Regulators are concerned financial institutions may bere-ordering the posting of transactions to maximize overdraft income, according to an email from Symitar tocustomers obtained on Tuesday by Credit Union Times.

“Recently, we have learned that regulators have voiced someconcerns about the policies and procedures of some financialinstitutions regarding overdraft fees. Regulators seem to beconcerned that some financial institutions may be re-ordering theposting of transactions to maximize the number of overdraft feesthey can charge,” the email said.

Credit unions on the widely used Episys core processing platform that claim to post share draftsin the order they are received are wrong, according to theemail.

“Currently, the Episys Draft Posting batch program doesnot allow the draft items to post in the order they arereceived,” the email said.

Instead, the Episys software draft posting program allows creditunions to select from three processing methods: low to high amount,high to low amount, and draft number order.

ACH posting follows NACHA settlement rules, posting ACH itemsfirst by settlement date, then credit items and debit items, fromlowest to highest amount.

“Using the Exception Item Manager program for Draft Posting andACH Posting allows you to move exception items back to theirapplicable programs to post later if additional credits arereceived that will cover the items. You can use this feature inEpisys as many times as you like before the account is overdrawn,”the email said.

In the Episys online card environment, the ATM software poststransactions in real time, as it receives them. The program doesnot have the ability to re-sort or post high to low order, theemail said.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been collecting comments regarding overdraft programs, inanticipation of new regulations the bureau may release.

Eight credit unions have been slapped with class-actionlawsuits alleging they reordered transaction processing in aneffort to maximize overdraft income. Of the eight, three operate onthe Episys core system: the $9.4 billion SchoolsFirst FCU of SantaAna, Calif., the $8.4 billion Alliant CU of Chicago and the $590million Alabama Telco CU of Hoover, Ala.