What happened:
On Thursday October 24rd, our direct deposit provider of over 20 years, Cachet Financial Services, halted transactions without warning, leaving us in the dark about the status of files we had sent previously. This was a massive, national problem that has affected over 100 other payroll providers and as such, over 100,000 employers and countless employees across the country.
In over 52 years in the payroll business, we have never seen anything like this. Paying your employees in a timely and accurate manner is, and always has been, our highest priority. We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience. Please know that we worked diligently day and night on your behalf. We passed along every update as to the status of these transactions, but it was incredibly frustrating as we received very limited and unreliable information from Cachet.
What this caused:
As a result of Cachet halting processing midweek, many of our customers did not receive their direct deposit. Similarly, many of our customers utilizing our “Official Check” service had problems cashing their checks. This is because the official check account is funded by the same processing service from Cachet and that caused a delay in funding as well.
What we did:
Upon hearing the news, we immediately stopped sending files to Cachet, and temporarily stopped running direct deposits for the rest of the week as we transitioned to our alternative provider.
We then worked through the night to identify our affected customers and produce live checks for those employees expecting direct deposits. We delivered these adjusted payrolls the next day.
We have already started service with our new provider, National Payment Corporation (NatPay). As of this writing, all our clients have been uploaded to their system and we been running live for the past week with no problems. For years we have used NatPay for our Paystubs Online service, so this is not a new relationship and has certainly helped to provide a speedy transition. NatPay was founded in 1991 and processes over $76 billion annually for over 188,000 ACH clients nationwide.
As a Result
Many of our competitors have taken advantage of the situation to spread rumors about us in order to gain your business. Stories like we went out business, we were robbed, we were hacked, we lost $23 million, etc Anything to stir up fear and doubt. Obviously none of this is true. We’re stronger for having experienced this situation and committed to providing excellent service to keep your trust. When our competitors come calling, keep them honest, have them speak to the facts, see if they can beat us on price and service. Don’t believe the myths and lies. And if you’re not sure, just ask us.
If you were one of the companies affected by last week’s direct deposit outage, please accept our sincerest apologies. We’re truly sorry for any strain and inconvenience we’ve caused you and your employees.
John A Bruno Jr.
President & CEO