R 181454Z NOV 21 MID600051197062U
FM DFAS CLEVELAND OH
TO AIG 4676
AIG 4678
BT
UNCLAS
SUBJ/SAVINGS DEPOSIT PROGRAM COLLECTION GUIDELINES//
MILITARY PAY ADVISORY 20/21//
REF/A/DOD FMR VOL 7A CHAPTER 51//
REF/B/NAVY PROCEDURES TRAINING GUIDE PART 7 CHAPTER 6//
NARR/REF A IS DOD REGULATION GOVERNING THE SAVINGS DEPOSIT PROGRAM/
REF B IS DJMS PROCEDURES GOVERNING DEDUCTIONS AND COLLECTIONS//
RMKS/1. This advisory is being provided in regards to the Savings
Deposit Program (SDP), which affords service members an opportunity
to earn up to 10 percent interest annually on deposits made while
deployed in a combat zone.
2. In accordance with reference A, a member's SDP deposit must not
exceed unallotted pay and allowances for the pay period. Disbursing
Officers in theater and on deployed Ships who collect cash/check
deposits from eligible service members must ensure that the deposits
meet this criteria.
Deposits made in excess of unallotted pay and allowances will be
flagged and accrued interest will be adjusted. Accounts flagged
after withdrawal of funds through MyPay will result in indebtedness
being posted to the member's account.
3. IAW Reference B, Field Offices processing DS and C2 transactions
to post SDP deposits must follow certain guidelines. The voucher
numbers used for the DD 1131 and the C2 transactions must be
numeric only and must not contain letter or special characters.
Alphanumeric voucher numbers and those containing special
characters will not post in the SDP module. They will either cause
the SDP module to crash or will result in a mismatch between the
voucher numbers in DCAS and the ones reflected in the SDP module.
4. As stated in Reference A, SDP deposits continue to accrue interest
up to 90 days after member departs the combat zone. Should the 90-day
limitation period end on any day other than the last day of the month,
interest will accrue through the last day of the preceding month.
If the 90-day limitation period ends on the last day of the month,
interest accrues for that month. After 120 days, the SDP module
automatically closes the account and the deposit is paid out along with
the interest. Currently, MyPay is programmed to permit members
to make withdrawals at any time, including while still in the combat zone.
Some members, particularly those stationed in combat zones for extended
periods, use the SDP account as a savings accounts to make withdrawals.
The system will flag accounts once the limit of 40 withdrawals and/or
125 transactions is attained. The ceiling includes both system-
generated as well as manual transactions. Once the ceiling is
reached, the account will be flagged and no further transactions can
be processed. Additionally multiple 1099s might be generated.
Commands and Disbursing Officers should counsel members against making
random withdrawals prior to departure from the combat zone. Ideally,
no action should be taken by the member in MyPay so that the account
is automatically closed at the 120-day mark to maximize interest and
preempt system issues.
5. Additionally, several PSDs and Ships had reported issues with the
DS's processed to post SDP indebtedness overlapping OASDI DS's;
resulting in incorrect SDP deposits in the member's account and
premature termination of OASDI debts. Most of these issues have been
rectified, but field offices are encouraged to ask members who have
participated in SDP to check their accounts in MyPay to ensure the
correct deposit amount is reflected. In some cases, DFAS will process
a negative P9 transaction to collect pending dues for the OASDI debt.
6. Request widest dissemination.//