Announcements | Outages, Service Charter updates etc

Hi Community,

Good news! You can still lodge and settle on Grand Final Friday Public Holiday in Victoria.

To help you prepare for the holiday period, planned outages and more, please refer to Calendar: Releases, Planned Outages & Public Holidays

Kind regards

Aoife

With PEXA Release 10.1 going live on Monday 5 August 2019, the Service Charter will be updated. You can access a clean and marked up version of the new Service Charter via the attachments at the bottom of this post.

Kind regards

Jarrod

Hi Community, 

On 5 August 2019, PEXA is releasing its next platform upgrade. Thanks to your continuous input, we have been able to make improvements to boost your user experience.

In line with member feedback and as part of this upcoming release, the corrective payments process will no longer be completed via email – where the PEXA member was required to fill out a form, sign and e-mail return it to PEXA.

Instead, from this date, the process will be enhanced to an in-platform experience.

All Subscriber Managers with the current permission Signer – financial settlement will be automatically allocated two additional permissions:

• Corrective Payments; and
• Signer – corrective payments.

If there is anyone else in your organisation who requires either of these permissions, a Subscriber Manager or Subscriber Administrator within your business must enable the permission(s) for them.

Those with the required permissions will see a ‘corrective payments’ option on the left-hand side column of the platform. By selecting this they will be able to view a new Corrective Payments dashboard, displaying ‘pending’, ‘processing’, and ‘completed corrective payments’. The release notes, will assist you in navigating this new process.

Please see the following FAQs for further information. If your question is not answered, please post your question below and one of our subject matter experts will respond.

Do I need a Digital Certificate (DigiCert) to sign corrective payments?

Yes, an additional Signer – corrective payments permission, along with a valid digital certificate, is required to digitally sign off on corrective payment changes.

How will I know that I have a corrective payment to complete? 

When a corrective payment action is required, the transaction(s) will appear in the Your actions tab within the Corrective Payments dashboard and the number of corrective payments will appear next to the corrective payments option on the left-hand side column of the platform. 

An in-platform pop-up notification will also prompt members to take action. 

Will I receive an e-mail notification to complete corrective payments?

No, the corrective payments process no longer includes an e-mail notification (from 5 August 2019).

When a corrective payment action is required, the transaction(s) will appear in the Your actions tab within the Corrective Payments dashboard and the number of corrective payments will appear next to the corrective payments option on the left-hand side column of the platform. 

An in-platform pop-up notification will also prompt members to take action. 

What permissions do I need to sign corrective payments?

In order to digitally sign and in turn submit a corrective payment for PEXA processing, a user requires the following permissions to be selected: 

• Signer – financial settlement
• Corrective Payments
• Signer – corrective payments
  
  

Can I view outstanding corrective payments without the permission to sign?

Yes, a Subscriber Manager or Subscriber Administrator within your organisation can assign the permission Corrective Payments only. 

You do not require permissions Signer – financial settlement and/or Signer – corrective payments to view outstanding corrective payments.

What happens after I’ve signed the corrective payments?
Once submitted, PEXA will review and process the corrections as required. You will be able to follow the progress of your corrective payments on the new Corrective Payments dashboard.

Hi Community,

On 5 August, NSW has a bank holiday resulting in reduced settlement hours for NSW, VIC, SA and WA. Please note the following changes:

New South Wales

Financial Settlement is available until 4pm AEST

Lodgement is available as normal

Victoria

Financial Settlement is available until 4pm AEST

Lodgement is available as normal

Western Australia

Financial Settlement is available until 2pm AWST

Lodgement is available as normal

South Australia

Financial Settlement is available until 3.30pm ACST

Lodgement is available as normal

Queensland

Lodgement and settlement times remain unchanged

To help you prepare for the holiday period, planned outages and more, please refer to Calendar: Releases, Planned Outages & Public Holidays or hours of operations for lodgement and settlement.

