Credit Card Acceptance
The University’s procedures with regard to the acceptance and handling of credit and debit card transactions are defined and outlined below.
For specific policy guidelines, please consult the Cash Management Policy.
Introduction
To accommodate customers wanting to pay by credit or debit cards, authorized units may accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover and/or American Express payments. This process is consistent with other cash handling procedures, though some additional steps are required. Generally only authorized cash collection units may request authorization to become a Visa, Mastercard, Discover or American Express merchant.
Departmental Responsibility
Credit and debit card transactions are monetary in nature and therefore are subject to the same control and reconciliation policies as cash transactions. A daily accounting of receipts for sales or deposits should be balanced against the electronic transactions. All credit and debit card revenue is electronically deposited into a University bank account.
All departments that wish to accept credit or debit card payments through any method (electronic or web) must have a unique Merchant ID number (MID). Treasury Services works with the University’s preferred processor to issue a merchant number and associates it with a University bank account.
All units authorized to accept credit and debit card payments must exercise reasonable care in screening transactions to reduce card misuse and loss of funds, and must adhere to the Payment Card Industry Security Standards (PCI-DSS) at all times. Please visit the following page for more information on the PCI standards.
Procedures to Deposit and Report Credit and Debit Card Revenue
Upon initial setup, Treasury Services or the University’s preferred processor will provide instructions on the use of the card acceptance equipment. Customized deposit procedures, instructions for the use of the equipment, report generation guidelines and procedures for handling disputed transactions will also be provided.
For detailed instructions on completing the CRT, please see training materials available on the website.
- CRTs (Cash Receipt Ticket) will be automatically generated and an email will be sent to the department to review and commit; no cash or checks should be added to the CRT. The department has 5 business days to commit the CRT. After 5 business days, the CRT will be automatically committed.
- The card processor will electronically remit daily totals to the bank.
- Chargebacks and rejects of a card transaction will be charged to the departmental account. A department has fifteen days to dispute any chargebacks and it is up to the department to present any evidence to the card processor for the dispute. If the vendor sides with the department, a reversal will be granted and the department will re-receive the funds.
- Depository Services will send the billing statements to the department on a monthly basis as backup to the monthly processing fees.