wire request in Approval Portal website Approved rejected for any reason Rejected Wires III Pulls the approved outbound wire request Validates request, sending to bank Processing Processed Sending* Notification email Bank (received) Bank acknowledges receipt of the outbound wire request Sent Bank (processed) Bank acknowledges outbound wire request was processed Wired Notification email *Sending this status us only used by banks that require batching. This means the outbound wire request has been validated by Wires III and is queued up for the next batch upload to the bank. Escrow User Guide Page 18 of 30
Handling End State Wire Requests When the outbound wire request reaches either end state, Wired or Rejected, a notification email is sent to the author of the wire. Rejection notice The outbound wire request is deleted from Impact. The rejection email notice contains the reason why the outbound wire request was rejected. Based on the rejection reason, decide your course of action in Impact. If applicable, re-enter an updated version of the outbound wire request. Success notice The outbound wire request is updated in Impact on the Wire Outs tab of Disbursements. The Status changes from Pending to Sent, the date is updated, and an Impact tracking number is assigned. The success email notice contains details of the wire including the Federal Reference Number. Treat this email notice like a check stub. Put a printed copy of it in your Escrow file, and/or upload the confirmation email to your electronic document repository. Approving an Outbound Wire Request Workflow After the outbound wire request is entered into Impact, it must be approved twice before it is picked up by the Wires III system. Escrow Pre-Approver this person is typically another Escrow Officer or Escrow Manager in your branch who has been given permissions to approve outbound wire requests. 1. The Escrow Pre-Approver is typically logged on to the Approval website for the day. (For more information, see Approval Portal on page 24.) 2. He or she locates the outbound wire request and follows pre-determined local processes to approve or reject it. This could include (but not be limited to) verifying: Wiring Instructions Amount Debt Account Beneficiary Account Beneficiary Information 3. He or she approves or rejects the outbound wire request. OAC Approver this person is a staff member of your Operations Accounting Center. 1. The OAC Approver is typically logged on to the Approval website for the day. 2. He or she locates the outbound wire request and follows pre-determined OAC processes to approve or reject it. This could include (but not be limited to) verifying: Escrow User Guide Page 19 of 30
Wiring Instructions Amount Debt Account File funds Disbursements Wire properties 3. He or she approves or rejects the outbound wire request The twice-approved outbound wire request is picked up by the Wires III system for processing. Entering an Outbound Wire Request in Impact Enter the details of your outbound wire request in Impact. 1. From the Disburse menu, select Create & Print Checks 2. Respond appropriately to prompts to get to the Disbursements screen 3. For each outgoing wire, in the Status drop-down list, select Wire-Out In the Wire Outs for Escrow Number window, enter outgoing wire details 4. In the Payoff Loan Number field, enter the account number (if the outbound wire request is not a payoff, then enter N/A) 5. In the Other Wire Reference field, enter up to text sent to the receiving bank NOTES: The exact number of characters varies per bank (on average 70-140). Contact Accounting to verify the exact number of characters allowed for the bank in question. The outgoing wire includes an OBI file (Originator to Beneficiary Information) containing: originating party information, the Impact file number, and the property address. It also includes up the text from the Other Wire Reference field, so there is no need to duplicate these items. Abbreviate when possible. Make it short and to the point! When entering wire details, avoid using the following special characters: = ~! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) + { } [ ] \ ; :? < >. Wires III converts any of these characters to a space, therefore your detailed description may have a different appearance than you intended. Escrow User Guide Page 20 of 30
In the Receiving Bank Information group, 6. Skip the Bank Name field, it is populated by entering the ABA 7. In the ABA (American Bankers Association) field, enter the routing number of the receiving bank 8. In the Account Number field, enter the account number of the receiving bank 9. In the Customer Name/Account Holder field, enter the Sender s Name The Offline Bank Information group is only used for a proxy bank because the receiving bank might not be able to receive a wire directly. For example, a credit union could be considered an offline bank In the ABA field, enter the routing number of the receiving bank In the Bank Name field, enter the offline bank s name In the Final Credit To field, enter the account number of the receiving bank The Additional Information (Internal use only) group is only used for internal notes. In the Notes field, enter any additional instructions or internal notes about the wire Depending on your location s Impact configuration, you may be able to place an outbound wire request on hold, preventing the wire from being pulled by the Wires III system. If these fields are available: In the Hold Until Date field, enter a date In the Hold Until Reason field, enter a short description of why you put the wire on hold Even after the date expires, Wires III will not pick up the outbound wire request. To release the outbound wire request to Wires III for processing, remove the date from the Hold Until Date field. 10. Click the OK button Escrow User Guide Page 21 of 30
