Incoming Mail

Posted By: startingover

Incoming Mail - 02/24/16 09:29 PM

Do you require that all deposits, loan payments, etc. received in the mail be logged prior to being processed by your tellers? Why or why not?

Currently we log all incoming mail but are running into issues with the volume of loan books that are mailed in and being able to process the payments in a timely manner.
Posted By: rlcarey

Re: Incoming Mail - 02/24/16 09:33 PM

Log them? As in do an envelope count and then make sure you process an equal number of transactions? Or log each individual transaction?

Man, if BofA had to log every mailed in payment there would be no unemployment.
Posted By: startingover

Re: Incoming Mail - 02/24/16 09:43 PM

As in logging in each individual transaction.
Posted By: rlcarey

Re: Incoming Mail - 02/24/16 09:47 PM

Why? - you either got them and processed them or you did not. What is the log ever used for? When was the last time it was used? Mail should be opened under dual control in case some idiot mails you cash, other than that - process away. I haven't seen a bank log mail in this manner for the last 30 years. I think you have a "we have always done it this way" issue. Examine the benefits and risks and make a call.
Posted By: RR Jen

Re: Incoming Mail - 02/25/16 12:00 AM

We do log mail in deposits and payments at the branches, the process is quite similar to night drop processing. It's reviewed annually by internal audit. I agree with examining the benefits and risk. I do think it was on an internal control questionnaire from our external auditor recently as well.
Posted By: rlcarey

Re: Incoming Mail - 02/25/16 12:10 AM

I do think it was on an internal control questionnaire from our external auditor recently as well.

Ask them why. They are sometimes 39 years behind the times also.
Posted By: Cornfed Turtle

Re: Incoming Mail - 02/25/16 02:51 PM

We log cash. Yup, people send cash. As soon as the "mail opener" sees cash it goes to a teller. The two count the cash and write it in the log book. I think having a second person document the cash makes the mail opener feel better.

I'm the auditor and I've never looked at any of the logs. The mail opener at my branch says no one has ever asked to see it.

And, yes, it's on the questionnaire from the externals. They always ask why we don't log ALL of the mail. I don't know why we would make a task out of that. But, as said above, they sometimes forget to update those ancient ICQs.
Posted By: DunningKroger

Re: Incoming Mail - 03/02/16 10:33 PM

Originally Posted By startingover
Do you require that all deposits, loan payments, etc. received in the mail be logged prior to being processed by your tellers? Why or why not?

Currently we log all incoming mail but are running into issues with the volume of loan books that are mailed in and being able to process the payments in a timely manner.



My bank actually does this. Our volume is low enough to not be an issue. And i don't think we have ever needed a reason to pull them up. As @rlcarey mentioned this is more of an "we have always done it this way" issue.
Posted By: dutchbltz

Re: Incoming Mail - 03/04/16 05:54 PM

The bank I used to work at logged mail in this manner, using the same log they used for the night deposit. One log page per day per branch, listing all transactions received in any method other than in person. I am not aware of an auditor ever asking to see it, however there was a time or 2 we used it when a customer was insistent that their deposit was mailed to us and we didn't process it, or that we didn't process it the day we got it (supposedly!). The fact that we had a dual control list of what was received every day was useful in those occasional situations.

That bank, though, was a very small community bank (<500m). There, the occasional benefit was sufficient to justify any time expenditure that the process caused.
Posted By: edAudit

Re: Incoming Mail - 03/04/16 06:06 PM

The only time I had to go back to the log (when I was in operations) I found two deposits that were not processed. When I say I found two deposits I do not mean that they were logged and not in the customers account but 2 customers check deposits (checks, deposit slip, envelope).
Posted By: Cowboys Fan

Re: Incoming Mail - 12/07/20 09:18 PM

Bringing this back up. Has anything changed since 2016 that would now REQUIRE us to log every single check we receive? I came from a bigger bank and this wasn't required nor did our auditors criticize our lack of a log. My new bank is saying we must log each one yet can't provide a citation to back it up. Thank in advance.
Posted By: rlcarey

Re: Incoming Mail - 12/07/20 10:07 PM

Required - no. Is it an internal control process that the bank thinks is critical - you would have to ask for the risk assessment for that function. What does the log prove, what errors will the log prevent, how many times have the logs been accessed in the last 12 months to solve a problem. Answers to those risk related questions will give you your answer as to whether it is worth the time and effort.
Posted By: Cowboys Fan

Re: Incoming Mail - 12/08/20 11:54 AM

Thanks Randy. "That's the way we've always done it" seems to be the sole reason.