Nov
20
Posted by Marco Tamase on November 20th, 2019
Posted in: Announcements, DOCLINE, Document Delivery
Tags: EFTS, Electronic Fund Transfer System
The Medical Library Association (MLA) has developed the specifications of a new Electronic Funds Transfer System (EFTS) platform. MLA will proceed with actual development and implementation if a minimum of 750 users sign up for the new platform by January 10, 2020. As of November 20, 2019, nearly 500 libraries have signed up to receive a user agreement.
EFTS is an online billing system for interlibrary loan (ILL) transactions that collects an ILL charge from a borrowing library, on behalf of the lending library, and pays it to the lender, less a transaction fee.
EFTS has been operated by the University of Connecticut Health Center (UCHC) since 1996, when UCHC and NLM collaborated to create it. In May, 2019, UCHC informed EFTS users that UCHC would cease EFTS operations on December 31, 2019, later extended to December 31, 2020. This announcement has understandably created major concerns for the many libraries that depend on the EFTS service. Since this announcement, MLA, UCHC, and NLM have collaborated on an MLA solution to launch a new and enhanced EFTS platform. UCHC has agreed to extend the current EFTS operations until MLA’s EFTS platform is operational to ensure a continuity of service.
For information on the new EFTS features, enhancements, and fees, and to request a user agreement, please consult the EFTS information page. MLA has also collected answers to questions current EFTS users and potential participants may have:
For more information, contact Kevin Baliozian, MLA executive director.