Setting-up Electronic Account Authorisers

For Administrator users

By default, new CommBiz users cannot authorise any payments – even if they are an Administrator.

To allow users to authorise transactions, you'll need to set up authorisation rules for each account. Each account's set of rules is called an 'Electronic Account Authority' (EAA) and defines:

• Who can authorise transactions
• How many authorisers are required
• Any limits that apply

You'll need a separate EAA for each of your accounts.

'Electronic Account Authorities' vs. Account Signatories

You would have listed people as Account Signatories when you opened your CommBank accounts. Account Signatories can sign cheques, make branch withdrawals and access your organisation's accounts via NetBank or the CommBank app.

However, CommBiz works a little differently. Because it has its own transaction authorisation rules (EAAs, see above), your Account Signatories do not automatically have access or authorisation permissions in CommBiz. To give them access, you'll need to create a user profile for them, and then add them onto the EAA for each account you'd like them to be able to authorise transactions.

Note: CommBiz users have no permissions outside CommBiz, even if they’re listed as authorisers on an account's EAA. For example, they cannot sign cheques or make branch withdrawals.

Before starting, make sure you've added all of the desired authorisers as users to CommBiz.

Step 1A: Adding a EAA for one account

1. Go to Admin > Maintenance Requests
2. Select Add an Electronic Account Authority from the left-hand menu
3. Choose an account. Click Next
4. Select the account holder type. Click Next

Optional: Copy authorisers from another account's Electronic Account Authority

If you've already set up an EAA on another account of the same type, you can save time by copying it to your new EAA. This will only copy across the authorisers, not the number of authorisers required or transaction limits and thresholds – you'll set these up in the next few steps.

Select Yes or No, and click Next.

Step 1B: Adding an EAA for multiple accounts

1. Go to Admin > Maintenance Requests
2. Select Edit an Electronic Account Authority from the left-hand menu
3. Select multiple accounts from the list. Click Define Authority

Define Electronic Account Authority

Choose from the following options:

• Define a new Electronic Account Authority lets you define new authorisation rules for the selected accounts
  
  • Select this option and click Next
    
  • Then refer to Step 2: Electronic method of operation
    
• Add the selected accounts to an existing Electronic Account Authority lets you group the selected accounts with another account for which you've already defined an EAA
  
  • Select the account you wish to group this account with. Click Next
  • You'll be taken back to the account summary screen, where you can edit another EAA if you wish. Click Next
  • Then refer to Step 4: Confirm details
    
• Copy and edit an existing Electronic Account Authority copies all information from another account's EAA then lets you edit this
  
  • Select the account you wish to copy information from. Click Next
  • Then refer to Step 2: Electronic method of operation

Step 2: Electronic method of operation

Choose your preferred electronic method of operation. 

• One authoriser required means only one user is needed to authorise transactions
• More than one authoriser required means two or more users will be needed. You can specify the exact number at the next step
• Custom (multiple authorisers with rules) lets you set detailed rules on which users can authorise what amounts. This gives your organisation different levels of oversight of different-sized transactions

Click Next. 
 
Custom electronic method of operation

Note: This screen will only appear if you’ve selected Custom (multiple authorisers with rules).

Here you can set up different authorisation rules for different transaction amounts, split into monetary bands. For each band:

1. Specify an upper and a lower limit
2. Select the number of authorisers required from each list (you'll specify which users are on which list later)
3. Click New Row
4. Repeat for each monetary band you require. The lower and upper limits are required to be in sequential order (i.e. each band must start $0.01 higher than the previous one). The last band’s upper limit must be ‘No Limit’

Click Next.

Step 3: Account authorisers

Here you'll add the users as authorisers. If you’ve copied users from another EAA, they'll be displayed.

To add a new authoriser:

1. Select Yes to 'Do you want to add a new authoriser?' Click Next.
2. Choose a user from the drop-down menu. Click Next.
   Note: If we haven't identified the selected user, we’ll take you through an identification process that must be completed before the user will be able to authorise transactions.
3. If you selected a custom electronic method of operation, assign each authoriser to a list.
   Note: A payment won’t be processed until the number of required authorisers in each list authorise the payment. For example, if you have one authoriser required from list A and one from list B, the payment won't be processed until an authoriser from each list has authorised it.

Click Next.

Step 4: Confirm details

Review the details you've provided.

Click Confirm.

Step 5: Add an Electronic Account Authority – confirmed

The request is now submitted for authorisation by your organisation.

If you have a service delegate on your CommBiz service:

• Click on their name
• Ask them to enter their login details (if they're not with you, they can do this when they next log on to CommBiz) 

If you don't have a service delegate or the new authorisers require identification, some paperwork is required:

• Print the EAA form(s)
• Acknowledge you've printed the form by checking the box
• Click OK
• Ask your organisation's representatives to sign Part C of the form
• Scan and email the completed form to bankfeed@cba.com.au