Can someone point me to regulatory guidance or other references regarding the need to process payments timely, and not cause unnecessary delays.

UCCC would be one reference so you might look to state resources. Reg Z addresses it for open end credits in 226.10.

The non-regulatory advice on this topic is that you really need to process payments promptly to avoid the negative PR that late postings engender, as well as the potential for legislation if abusive late posting results in patterns of customer damages, etc. Think "Truth in Savings," "Truth in Lending," or "Regulation CC." All were born of abuses by financial institutions or other lenders.

IF you are talking about lockbox payments you'll want to look at the contract to see what your Treasury staff agreed to regarding processing. Most contracts will say that all payments received will be processed the day they are received.

As I stated in another post, I received a $75 Class Action Settlement Check because of this very issue. BANK (won't say the name) had a "habit" of holding on to payments for one, two, three days before posting. Since they had eliminated the grace period for late fees, they really increased their fee income at $29 a pop.

Or let me put this another way, if the industry can't discipline itself to process payments in a timely manner, we will wind up with regulations to ensure that we do.

Anyone remember the post-mark legislation that died a couple of years back? It would have required banks to honor the Postmark date on payments sent by mail.

Imagine the record-keeping possibilities there....