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At the direction of the UW PCI Merchant Services Director, the UW Tacoma Cashier’s Office is updating its current credit card payment policy and process.
The Cashier’s Office accepts credit/debit card payments online via TouchNet Marketplace, the University of Washington’s eCommerce platform. The Marketplace enables University departments the ability to sell products and services as well as collect fines online, while reducing the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard scope. With the switch to TouchNet, the UW Tacoma Cashier’s Office will no longer accept in-person credit/debit card payments, as all purchases can be paid online without any associated convenience or service fees.
If TouchNet evers goes off-line, or is otherwise unavailable, we will not be able to accept credit card payments until TouchNet is back online, or an alternative solution is set up.
If your department needs to accept credit card or ACH (web check) payments, contact the Cashier’s Office at uwtcash@uw.edu to learn how to get set up on the TouchNet Marketplace.
By working with the UW Tacoma Cashier’s Office, you are ensuring the most secure form of credit card processing.
The Cashier’s Office is responsible for reconciling the online payments and producing sales reports. The department is still responsible for reconciling their budget on Workday.
To maintain strict internal controls, the Cashier’s Office will also issue any applicable refunds. It is up to the department to request the refund along with the corresponding refund documentation including: order number, amount to refund and reason for refund.
For departments that occasionally invoice external vendors, businesses/organizations and/or individuals, you can still have your users pay their invoice balance online with TouchNet. The funds will go into a holding budget and then the Finance Office will transfer the funds into the department budget.
The invoice payment product is not to be used for internal UW billing. Do not use your ProCard to pay an internal invoice.
If your department doesn’t have an invoice template, download the generic template below and customize it with your unit information.
After you send the invoice to your customer, complete and submit the web form, or email the invoice to uwtcash@uw.edu. Once your request is received, you will get an email with the an instruction sheet for you to send to your customer. This PDF contains payment instructions and the link to make the online payment.
Note that customers paying with a web check from a business account may need to contact their bank to allow ACH payments.
Costs Associated with the Acceptance of Credit Cards
There are many fees incurred when accepting credit and debit payments, including: Interchange Fees, UW Merchant Fee, Merchant Processing Fees and Miscellaneous Fees. When departments are utilizing the TouchNet Marketplace to sell products or services, these fees are billed directly to the department budget based on their individual MID (merchant identification).
In some cases departments need to receive payment for a “one-off” invoice and there really isn’t a need to set them up with their own MID. In these incidents, the Cashier’s Office will process the payment under its own MID. Departments will still be responsible for paying the associated fees. In order to expedite the internal billing process, thus insuring timely budget reconciliation, the Cashier's Office standardizes the credit card merchant fee billing to a flat rate of 3%*. For web checks the fee is $.55 per transaction. Return fees are $5.00 per item.
Each month, departments utilizing the Cashier’s Office credit card service will receive a report detailing the previous month’s transactions. This report should be used to reconcile departmental budgets. It is the responsibility of each department to take these fees into consideration when setting their prices.
If you think you will need to invoice more frequently, contact uwtcash@uw.edu to get set up with your own MID and invoice item on the TouchNet Marketplace.
*This rate is subject to change.
Merchants, we are excited to announce online ACH validated payments are here through the University e-commerce platform TouchNet!
What is ACH Validation?:
The National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA) has required that any payments received in a form of web debit such as webchecks, e-checks or ACH Debit through an online portal must have account validation.
I have a TouchNet store already. Do I need to do anything to activate ACH?
No! We are in the process of turning on ACH validated payments for all existing TouchNet stores. We expect this process to take approximately 90 days. Going forward all TouchNet stores will be set up to accept both credit cards and ACH validated payments.
Once your store or uPay site is set up to accept ACH, your customers will be able to choose their payment method at check-out. If they select Electronic Check (ACH), the customer simply enters in their bank routing and account number to make the payment. Note that if someone is using a business bank account, they should contact their bank to make sure their account is set up for ACH payments.
How much does this cost?: The current fee for our University merchants is $.55 per transaction which includes TouchNet fees and an internal UW Merchant Fee. Return fees are $5.00 per item.
Can I just accept ACH payments on a TouchNet store without accepting credit cards?: Yes you can! We are happy to set up a store to only accept ACH as a payment method.
I do not have a TouchNet store yet. How long will setting up a store take?
Currently due to high demand, stores take approximately 90 days to come online.
What are my first steps?: Contact UW Tacoma Cashier's Office at uwtcash@uw.edu.
