Trust Fund Refunds
Trust fund refunds corresponds to the process managed by the WBG Trust Funds Accounting team to return unspent funds to a WBG development partner upon closure of a trust fund.
Development Partner Center (DPC) allows development partners to access information as well as analytics pertaining to their WBG financing portfolios.
WBG is introducing a new feature in the DPC that is required for development partners to electronically and securely request refunds and track the status directly through the DPC portal.
Currently, the process to request refunds requires development partners to submit a refund form containing banking information via DocuSign to the WBG.
Starting April 18, 2022, when trust funds close, WBG will send an email to development partners with a link for them to log in to their DPC account and complete the refund forms through the system.
Watch the video below for a quick preview.
as the transaction takes place in a secure environment protected by two-factor authentication.
eliminates the need for multiple emails and separate DocuSign forms.
of data within DPC means less errors and correction hassles.
allows real-time access to the current status of the refund request.
Resources
- Refund requester is the person responsible for initiating the refund request through the DPC portal after being notified that funds are available.
- Authorizing official is the person responsible for reviewing the information provided by the refund requester and giving permission to the World Bank Group to process the refund.
Note: The roles of refund requester and authorizing official cannot be performed by the same person for any given refund request.
- New users of the DPC portal must register as refund requester or authorizing official by using the “New User Registration” form. Please refer to this guide with quick steps to follow.
- Existing users of the DPC portal must register as refund requester or authorizing official by choosing the “Request refund roles” option from the dropdown under the “Contacts” section in DPC. Please refer to this guide with quick steps to follow.
After receiving the registration request, WBG will perform necessary validation and approve such requests. After receiving the approval email, the refund requester can access the DPC portal to raise a refund request. The refund requester and authorizing official can refer to guide with quick steps to follow. FAQs are also available for easy reference.
Resources
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS
A new feature is being introduced to Development Partner Center (DPC) for World Bank Group Development Partners to request the return of unused funds from closed trust funds directly through the DPC portal.
The DPC portal provides a tab labeled “Transactions” under which there is a “Refund” button. Clicking on this will open the Refund home page. In this page, the refund requester can click on “+ request for refund” button wherein the requisite details must be filled in by the refund requester and approved by the authorized donor counterpart.
An email notification will be sent by the World Bank Group informing the development partner that funds are available for refund and the request to obtain/receive them can be initiated through the DPC portal.
- Bank account information is transmitted through a secure environment.
- Reduced risk of fraud as access to the DPC portal requires two-factor authentication.
- Email exchanges containing bank account information, which can lead to cyber security risks, are avoided.
- The refund request is initiated by a refund requester and approved by an authorizing official, for segregation of duties, greater oversight and internal controls, as well as an added layer of fraud prevention.
Refund requester is a development partner representative responsible for initiating the refund request through the DPC portal after being notified that funds are available.
Authorizing official is a development partner representative responsible for reviewing the information provided by the refund requester and giving permission to the World Bank Group to process the refund.
Both refund requester and authorizing official are new roles owned by development partners and they need to be registered in DPC prior to initiating a refund request.
The refund requester initiates the refund request. Only the person registered as refund requester can initiate the refund request through the DPC portal. He/She should click on the “Refunds” option available in the dropdown menu under “Transactions”. The request will then be submitted to the authorizing official for their approval. Please refer to this guide with quick steps for you to follow.
The authorizing official reviews the information for the refund request. He/she can either “approve” or “return” the request. If the request is approved, it is submitted to World Bank Group for processing and email notification will be sent to both Refund requester and Authorizing official. If the authorizing official notes discrepancies or the need for further elaboration, he/she can return the request to the refund requester using the “return” option. This option allows them to include a comment. The refund requester will be notified via email about the return of their action. Please refer to this guide with quick steps for you to follow.
The roles of refund requester and authorizing official cannot be performed by the same person. A person can be granted both roles. However, a person can perform only one role for a particular refund request.
New users of the DPC portal must register as refund requester or authorizing official by using the “New User Registration” form. Please refer to this guide with quick steps for you to follow.
Existing users of the DPC portal must register as refund requester or authorizing official by choosing the “request refund roles” option from the dropdown under the “contacts” section on DPC. The World Bank Group will review and take appropriate action on the request. Please refer to this guide with quick steps for you to follow.
The authorizing official will be notified via email that a refund request has been submitted for the trust fund and is pending his/her approval.
The status of the refund request can be tracked in real time by development partners. This feature can be found under the refund list section by navigating to Transactions >> Refunds. A dashboard showing the current status will be displayed.
Only development partners who created or approved refund requests will be able to view the status of those refund requests in the dashboard.
If the trust fund does not appear in the dropdown list, development partners can send an email with the trust fund reference to the World Bank Finance and Accounting team via trustfundrefunds@worldbank.org for further assistance.
Development partners can communicate with the World Bank Group about specific refund requests directly using the “Development Partner Communication” feature. This is available within the Refund Details section of the respective refund requests.
The World Bank Group will also use this feature to communicate necessary clarifications to the refund requester and authorizing official. Both refund requester and authorizing official will be notified of the query via email and will be able to the view the query and provide their response directly in the DPC Portal.
The Development Partners can contact the World Bank Finance and Accounting team at trustfundrefunds@worldbank.org.