Know the submission guidelines of payments to DFAS

There are occasions when retirees and annuitants send payments to DFAS rather than receiving them. Debts, SBP payments during open season and a number of other reasons can require mailing checks to DFAS.

Retirees and annuitants should be aware that the Federal Reserve Bank recently tightened its acceptance criteria for negotiable checks.  The following guidelines are provided for submission of checks to DFAS.

• DFAS-Cleveland cannot collect and deposit any check payable to a member.  When these checks are received they are returned to the sender for negotiation by the payee.  DFAS can accept these checks if the member has countersigned the back of the check “Pay to the order of DFAS-CL”, then signs beneath.
• Checks that are made payable to DFAS and the member can not be deposited without the member’s signature on the back.  This means that both payees must endorse the check.
• Checks that are payable to DFAS or the member can be deposited without the member’s signature because either payee can negotiate.
• Insurance companies and banks sometimes send refund checks to their customer (member) through DFAS since DFAS was the point of origin for a specific type of allotment.  When these checks are received at DFAS, the refund is forwarded to the member using the most current correspondence address on record.

In an effort to ensure prompt receipt and recording of payments, DFAS recommends that members follow these guidelines:

1)    The “Pay to the Order of” line should read “DFAS-CL”;

2)    The memo line of the check should contain the member SSN or some identifying account number;

3)    The mailing address for checks sent directly to DFAS-CL is:

Defense Finance and Accounting Service
Cleveland Center, Code ATLOC
1240 East Ninth Street
Cleveland, Ohio 44199

4)    The mailing address for checks sent via London, KY is:

Defense Finance and Accounting Service
U.S. Military Retirement Pay (or U.S. Military Annuitant Pay when appropriate)
P.O. Box 7130
London, KY 40742-7130

5)    The mailing address for Direct Remittance payments for SBP/RSFPP costs is:

DFAS-CL
SBP and RSFPP Remittances
P.O. Box 979013
St. Louis, MO 63197-9000

Note: If a Direct Remittance payment is not sent to this St. Louis address, delays in processing and posting could occur.