Kind regards

Aoife

Hi Community,

On 5 August, NSW has a bank holiday resulting in reduced settlement hours for NSW, VIC, SA and WA. Please note the following changes:

New South Wales

Financial Settlement is available until 4pm AEST

Lodgement is available as normal

Victoria

Financial Settlement is available until 4pm AEST

Lodgement is available as normal

Western Australia

Financial Settlement is available until 2pm AWST

Lodgement is available as normal

South Australia

Financial Settlement is available until 3.30pm ACST

Lodgement is available as normal

Queensland

Lodgement and settlement times remain unchanged

To help you prepare for the holiday period, planned outages and more, please refer to Calendar: Releases, Planned Outages & Public Holidays or hours of operations for lodgement and settlement.

Kind regards

Aoife

Hi Community,

We have been advised that COIN - the network responsible for the secure transmission of payment files between PEXA and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) - is experiencing service issues.

Workspaces will likely remain in a status of ‘Settling’ until the underlying issue has been resolved.

Kind regards

Aoife

Hi Community,

As the end of financial year approaches, PEXA and our team of experts in the Support Centre are here to help.

If you need to contact the team, one of our friendly support staff is available from Monday to Friday, 8.30am – 8.00pm AEST/DT . Please call 1300 084 515 or e-mail support@pexa.com.au for assistance.

Being the busiest day in the property settlements calendar, we’re mindful of ensuring a consistent flow of transactions across the day to ensure they’re managed effectively, and to make sure you can access support if you require.  

You may notice settlements shift by more than 30 minutes in some cases to the next available time.  

Don't forget that from 1 July 2019, the pricing schedule will be updated. Please check your e-mails for a notification about upcoming changes.

Kind regards

Aoife

RESOLVED

Hi Community,

PEXA members settling in Victoria will notice an outstanding task within their Workspace Summary, notifying them to manually trigger stamp duty.

This is an error on the majority of Workspace Summary screens and will not affect settlement or lodgement of your transaction.

However, in a small number of cases this may be correct. To ensure you are not impacted, please:

• Check Document Status is Prepared and Successful
• Check Stamp Duty screen says SRO Verification = Successful
• Check History screen says SRO verification = Successful and displays Date and Time.

 Kind regards 

Aoife

Hi Community,

The NSW Office of State Revenue has advised they are currently experiencing service issues.

As a result, Stamp Duty services are impacted.

PEXA is working with NSW OSR to resolve the issue. Unless resolved sooner, an update will be provided in an hour.

Kind regards,

Georgina

Hi Community, 

We are aware of a payment file response issue impacting ANZ transactions. 

Workspace(s) that have settled and include a disbursement to ANZ will likely remain in a status of 'Disbursing' for longer than usual until the underlying issue is resolved. 
 

It’s important to note that disbursement of funds happens after a transaction has settled. That is, you don’t need to wait for funds to clear to consider the settlement finalised and to hand over keys to the purchaser.   

The reason for this is that once a property transfer reaches a status of ‘settled’ on PEXA, the purchaser’s funds have been moved to the receiving bank at RBA (Reserve Bank of Australia) level. The receiving bank holds the funds on behalf of the vendor and attends to disbursement after settlement.  

Please note, disbursement line items for other financial institutions will disburse as normal. PEXA is working with ANZ to resolve the issue. 

Kind regards 

Georgina 

Hi Community, 

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will be closed due to the Queen’s Birthday holiday in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia on 10 June. As a result financial settlement is not available for all states. Lodgement is still available in New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland.

To help you prepare for the holiday period, planned outages and more, please refer to Calendar: Releases, Planned Outages & Public Holidays 

Cheers

Aoife

With PEXA Release 10 going live on Monday 13 May 2019, the Service Charter and Participation Agreement will be updated. You can access clean and marked up versions of these documents via the links and attachments below.

Service Charter

Clean version

Marked up version: see attached

Participation Agreement

Clean version

Marked up version: see attached

Kind regards,
Jarrod

Following this week's feedback session with Westpac, the St George, Bank of Melbourne, BankSA & FMS teams are hosting a session Today between 11:30am-12:30pm AEST.

