Deposit and credit decisions inside the request
How do we make the deposit decision inside a start or transfer request by rule, with the credit check, the waivers and the amount written to billing?
Decide the deposit by the tariff's rule at the moment of the request. Inside a start or a transfer, Callvu classifies the applicant against the tariff's deposit criteria (a prior account's payment history with the utility, a letter of credit history from another utility, a credit-based assessment with the applicant's consent where the tariff allows it, the statutory waivers for protected groups and low-income customers), runs the checks the classification needs (the history lookup, the credit report with the consent and the permissible purpose, the waiver eligibility), computes the amount under the tariff's cap and the installment option, produces the FCRA adverse action notice where a credit report drives the requirement, routes a borderline or a disputed result to the credit desk in the Decision Desk, and writes the decision, the amount, the installments and the basis to the billing system with the applicant told before they confirm the start.
In scopeComplex: multi-party handoffsCallvu moves: classify, decide, write back
Last updated November 7, 2026.
The problem today
Two applicants with the same history got two different deposits from two agents, and one of them filed a discrimination complaint.
The deposit is a credit decision made at the busiest moment of the account's life, by an agent with a screen full of other things. The tariff has criteria; the agent has a judgment. The result is inconsistent across agents and channels, slow when a credit report is involved, and a compliance exposure where the report drove the decision and no adverse action notice went out, or where a protected customer was charged a deposit the rules waive.
The tariff sets who may be asked for a deposit, the criteria (the utility's own payment history, a letter from another utility, a credit assessment where the commission allows it), the cap on the amount, the installment option, the waivers, and the refund with interest after good payment; the FCRA sets the notice where a consumer report drives the requirement; the commission's rules bar deposits based on prohibited factors. All of it is a computation the request can run before the applicant confirms.
A deposit decided by the tariff's rule is the same for everyone and defensible for the utility.
How it runs
From the requestto the system of record.
A start service or a service transfer request reaches the deposit step (through those processes), or a deposit review is triggered by a payment history event the tariff names. Callvu runs the decision.
- Applicant or customer
- Consents to a credit check where the tariff uses one, supplies a letter of credit history where they have one, and sees the decision and the options before confirming.
- Credit desk
- Decides borderline and disputed results in the Decision Desk.
- Callvu
- Classifies, runs the checks, computes, produces the notice, routes and writes.
Classify the applicant
The applicant is classified against the tariff's deposit criteria in order: an existing or prior customer with the utility's own payment history over the tariff's look-back (no deposit where the history is good; a deposit where it shows the tariff's number of late payments or a disconnection); a new customer with a letter of credit history from another utility (through the deposit waiver process); a new customer with no history, where the tariff allows a credit-based assessment with the applicant's consent and the permissible purpose, or a deposit by default; and the waivers the tariff and the commission's rules set (age, low-income program enrollment, a protected status, a guarantor).
Run the checks and compute
The checks the classification needs run: the history lookup in CIS, the credit report through the utility's agreement with the bureau under the applicant's consent, the waiver eligibility against the program records; the deposit amount is computed under the tariff's method (an estimate of the premise's bills over the tariff's months, capped as the commission sets) with the installment option the tariff allows, and the applicant sees the decision, the amount, the installments and the basis before confirming the start.
Decide
A clear result proceeds by rule; a borderline result (a history with disputed late payments, a credit report with a fraud alert or a frozen file, a waiver claim without the program record, an applicant who disputes the basis) goes to the credit desk in the Decision Desk with the checks and only the allowed outcomes (no deposit, deposit at the computed amount, deposit with installments, reduce under the tariff's discretion where it exists, or require a guarantor); a customer who disputes a deposit may use the commission's dispute process.
Write back and notify
The decision, the amount, the installment schedule, the basis and the refund eligibility date are written to the billing system, the FCRA adverse action notice is produced and delivered through the adverse action notice process where a credit report drove a deposit or a decline, the deposit installments are added to the bills, and the deposit record carries the interest accrual and the review date for the refund by rule.
Where it ends: The deposit was decided by the tariff's criteria inside the request, with the checks run under consent, the amount capped, the notice produced where a report drove it, and the billing system holding the basis, the schedule and the refund date. The Decision Trace shows the classification, the checks and any decision; the Audit Trace shows the consent, the report, the computation and the write with time.
Runtime enforcement
What is enforcedwhile the work runs.
The regulations preloaded in Callvu Studio and the bank's own policies, applied as steps that run, not lines in a binder. A step that breaks a rule does not run, so a completed run was compliant.
The handoff
Between the front doorand the back office.
The front door
Inside the start or transfer request in any channel; the applicant consents and sees the decision before confirming.
The back office
The credit desk decides only borderline and disputed results; billing holds the deposit from the write.
The Decision Desk
- A borderline history, a report with a fraud alert or a frozen file, a waiver claim without a record, or a disputed basis goes to the credit desk in the Decision Desk with the checks and only no deposit, deposit, deposit with installments, reduce where the tariff allows, or require a guarantor.
Proof
In scope.Proof at scale, not one process at a time.
The kind of process Callvu runs in production for customers in this industry. Ask for a reference on this exact process. The results below are the industry's published proof; each claim code links to its record on agents.callvu.com.
More than 1,000 processes are live across Callvu customers.
Across Callvu customers
PSEG Long Island runs start, stop and move service on Callvu, live in 4 weeks.
Across Callvu customers
Questions
What buyers ask next,answered plainly.
Who is asked for a deposit?
Only applicants who meet the tariff's criteria in order: no established credit, a poor payment history with the utility, or no history and no letter of credit history, with the waivers the tariff and the commission set applied by rule.
How is the amount set?
By the tariff's method, an estimate of the premise's bills over the tariff's months, capped as the commission sets, with the installment option shown to the applicant before they confirm.
When is a credit report used?
Only where the tariff allows a credit-based assessment, with the applicant's consent and a permissible purpose; where it drives a deposit or a decline, the FCRA adverse action notice is produced.
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