1. What is Excess Express?
Excess Express is a new service offered by the Bursar's Office to speed excess check refunds to students. Funds will be electronically deposited into the USA bank account of the student's choice. Students can deposit into either a checking or savings account.

2. What refunds are eligible for Excess Express?
All refunds to your Bursar's account - scholarships, grants, loans, credits or overpayments.

3. Am I eligible to enroll in the excess Express program?
Every student at UMass-Amherst should enroll in the program - even students who have never received any Financial Aid. In the event you receive an excess check or refund, the funds will be electronically deposited into your bank account.

4. How will I know that a refund has been processed?
Notification will be sent to your official UMass-Amherst e-mail account when funds have been disbursed to your bank. In addition, you may monitor the status of your Bursar's Office account via SPIRE.

5. How do I enroll?
Enroll via your account through SPIRE. Enrollment will be an option under the Finances Panel. You will be asked to agree to the Terms & Conditions of participating in the Excess Express program.

In order to complete your enrollment, you need a valid bank account at a USA bank, its routing (or transit) number, and its account number. These numbers are located on your checks or can be found in the statements issued by your bank.

6. How soon is my enrollment activated?
Your banking preference will be in effect as of the first refund processed to your account after enrollment.

7. How long will it take to have my refund deposited to my bank account?
Processing time depends on the individual business practices at your bank. It is your responsibility to verify that the refund has been credited to your bank account before writing checks against these funds. Please check your bank account after you have received your e-mail to confirm that the funds were deposited.

8. What happens if I change or close my bank account?
You will be notified if the electronic deposit fails for any reason. It is your responsibility to keep your information updated on SPIRE. If the electronic transfer is rejected by your designated bank, a replacement paper check will be cut as part of the next available check process and you will need to pick it up at the Bursar's Office.

9. Is my banking information safe?
All bank account information will be stored in a safe and secure manner on the SPIRE system. It will not be shared by third parties. You are responsible for the banking information stored on SPIRE and are the only person who can change it; your bank information cannot be updated by University staff.

Excess Express Privacy Policy

10. Do I need to enroll each year?
No, your banking information will be in force for your enrollment unless you change it. You may change your banking information in SPIRE if you want to designate a different bank account for deposits.

11. Can I have my refund directly deposited into my savings account?
Yes, you can choose a savings or checking account for your Excess Express deposit. However, you can only designate one account at a time for all refunds.

12. Does enrollment in Excess Express affect the deposit of my biweekly payroll checks?
No, you register independently through Human Resources for the direct deposit of payroll checks.

13. How do I get help entering my bank information?
A tutorial can be found at the bottom of the enrollment form in SPIRE.

14. What happens if a refund is made to my account in error?
UMass-Amherst reserves the right to correct an erroneous deposit by debiting your account for the amount not to exceed the original amount of the credit.

Excess Express Privacy Policy

The University of Massachusetts aims to be a leader for the protection of privacy rights on the web. We do not sell or share confidential user information with any outside party, unless we are required to do so by law.

UMass has created this privacy statement in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to your privacy.

The information we collect for Excess Express is used solely to electronically transfer excess check payments to your designated bank account, but no information will be used to identify or contact individual users of the site against their wishes.

If you have any questions about this privacy statement or the practices of this site, please contact the Bursar's Office at (413) 545-2368.