CUNA Urges Changes In Proposal

CUNA has sent a letter to NACHA-the Electronic Payments Association saying it supports mandatory arbitration of smaller ACH disputes at the request of one party and supports the usage of one arbitrator for these smaller disputes.

For larger disputes, CUNA supports the usage of three arbitrators to decide a claim. The largest disputes would still require both parties to agree before arbitration could be used. In addition, CUNA said it supports extending the deadline to three years to submit arbitration claims. In contrast to the proposal, however, CUNA supports fixed stipends for arbitrators instead of stipends that vary with the amount of the award.

"While CUNA supports the proposal overall, CUNA disagrees with the recommendation to calculate the arbitrator's stipend based on a percentage of the arbitrator's decision,' the trade group wrote. "An arbitrators' compensation should reflect a fixed dollar amount rather than a percentage of their decision. If the stipend is based on a percentage of an arbitrator's decision, then this could provide an incentive to inflate the amount of a damage award."

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