This is another great opportunity for industry participants to share their tips on what these Financial Institutions can work on and let them know the things you'd like to see more of.  St George, Bank of Melbourne, BankSA & FMS will be online responding to your feedback and answering your questions during this hour.

Hi Community, 

During WA Day on 3 June, financial settlement and lodgement will not be available for Western Australia. 

To help you prepare for the holiday period, planned outages and more, please refer to Calendar: Releases, Planned Outages & Public Holidays.

Kind regards

Aoife

Hi Community,

During Labour Day, financial settlement and lodgement will not be available for Queensland.

To help you prepare for the holiday period, planned outages and more, please refer to Calendar: Releases, Planned Outages & Public Holidays

Cheers

Aoife

Today, Westpac is hosting a feedback session here on Community to improve the settlement experience and discuss issues important to the industry. 

This is a great opportunity for members to share their tips on what Westpac can work on and the things you've come across that you really appreciated while working with the Westpac team and other Financial Institutions. 

The team from Westpac are online, ready to answer questions and respond to your feedback for the next hour. Just comment below.

Hi Community, 

In recent months, you may have been prompted to review a PEXA transaction, asking how easy you found completing a specific transaction on PEXA. 

This review involves giving practitioners and banks from your particular transaction a satisfaction score between 0-10. These scores contribute to an individual organisation’s overall ‘Peer Rating’. 

The Peer Rating functions much like an Uber or Airbnb review and ensures constructive two-way feedback, helping encourage industry best practice and foster a smooth settlement experience for all parties. 

We’ve provided some additional details below to help you better understand Peer Ratings in PEXA. 

What is a Peer Rating? 

A Peer Rating is the overall average score from the total ratings an individual organisation has received via PEXA’s in-platform transaction reviews.  

• A Peer Score is a one off review
• A Peer Rating is your overall rank 

What does my Peer Rating mean? 

Your Peer Rating is composed of scores given by firms who have been surveyed on a PEXA transaction involving you. These are between 0-10, with 10 being the highest possible score. 

A high score and overall rating indicates that a firm is frequently marked by peers as easy to settle with, through feedback from PEXA’s in-platform surveys. 

Who can see my rating? 

Only you will be able to see your Peer Rating. We will be introducing this ability to see your peer rating over the next few months. In the meantime, top rated members will be recognised by PEXA.  

What drives a high Peer Rating and how can I achieve one? 

High scores are typified by key factors such as:  

• Prompt, clear communication between parties 
• Timely completion of settlement tasks, with particular reference to the Transfer Guidelines 
• Additional instances of collaboration and peer support 

Firms who consistently work to meet these criteria will help facilitate seamless digital settlements and receive higher ratings. 

How can I give / receive a rating? 

We survey a certain percentage of PEXA transactions. You may be prompted to complete a survey where you’ll be asked to rate the practitioners and banks involved in your transaction. 

If you have any further questions on Peer ratings, please reply to this thread below. 

Kind Regards,

Lisa Dowie

PEXA, Chief Customer Officer

Dear Community,

Please note that this does not affect all PEXA members. If it does not affect you, please ignore this message.

PEXA has been advised that certain Antivirus software is flagging the PEXA signing application for some PEXA members.

If you happen to be affected, you will notice a red banner on the signing page informing you “PEXA Digital Signing software is required to sign documents using (your browser). Please click here to install the latest version.”

If you are a Financial Institution, please contact your tech support for assistance.

Please ensure that you are using the most recent version of the Digital Certificate software, accessible from the link above. For the installation process of the PEXA Signing Application, please refer to Step 3 for Chrome or Step 2 for Internet Explorer. Should you be already running the most recent version, you will be given the option to repair or remove your current software. If you are not running the most recent version, you will be prompted to update the software. In order to update your software, you may require administrator rights.

Note that if you are unable to effect this change yourself, you may need to contact your internal IT team or external IT consultant.