Entering International Wires For a variety of standardization reasons, international wires are not fully automated in the Wires III system. After entering your outbound wire request for an international wire, the outbound wire request is approved in the Approval Portal. When Wires III picks it up it is not validated and sent to the bank automatically. The OAC manually intervenes to complete the transaction with the bank. When the transaction is complete, the OAC enters the confirmed wire out details in Wires III so that the information flows back to Impact and a notification email is sent to the author. In the Wire Outs for Escrow Number window, enter outgoing wire details for an international wire 1. In the Payoff Loan Number field, enter INTERNATIONAL 2. Skip the Bank Name field, it is populated by entering the ABA 3. In the ABA field, enter the routing number of the receiving bank 4. In the Account Number field, enter the account number of the receiving bank 5. In the Customer Name/Account Holder field, enter the Sender s Name 6. In the Notes field, enter all wiring instructions for the international wire including a SWIFT code Escrow User Guide Page 22 of 30
Timing Your Outbound Wire Request When time is of the essence, being aware of the bank cutoff times can be helpful to plan the timing of your outbound wire request. Monday through Friday, the Wires III system Starts processing outbound wire requests at 7:15am Mountain Time Zone Stops pulling outbound wire requests at 3:25pm Mountain Time Zone (This ensures that wire data has time to be validated and get to the bank by the 3:30pm actual cut-off time.) Wires III Outbound Wire Hours of Operation (By Time Zone) Pacific Mountain Central Eastern Start 6:15am 7:15am 8:15am 9:15am Stop 2:25pm 3:25pm 4:25pm 5:25pm My OAC s Outbound Wire Cutoff Times Make a note of the latest time in the afternoon you can enter an outbound wire request. Bank: Time: Bank: Time: Bank: Time: Bank: Time: Escrow User Guide Page 23 of 30
Wire Approval Portal The Wires III Approval Portal is used by Escrow staff to pre-approve newly-entered outbound wire requests before they are picked up for processing by the Wires III system. If you are unsure of whether or not you have permissions to be an Escrow Pre-Approver, please clarify with your management team. The Approval Portal is web-based allowing you to log on and off from your internet browser. Although the URL (website address) is different than the Wires III system, your username and password are the same. Logging On 1. From your internet browser, navigate to your site s website address 2. Enter Login Name & Password 3. Click the Log On button Logging Off Log off the Approval Portal from any screen by clicking the Log Off link in the upper, right-hand corner or by simply closing your web browser. Escrow User Guide Page 24 of 30
Timing Out The Approval Portal does not time out during normal business hours. Your session remains logged on until you log off or close your browser window. It is a good habit to log off at the end of your work day. Once logged on, the onscreen data automatically refreshes the data every 5 minutes. You can leave the session up and running in the background while you multi-task. Navigating Home page After logging on to the Approval Portal, you land on the Home page. Click the Approve Wires tab to view outbound wire data. Access the Wires III website View un-approved outbound wires Log off the Approval Portal Screen header Hides filter fields Filter criteria Indicates last page refresh Activate search after editing filter criteria Escrow User Guide Page 25 of 30
Screen body Click any column heading to sort the data Status of the outbound wire request View details Author of the outbound wire request Escrow Approver of the outbound wire request When viewing the details of an outbound wire request, return to the list by clicking the Back to Search link at the bottom of the detail page. A yellow outline indicates previously viewed detail Escrow User Guide Page 26 of 30
Screen footer Current page/number of pages of data First page Next page Number of items per page Previous page Last page Click the Collapse button to hide the filter fields to view more data. When collapsed, the Refresh button is available. Click the Expand button to reveal the filter fields. NOTE: use this Refresh button instead of your browser s Refresh button. As an Escrow user, you can pre-approve (or reject) an outbound wire request if You have sufficient permissions in the Approval Portal The status of the outbound wire request is New You did not author the outbound wire request If you attempt to approve (or reject) an outbound wire for which you are not authorized, the buttons are disabled. Escrow User Guide Page 27 of 30
Pre-Approving an Outbound Wire Request Escrow Pre-Approvers can pre-approve an outbound wire request. 1. Identify the outbound wire request in the list 2. Click the detail icon 3. Review the outbound wire request according to your Operation s current process 4. Scroll to the bottom of the screen 5. At Escrow Approve, click the Approve button A confirmation message appears at the top of the page, and the status of the outbound wire request changes to PRE-APPROVED. Escrow User Guide Page 28 of 30
Rejecting an Outbound Wire Request Escrow Pre-Approvers can reject an outbound wire request. 1. Identify the outbound wire request in the list 2. Click the detail button 3. Review the outbound wire request according to your Operation s current process 4. Scroll to the bottom of the screen 5. Click the Reject button 6. Select appropriate radio button (if selecting Other, enter a reason for rejecting the wire) 7. Click the Submit button A confirmation message appears at the top of the Approve Wires page. The author of the outbound wire request receives a notification email. The outbound wire request is deleted from Impact. Escrow User Guide Page 29 of 30
Wires III Terminology These are acronyms and terms used when discussing the Wires III system. AWTS Automated Wire Transfer System a.k.a. Wires III MFS Managed Fund Services OAC Operations Accounting Center Pre-matching the process of an Escrow Officer investigating and researching either claim forms or unclaimed wires to identify the inbound wire in question. If the Escrow Officer locates the inbound wire, he or she then notifies an OAC representative to assist with matching the wire. Wire Form an inbound wire claim form entered in Impact Escrow User Guide Page 30 of 30