This bulletin supersedes Payroll Bulletin 1842

Purpose

The purpose of this bulletin is to notify agencies of the updated AC-2772 Direct Deposit Form for NYS Employees (Rev. 01/2021), and to provide guidance to agencies when processing the new form.

Affected Employees

All New York State (NYS) employees who enroll in direct deposit, are already enrolled in direct deposit or who change their direct deposit account distribution are affected.

Background

NYS agencies have experienced an increase in fraudulent direct deposit forms over the past two years. After seeking input from agencies, OSC has updated the AC-2772 to provide additional employee identification information to assist in direct deposit fraud detection.

The option to Opt Out of receiving a printed direct deposit advice has been provided on the form for employees enrolled in New York State Payroll Online (NYSPO). Opting out of receiving a printed advice will reduce State spending for printing and related postage. This option has been added to the updated Form AC-2772.

A balance account has been added to the form to prevent the creation of occasional paper paychecks which occur when employees indicate specific dollar amounts and/or percentage/dollar amount combinations for their direct deposit account distribution and there is a variance in their paycheck.

Effective Dates

Effective immediately.

OSC Actions

OSC has provided an updated AC-2772 (REV 01/2021) Direct Deposit Form for NYS Employees and a Guide to Completing the AC-2772 Direct Deposit Form for NYS Employees with examples of how to complete the form. The updated form can be downloaded from the OSC website at /state-agencies/payroll/forms. Printed paper forms will not be made available. Agencies and employees may print the form from the OSC website if necessary.  

OSC has added the following required fields to assist in fraud detection:  Name, NYS Emplid, Last 4 SSN, Phone, Work E-mail, and Home Address.

A balance account is required to receive excess funds after all other distributions are deposited into the employee’s account(s).

Employees may select the “Go Paperless” check box if the agency is enrolled in New York State Payroll Online (NYSPO) and the employee does not wish to receive a paper advice statement.

Agency Actions

Agencies should dispose of any previous versions of the AC-2772 they may have on hand. Effective immediately, only version AC-2772 (Rev. 01/2021) should be accepted. All links to the form on agency internet pages should be updated to the new form.  Agencies are also encouraged to share the Guide to Completing the AC-2772 Direct Deposit Form for NYS Employees with their employees.

Direct Deposit entries should be entered per the current year’s agency submission schedule.  Agencies should not make direct deposit changes before noon on the Thursday before the check date.  If agencies need to make last minute changes, they should contact OSC’s Direct Deposit Team.

Upon receipt of an AC-2772 from the employee, agencies must verify the following information has been provided on the form and validate it against the existing information in PayServ or on record with the agency:

SECTION A: Employee Information (Required)

Name (Last, First, MI):  Agencies should ensure the spelling of the employee name is accurate and matches the employee name in PayServ. Agencies should not use the employee name to search for the employee in PayServ as this leads to errors and the potential for entering the direct deposit account information for the wrong employee.

NYS EMPLID:  Employees should know their NYS EMPLID or be able to locate it on their pay stub, direct deposit advice or by signing into their NYSPO account. Agencies should locate the employee in PayServ using the NYS EMPLID and must verify the NYS EMPLID matches the employee name and Last 4 of the SSN. If the employee is a new hire and a NYS Emplid is not available, the last 4 of the employee’s SSN must be verified to ensure it matches the employee’s name in PayServ.

Last 4 SSN:  Agencies must verify the information provided in this field matches the last 4 of the employee’s SSN.

Phone: OSC does not specify what phone number the employee must provide. However, if the phone number does not match what the agency has on record for the employee, OSC recommends the agency ensure all other employee identification information provided matches what they have on record. OSC recommends the agency contact the employee at the telephone number they have on file to verify the employee submitted the direct deposit enrollment or direct deposit change request.

Work E-mail: Most NYS employees have an agency assigned e-mail address. OSC recommends agencies ensure the work e-mail address provided matches what the agency has on record for the employee. When responding to direct deposit requests received via e-mail, OSC recommends agencies are cautious and send a separate e-mail using the employee’s work e-mail on record, as fraudulent direct deposit submissions are most often received via e-mail or fax.

Home Address:  The home address field has been added to assist agencies in verifying the employee’s identity. Agencies should verify the address provided on the form matches the address in PayServ for the employee. This field should not serve as a method for change of address and should be used for verification purposes only.

SECTION B: Balance Account Information (Required)

Participating in full direct deposit requires a balance account. This account will receive any excess of funds after all other direct deposit distributions are issued. While listed first on the form, the balance account designated will be last in the deposit order when funds are distributed. Non-payroll amounts such as travel reimbursements will also be posted to the balance account. If no other accounts are listed, the full net pay will be deposited into the balance account.

The employee’s name must appear on the account.

SECTION C:  Additional Account Information (Optional)

Up to seven (7) additional fixed amount or percentage deposits are allowed. The employee’s name must appear on all accounts. If a joint account holder exists, Section E of the form must also be completed

A voided check or written verification from the financial institution showing the account number, bank routing number, the employee’s name and any joint account holder’s name on the account must accompany the AC-2772.

Detailed instructions for entering the employee direct deposit account information can be found in the Payroll Manual.

SECTION D:  Direct Deposit Statement Options

Go Paperless:  Employees may check the box to opt out of receiving a printed copy of their direct deposit pay stub. Employees will continue to have access to their paystub using New York State Payroll Online (NYSPO). If an employee chooses to go paperless, the agency must select the Suppress DDP Advice Print check box located in the Deposit Information section of the employee’s direct deposit page (Main Menu>Payroll for North America>Employee Pay Data USA>Request Direct Deposit).

SECTION E:  AUTHORIZATION (Required)

Joint Account Holder:  If a joint account holder exists for account(s) listed in Sections B and C, the joint account holder must sign the form in Section E. By signing the form, the employee and any joint account holder allows the State, through the financial institution, to debit the account in order to recover any salary to which the employee was not entitled or that was deposited to the account in error. 

Employee Signature:  The employee’s signature is required. By signing the form, the employee certifies that they understand the instructions, including the authorization for recovery of funds, and authorizes the NYS salary payment to be sent to the designated financial institution(s) to be deposited into the specified account(s), as well as all non-payroll amounts (i.e., travel expense reimbursements) due them to be deposited into the balance account they have designated. The employee signature also indicates they understand the form supersedes any previous forms they have submitted and acknowledges that changes may take up to two (2) payroll periods to become effective.

All AC-2772 forms submitted by the employee should be kept on file by the agency.

Agency Audit

The day after all entries have been made in PayServ, agencies should run LQ_DDP_AUDIT_DD_ENTRIES in PSQuery as a tool to verify accuracy. See Payroll Bulletin 1971, Direct Deposit Guidance and Audit Query for query and agency audit instructions.

Questions

Questions regarding this bulletin may be directed to the Payroll Deduction mailbox.