If you still cannot digitally sign after the software update, you may be required to whitelist the PEXA Signing Application.

Please contact PEXA Support directly, if you require further assistance.

Hi Community,

During the Easter Holidays and Anzac Day, financial settlement isn’t available. However, Lodgement is still available in Victoria and New South Wales.

To help you prepare for the holiday period, planned outages and more, please refer to Calendar: Releases, Planned Outages & Public Holidays

Cheers

Aoife

Hi Community,

The end of daylight savings is approaching, and the RBA(Reserve Bank of Australia) has issued its changes to RITS (Reserve Bank Information & Transfer System) session times.

As a result, settlement slots in New South Wales will be reduced.

Please see the altered settlement hours below:

Kind regards

Aoife 

Hi Community,

The end of daylight savings is approaching, and the RBA(Reserve Bank of Australia) has issued its changes to RITS (Reserve Bank Information & Transfer System) session times.

As a result, settlement slots in New South Wales will be reduced.

Please see the altered settlement hours below:

Kind regards

Aoife 

PEXA is giving away tickets to this year's AIC National Conference with flights and accommodation on us!
Just comment below, describing in 25 words or less your favourite PEXA memory.
We're looking for the most interesting and genuine responses and winners for the competition will be selected on the 19th of April. What's your favourite PEXA memory?

PEXA Promotion Terms – AIC National Conference (‘Promotion’)

1. The Promotion is conducted by Property Exchange Australia Limited A.B.N. 92 140 677 792 of Tower Four, Level 16, 727 Collins Street, Docklands, VIC 3008 (‘Promoter’).
2. By participating in the Promotion, the entrant agrees to be bound by these terms.
3. Entrants must satisfy the following criteria in order to be eligible to win the prize described in paragraph 7:
   1. the entrant must be a PEXA Member;
   2. the entrant must be at least 18 years of age; and

• the entrant must not be an employee or contractor of the Promoter.

4. The Promotion commences on 27 March 2019 and closes at 4 p.m.(Melbourne time) on 18 April 2019 (‘Promotion Period’).
5. In order to enter the Promotion, the entrant must, during the Promotion Period:
   1. submit a response to the following statement: “describe your favourite PEXA memory” using 25 words or less; and
   2. use the entry form provided by the Promoter.
6. Only one entry per person is permitted.
7. There will be two winners and two prizes. Each winner will be entitled to the following prize:
   1. one entry ticket to Australian Institute of Conveyancers National Conference 2019 to be held in Sydney from 3 to 5 May 2019 (value is approx. $700); and
   2. accommodation and airfares for one person to the value of $2,000.[1]
8. The prizes are non-transferable, cannot be exchanged and cannot be substituted for cash.
9. The two winners will be selected by the Promoter on 19 April 2019 (‘Judgement Date’).The entries will be judged according to the most interesting and genuine responses to the statement posed in paragraph 5.
10. The winners will be notified on the Judgement Date or as soon as reasonably practical, using the contract details provided by the entrant.
11. If a prize not claimed within one week of the Judgment Date, the winner will forfeit the prize and PEXA reserves the right to select a new winner.
12. Personal information such as an entrant’s name and email address will be collected by the Promoter. If an entrant does not provide this information to the Promoter, then the entrant will not be eligible to enter the Promotion. PEXA’s Privacy Policy is available here https://www.pexa.com.au/privacy-policy. By entering the Promotion, the entrant consents to the Promoter:
    1. using and disclosing their personal information for the purposes of administering the promotion and advertising the winner; and
    2. disclosing their personal information to the Australian Institute of Conveyancers (‘AIC’) for the purposes of receiving promotional material from AIC regarding the AIC National Conference (including by email).
13. The Promoter’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
14. The Promotion is a game of skill. Chance plays no part in determining the winner.
15. The Promoter reserves the right to:

1. disqualify any entrant who submits an entry that is not in accordance with these terms; and
2. disqualify any entrant who submits an entry which infringes a third party’s intellectual property rights or includes profanity, is insulting or inflammatory or includes defamatory language.

