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University Finance and Administration

Merchant Accounts

Two types of merchant accounts, Point of Sale (POS) and Internet Merchant accounts, may be requested through University Treasury. Merchant fees charged to the university for each credit card transaction are allocated to departments based on sales transactions.

Please contact Tatiana Miller for any questions or more detailed information pertaining to merchant fees.  

Point of Sale (POS) Merchant Accounts  

This typically refers to payments made with a debit or credit card either in person, by written authorization, or by phone using a physical card reader or terminal. These transactions require daily batching and for those departments using the university wide processor Elavon, the accounting for revenues and fees will be automatically recorded in Oracle. Departments using another merchant processor (e.g., a POS system that requires use of their partner processor) must work with University Treasury and University Accounting to automate the accounting transactions. 

Internet Merchant Accounts   

A department can establish an internet merchant account to accept payments through a departmental website. Through the Nelnet system, payments are automatically forwarded for credit to the university's bank account. All transactions will automatically post to the general ledger or project account string designated by the department.  

Prior to developing their own website, the department should contact University Treasury to discuss the requirements. 

 In the rare instances when this solution is not appropriate, departments must take the following steps: 

Merchant Request Process 

To establish a merchant account, please email the following information: 

  • Primary contact name and email address 
  • Description of your needs, including any equipment required (e.g., new physical credit card terminal, new online payment acceptance, new point-of-sale system, etc.)
  • Names and netIDs for individuals who require access to the online compliance portal to maintain documentation and complete annual Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) forms 
  • Accounting information to enable automation (where possible):
    • General ledger string for credit card fees (Unit-Division-Organization-Location-Fund Type-Business Line [UDOLFB]) – all fees go to natural account 69090) 
    • General ledger string for credit card revenues (UDOLFB and Account) 

Register for and complete PCI DSS Compliance training. This is required annually for all individuals who are involved in the processing of card payments:  

Familiarize yourself with the SAQ forms that are required to be completed each year in the online compliance portal, CampusGuard Central. We can help you select the correct assessment form based on your business process. 

Please email University Treasury with any questions about the process or information requested.