Quick start guide for employers

Quick start

guide for

employers

Health Savings Account (HSA)

Welcome

By choosing to offer your employees a Health

Savings Account (HSA) from BankofAmerica,

along with an HSA Qualified Health Plan,

you’re giving them a way to maximize their

tax‑advantaged savings to pay for eligible health

care expenses now and in the future — while

lowering your health care costs.

This quick start guide will help you establish your

group HSA program, enroll your employees and

fund their accounts.

For Flexible Spending Account (FSA) enrollment

questions please review the Employer User Guide.

Easy‑to‑follow instructions will help to alleviate

common issues and streamline your experience

in an effort to create efficiencies going forward.

STEP 1:

Establish your group HSA program 4

STEP 2:

Enroll your employees 8

STEP 3:

Fund your employees’ accounts 15

Transition tools and support 19

We’re here for you

Business Support Team

9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Eastern Mon‑Fri

866.791.0251, Option 2

[email protected]

Establish Enroll Fund Support

1. Establish your group HSA program

Before you enroll your employees, the first step is to establish your

group HSA program via the online wizard. We’ve included important

tips and notes to help you along the way.

Getting started checklist

Group administrator(s) and contact information

Employer Tax Identification (TIN/EIN Number)

HSA start date

Projected number of HSA participants

Bank routing number and account number for

contributions and micro‑deposit

Your company’s NAICS code

Establish Enroll Fund Support

Set up using the

online wizard

Set up your group using the online

wizard, a simple and streamlined

process with no documents to sign

or complete.

Access the online wizard

Note: Establish your group on the online wizard

at least 3 days before you are ready to enroll

your employees.

Establish Enroll Fund Support

Online wizard tips and important notes

Employer code

Follow the steps in the group setup wizard to create a

custom Employer Code (maximum of 6 alphanumeric

characters) which identifies your group.

Group administrator(s)

Create a username and password to log in to the

HSA Employer Portal to manage the group program.

Additional group administrators can be set up

aswell.

Company bank account information

During the group setup, a company bank ACH

routing number and account number are required.

This information is used to ACH debit the monthly

fee (if the company is paying the fee), as well as

for fraud prevention and security purposes.

Note: See “Important next steps for ACH”

in the right-hand column of this page

Service Agreement

Terms and conditions will be displayed for review

and acceptance. This is a good time to print a copy

of the agreement for your company records.

Important next steps for ACH

1. Once you have established your group HSA program,

your micro‑deposit will be made into the company

bank account provided during the group setup.

You will receive an email from BankofAmerica

with instructions on verifying the micro‑deposit

amount. Please verify the amount we deposited

and removed by logging in to the Employer Portal

at healthbeneﬁts.bankofamerica.com to input the

transaction amount (less than $1.00).

2. If there are any ACH debit blocks on the bank

account, be sure to add a ﬁlter which will allow us

to ACH debit the account.

Originator: Bank of America, N.A.

Origination Number Filters:

Billing: 6521523496

Funding/payments: 1521523496

Any divisional or replacement bank accounts:

4521523496

Micro-deposit: 3521523496

Establish Enroll Fund Support

Access the

Employer Portal

Now that you have established your group HSA, you

can view and manage your program through the

Employer Portal. Log in using your username and

password you created during the group setup process.

Note: Forgot your credentials?

Employer Portal > “I forgot my password”

If you have any problems, contact the Business

Support Team at 866.791.0251, Option 2 or at

[email protected]

Employer Portal

navigation

Home

From the homepage you can click on the

appropriate tab to manage your program.

Imports

Access file templates, upload enrollment and funding

files, set up scheduled contributions, view completed

files and fix errors.

Set up contributions

Allows you to schedule contributions either on a

one‑time or recurring basis.

Reports

Recently created reports are displayed and

additional reports can be created and accessed

here as well.

Employees

Add a new employee to the program, view and

update an employee’s profile, terminate employee

status and view all of your employees.

Tools

Guides, forms and other materials to help you

manage your program.

Establish Enroll Fund Support

2. Enroll your employees

Now that you have established your group HSA, the next step

is to enroll your employees.

Enrollment methods

Upload an Excel file 9

Most popular for large groups

Manual entry 12

Best for groups with less than 10 employees

Employee self registration and enrollment 13

Your employees will enroll themselves online

Establish Enroll Fund Support

Upload an Excel file

Bank of America provides formatted Excel files for

you to input employee demographic and enrollment

information. Save the demographic and enrollment

templates to your hard drive.

Once you have all employee demographic data

entered, you are ready to upload the file via the

Employer Portal. The processing time will be

about 10 minutes, depending on the number of

employees you need to enter.

Employer Portal > Imports > New Import

Select the type of file you would like to

import. Then choose “download template”

Note: Please provide a physical address as

PO Boxes cannot be used as an address for

enrollment.

Establish Enroll Fund Support

File method steps

Employer Portal > Imports > New Import > Select the type of file you would like to import > Open the

template and enter your employee’s demographic and enrollment data. See file method tips for helpful hints.