16. If the prize is unavailable for any reason, PEXA will substitute an alternative prize of no lesser value.
17. By entering the Promotion, each entrant releases Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn (‘the Social Media Platforms’) from all liability in relation to the competition and acknowledges that the competition is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, the Social Media Platforms.

 

1If the winner is Sydney based, the accommodation offer still applies but a $500 restaurant voucher will be provided instead of airfares.

PEXA Flow will guide you through the steps required to easily settle your workspace.

Hi Community,

Good news! You can still lodge and settle during Vic Labour Day.

To help you prepare for the holiday period, planned outages and more, please refer to Calendar: Releases, Planned Outages & Public Holidays

Hi Community,

During the South Australia’s March Public Holiday, financial settlement and lodgement will not be available in this state.

To help you prepare for the holiday period, planned outages and more, please refer to Calendar: Releases, Planned Outages & Public Holidays

Hi Community,

During the Western Australia Labour Day public holiday, financial settlement and lodgement will not be available in this state.

To help you prepare for the holiday period, planned outages and more, please refer to Calendar: Releases, Planned Outages & Public Holidays

Hi Community,

PEXA is aware of an issue preventing certain users from signing on the platform. This is due to a small number of antivirus software providers marking the PEXA signing screen as ‘suspicious’ in error.

If you urgently need to sign and are currently unable to do so, please call the PEXA Support Centre on 1300 084 515 and a temporary workaround will be provided.

A resolution is expected be rolled out to amend the issue later today.

Kind regards,
Jarrod

PEXA Release 9.1 went live on Monday 4 February 2019 and the Service Charter and Standard Operating Environment Requirements have been updated accordingly. You can access clean and marked up versions of these documents via the links and attachments below.

Service Charter

Clean version

Marked up version: see attached

Standing Operating Environment Requirements

Clean version

Marked up version: see attached

Hi Community,

Good news – the $99 million threshold on PEXA transfers has now been removed. The new threshold for PEXA transfers is $9 billion. This means that any property equal to or less than this amount can now be settled through PEXA.

However, when entering Source Funds in a Trust Account, please keep in mind that:

• Each line item in Source Funds is to be equal to or less than $99 million.
• Members should create multiple line items to cover the total Source Funds rather than enter it all together in one-line item.
• The same also applies for destination line items.

For example, if the total Source Funds exceeds $99 million, you will need to create multiple line items to cover the total amount.

For any questions regarding this change, please comment below.

PEXA’s Source Account

The PEXA Source Account is available to eligible PEXA Subscribers who do not already operate a trust account with a bank that is integrated with PEXA. A list of banks who are payment-integrated with PEXA may be found here. It enables practitioners to provide funds to an electronic settlement where they are representing an incoming proprietor. It is important to note that the Source Account is not available for use when acting in any other role to provide funds to settlement.

3 days before settlement

PEXA’s Service Charter (section 2.4) requires cleared funds to be available in PEXA’s Source Account no fewer than three business days before settlement day.

If cleared funds are not available on time, parties may be impacted by a delay in settlement, potentially leading to stress for practitioners and their clients.

What to do

You may consider over-estimating the amount of funds required to be transferred to the Source Account and recommending to your client that they transfer the estimated amount, with additional funds to be disbursed back to the client via the Financial Settlement Schedule.

Note, the sum deposited into the account must match the Source Line Item created in PEXA. If not, funds will be unavailable for settlement. Further, funds can only be received electronically. Cheques and cash are not accepted.

PEXA understands that there may be times when a practitioner’s client doesn’t complete the transfer of funds within the required timeframe for reasons outside of the practitioner’s control. In the unavoidable circumstance that funds are transferred into the Source Account on the day of settlement, there is no guarantee that they will be available for settlement.

An easy-to-follow guide and answers to frequently asked questions can also be found on Community for more information.