Credit Card Processing

Departments with a business need to accept and process credit/debit card payments in their office, will need to complete the Application to Become a Merchant Department and forward it to the Treasury Operations for approval. Please see Conducting eCommerce if your department needs to conduct business and accept payments online.

The decision to approve the acceptance of card payments must be justified based on the cost, the volume of expected activity and the expected impact of revenues, receivables, staff time and effort, customer service and convenience, etc.

There are a variety of costs associated with the acceptance of credit cards. In addition to percentage of the sale which runs anywhere from 1.5% to 3% depending on the type of card accepted, there are monthly fees and associated PCIDSS (Payment Card Data Security Standards) compliance costs.

It is imperative that all credit card data be handled and (if) stored in a secure manner and in compliance with the PCIDSS. It is imperative that all potential merchant departments read the University's Policy for Accepting Credit Card and eCommerce Payments which discusses the PCIDSS in more depth.

Once reviewed and approved, the Treasury Office will arrange for the purchase of all equipment that you will need to process the payments except for the phone lines that will be needed for connecting to the bank which will be your responsibility. Only equipment provided by the Treasury Office can be used in the processing of cards. You can accept payments from a customer where a card is present or if they send the information via US mail or fax the information to you with the following stipulations:

• Card information must never be sent to you via email since this is not secure
• If you are receiving card information via fax, the fax must be a secure with only those with a need to know having access
• If you are receiving card information via the phone, the line must not be a recorded line
• If card information is written down, it should be rendered unreadable once the transaction has been processed

If interested in discussing further or if you have any questions, please contact treasury@tufts.edu.