Under Import > “Browse” to locate the saved file on your hard drive > upload the file > “Import Data”

Be sure that your file completes without error. This typically takes a few minutes but could be longer

during peak processing periods.

Under Import > “Browse” to locate the saved file on your hard drive > upload the file > “Import Data”

Be sure that your file completes without error. This typically takes a few minutes but could be longer

during peak processing periods.

The file import uploads to the system; you’ll see an Import Submitted message and will receive an

email confirmation.

Check the Import Queue to view any errors or exceptions identified. If there are any errors, you’ll need

to correct them and resubmit for processing.

Check employee enrollment status.

You will have to confirm that your file was submitted successfully and that any errors or

exceptions are corrected. Please refer to “Troubleshooting file errors” on page 22 of this

guide for help.

Note: If your company wants to use the “Division” column, please provide a list of divisions to the Business

Support Team prior to uploading the files so they can be loaded in our system. Divisions can be used to allow

plan sponsors limited access to only their division’s employees, or to split HSA funding and/or fees across

multiple bank accounts for different parts of a company.

Identity Verification Process (IDV)

Once all employees are enrolled, you will need to make sure no employees have IDV holds. See page 14

for more information.

Establish Enroll Fund Support

File method tips

Here are tips for a few of the columns to help you fill out the fields you will need to complete on the file layout.

Do not alter the formatting of the file or errors will occur during submission:

Column A (Employee Identifier) This is commonly used for the employer to enter the employee ID or payroll

number. If you do not use employee IDs, feel free to use any unique number for each employee.

Column A (Employee Identifier) and Column M (Employer Employee ID) must have the exact

same data.

Column P (Employee Status) would be “Active” for all employees active under your program.

Column Q (Status Effective Date) only required when sending termination dates, add term date

in this field.

Column AI (Enrollment Effective Date) is the date the employee is eligible for the HSA.

Column AJ (Election Amount Indicator) select “PerPay” from the drop‑down menu.

Column AK (HDHP Coverage Level) specify if the employee has individual or family coverage.

Note: Email and phone number are not required but are recommended. This allows us to reach your

employees when needed, and enables your employees to receive important notifications about their account,

enhancing the employee experience.

Once all employees are enrolled you can submit contributions for your employees.

To submit your contributions, go to page 15 of this guide.

Establish Enroll Fund Support

Manual entry

This option allows you to enroll employees one‑by‑one manually. Begin by logging in to the Employer Portal.

Employer Portal > Employees > “New Employee”

Enter the employee’s personal information > “Add Employee.” Once you receive the message “Employee

Profile Added” > “Add New Enrollment” > “Submit”

Select the check box for HSA > enter the “Effective Date” (date the employee’s insurance is effective)

Select coverage level > “individual” or ”family”

Click “Submit/Add Enrollment” > a message will let you know that your employee was successfully enrolled

Check employee enrollment status

You will have to confirm that your file was submitted successfully and that any errors or

exceptions are corrected. Please refer to “Troubleshooting file errors” on page 22 of this

guide for help.

Note: Email and phone number are not required but are recommended. This allows us to reach your

employees when needed, and enables your employees to receive important notifications about their account,

enhancing the employee experience.

Identity Verification Process (IDV)

Once all employees are enrolled, you will need to make sure no employees have IDV holds. See page 14

for more information.

Establish Enroll Fund Support

Employee self registration and enrollment

Although we recommend enrolling your employees to ensure accounts are set up so you can fund, you also have

the option of having employees register themselves.

• Once your group’s enrollment has been completed, you will receive an email confirmation that includes a link

and special code for the employees to self‑enroll into the company’s HSA program.

• We recommend distributing enrollment instructions to your employees letting them know they can Enroll Now.

Instructions can be included in the employee’s open enrollment packages and added to your company’s intranet.

Note: If an employee is not enrolled, contributions cannot be applied to their account.

Under the Reports tab, run an HSA Account Detail Report to determine which employees have enrolled. Then

you can submit contributions for these employees. To submit your contributions, go to page 15 of this guide.

Identity Verification Process (IDV)

Once all employees are enrolled, you will need to make sure no employees have IDV holds. See page 14

for more information.

Establish Enroll Fund Support

Next step: Check employee enrollment status

Due to IDV requirements, once an employee or employees have been enrolled, it is important to follow up and

check the “Status” of each employee’s approval process, which normally takes 1‑2 business days.

Employer Portal > Employees

Check the “Status” of each employee to

ensure their account is showing “Active”

Click on the employee’s name to display

enrollment details

Next to the employee’s name the icon will be visible

Place your cursor over the icon and the account

details will be displayed

Check the “HSA Status” of each employee to

ensure their account is showing “active”

Accounts that are showing as “Pending” cannot accept contributions

until the account has been approved and active. This means

that Bank of America will need additional information for IDV to

complete the account opening process.

Note: We will attempt to reach the employee with emails,

letters and a phone call. An employee on hold for IDV can

contact Customer Care 24/7 at 800.718.6710 to discuss what

documentation is needed. Employees can upload documentation

on the member website. They can also download the HSA

Identity Verification Form to mail or fax documentation.

Member website > Tools & Support >

“Account Support & Forms”

Once all employees are enrolled you can submit contributions for your employees.

To submit your contributions, go to page 15 of this guide.

Establish Enroll Fund Support

3. Fund your employees’ accounts

Once your employees are successfully enrolled in the

BankofAmerica HSA, you can begin submitting payroll deductions

and employer contributions through the Employer Portal.

Funding methods

Option 1 – ACH funding tool 16

Contribution file

Online manual entry

Option 2 – Direct deposit 18

Establish Enroll Fund Support

Option 1 –

ACH funding tool

The Employer Portal provides an ACH funding tool

that allows you to seamlessly deposit funds into your

participants’ HSAs. Plus, you can manage all the

aspects of the funds transfer schedule with ease

and efficiency.

There are two ways you can fund accounts using

the ACH Funding Tool:

1. Contribution File

Bank of America provides a formatted Excel

spreadsheet file to input HSA contributions and

upload the file on the Employer Portal when setting

up a funding schedule.

Employer Portal > Set up new contribution >

new schedule > recurring

From the option list, select “Contribution” >

“Open Template”

Save the template to your hard drive

2. Online Manual Entry

Contributions can be added directly on the Employer

Portal as part of setting up a funding schedule. This

can be a one‑time funding, or you can schedule

recurring contributions here.

Establish Enroll Fund Support

How to use the ACH funding tool

Employer Portal > Set Up Contributions >

New Contribution

Select “One‑Time” or “Recurring”

Drop‑down menu > “Health Savings Account”

Select the Effective Date for the

contributions

You have two options: “Enter Manually” or

“Import a File”

a. Manually enter > Enter Contributions >

ﬁll in contribution amounts > “Save”

b. Import a ﬁle > follow on‑screen

instructions to upload and submit the

Excel ﬁle

Note: Be sure that your ﬁle completes without error.

This typically takes 5 minutes but could be longer

during peak processing periods.

Contributions from all sources combined are subject to

annual limits. Your employees’ annual limit is based on

whether they have individual or family coverage under

a High Deductible Health Plan as well as their age in

the tax year. Contributions in excess of an employee’s

IRS limit may be subject to standard income tax rates

plus 6% penalty. View contribution limits here.

If you are submitting scheduled contributions,

you may need to enter an end date to ensure the

contributions do not exceed the annual limit.

Important notes

1. Anytime a contribution is submitted, check the

Import Queue to view any errors or exceptions

identified. Correct the errors and resubmit

for processing.

2. Refer to “Troubleshooting file errors” on page 22

of this guide for help.

3. If there are any ACH debit blocks on the bank

account, be sure to add a filter which will allow

us to ACH debit the account.

Originator: Bank of America, N.A.

Origination Number Filters:

Billing: 6521523496

Funding/payments: 1521523496

Any divisional or replacement bank accounts:

4521523496

Micro-deposit: 3521523496

Establish Enroll Fund Support

Option 2 – Direct deposit

If you currently offer direct deposit to your

employees for payroll, the HSA accounts can be set

up in the payroll system (like a checking account)

for HSA contributions.

You will need the following information:

1. Employee’s HSA account number

2. Routing number: 053201610

3. The amount the employee wants to contribute

each pay cycle

Each HSA has a unique account number and

can be found on the Employer Portal under the

employee’s Profile.

Note: For larger groups, the account numbers

can be obtained by contacting the Business

Support Team at 866.791.0251 and requesting

a spreadsheet.

Establish Enroll Fund Support

Transition tools & support

We’re always here to help during any stage of account management.

The following topics will assist you in ongoing account management.

Topics

Business Support Team 20

HSA rollover/trustee transfer

process option 21

Troubleshooting file errors 22

New HSA participant —

username and password setup 23

Additional resources

and communication tools 24

Establish Enroll Fund Support

Business Support Team

Your go‑to resource to help you manage your

company’s HSA program.

Your contact for day‑to‑day operations

• Manages open enrollment activities

• Efficient, streamlined processes

9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Eastern Mon‑Fri

866.791.0251, Option 2

[email protected]

Establish Enroll Fund Support

HSA rollover/trustee transfer process option

Individual transfer

Employee transfers funds from their current administrator, completes the HSA Transfer Form* and sends it to

their current administrator.

The administrator will mail a check and copy of the Transfer Form directly to Bank of America to be processed

and deposited into the new HSA account.

* The HSA Transfer Request Form can be found under Resources on the Employer Portal.

Establish Enroll Fund Support

Troubleshooting file errors

When a file contains errors, the Exception Report will need to be reviewed.

Go to Imports and

select the file you

would like to review

Then select the

error report

Establish Enroll Fund Support

New HSA participant – username and password setup

Employees can access their HSA for the first time on the member website at

myhealth.bankofamerica.com

Create a username and password by selecting “Click here to create your username and password.”

Take your health account on the go

Download the app

I have a code

Forgot username?

Username

Remember me

Existing Users

Ready to apply for an Individual HSA?

Get started

Employer website