Credit Card Policies and Procedures.
The Drew University Credit Card is a Visa credit card intended for use by budget managers (or their designees) to make purchases of low-dollar value goods or services. The Credit Card is a purchasing method available which provides an efficient way to make such purchases and payments when other traditional procurement methods cannot be employed.
The Director of Procurement Services and / or designee shall serve as the credit card program administrator.
The Purchasing Card Program is designed to empower University personnel to allow direct purchase of approved goods or services from suppliers which accept the Visa credit card. The program is intended for use by departments which are regularly involved in low-dollar value procurement transactions. Prospective cardholders and their supervisors are expected to read and understand the policy and procedural information provided within this document before making application for a card. You are also expected to keep a record of your transaction limits, default account number, card number and bank telephone number.
Credit cards will only be issued for the purposes of purchasing goods and services essential for departmental operations. Credit cards will no longer be issued for the purposes of travel and entertainment with the exception being a cohort of pre-determined areas where frequent travel is necessary. Final determination of credit card issuance rests with the Director of Procurement Services, Assistant Vice President of Financial Planning and University Budgeting and the Vice President for Finance & Administration.
Further restrictions on credit card issuance are as follows:
It is recommended the chair/director delegate a single individual that serves in a central administrative capacity for the department to serve as a cardholder for their department and the chair/director serve as that approving authority.
Any individual requesting a new card must complete the credit card application-FY18 and have signed by their supervisor. Upon approval, it must be forwarded to the Purchasing department whom will place the order with Bank of America. The card will be received by the Purchasing department and the cardholder will be notified when ready to pick up.
Cardholders will be asked to sign for their card upon pickup. The card cannot be released to any individual other than the cardholder without prior approval of the cardholder.
Cards will be issued by the card issuer inactivated and can only be activated by the cardholder or the Program Administrator.
The intended use of the card is for official Drew University business only in the purchase of goods and services to meet the operational needs of the department. Usage of the card for other than its intended purpose may result in revoking of the card and the employee being held personally responsible.
All cards will default to a transactional and monthly credit limit of $2,500 per purchase and per month. Alternate limits may be established in special cases and with appropriate justification.
Each card is preset with restrictions on type of vendor. Any vendor accepting a VISA card has been assigned a Merchant Category Code (MCC) from VISA. Those vendors with an MCC classified as Travel/Entertainment (i.e. hotels, restaurants, etc.) and Fleet (gas stations, etc.) will be restricted, excepted those issued cards specifically setup for this purpose. Any transaction attempted with a vendor whom has an assigned MCC in these categories will automatically decline.
Every card is linked to a default Banner fund/org as indicated and determined on the cardholder’s application. However, cardholders may designate by transaction on their monthly expense report how to allocate each transaction, thereby eliminating the need for frequent reclass journal entries.
Any requests to any change to a card – including transactional limit, credit limit, or vendor restrictions – must be requested via email to the Program administrator with their supervisor copied on the request and have valid justification. Only the Program administrator can effect changes to any credit card.
It is the responsibility of the cardholder’s supervisor to report to the Program Administrator when an employee retires or separates from the University.
The Credit Card is for Drew University business use only. Use of this card for personal purchases, even if there is an intent to reimburse, is a violation of University Fiscal Policy. Violation of this policy may result in disciplinary action including termination of employment.
The Credit Card may not be used for any transaction type listed below:
Immediately upon receipt of a card, the cardholder must sign the back of the card. It is the cardholder’s responsibility to safeguard the card and account number. Cardholders must not allow anyone to use his/her card or account number. If a card is lost or stolen, the cardholder shall immediately notify the following:
The lost/stolen card will immediately be cancelled and a new card will be issued promptly to the cardholder after the reported loss or theft. A card that is subsequently found by the cardholder after being reported lost or stolen must be cut in half and forwarded to the Program Administrator.
In the event of any discrepancy appearing on the cardholder’s statement to their records (transaction log & receipts), cardholders should first contact the merchant directly to resolve the issue.
If the card has been deemed to have been used without the cardholder’s authorization, this is considered fraud must be reported to the Program Administrator immediately. Cardholders have 45 days from the date the transaction was made to report. The Program Administrator will contact the card issuer to have the card immediately cancelled and a new card will be issued promptly.
All cardholders are required to submit a reconciliation through Bank of America Works upon receipt of their monthly statement. It must be submitted to their supervisor for review and approval through the system workflow prior to submission to the Program Administrator. Included backup should be copies of itemized receipts for every transaction, all of which can be submitted electronically via email.
Failure to submit a reconciliation report for their statement by the last day of the following month will automatically inactivate the individual’s card by the system rendering it unusable. It will not be activated until the expense reports have been submitted and up to date. For illustration purposes:
Statement ending June 30 = credit card reconciliation due ten (10) business days after statement ending.
Cardholders have the ability to designate applicable fund/org by transaction on their monthly reconciliation report. It’s the responsibility of the cardholder to ensure the reconciliation report is routed appropriately and timely. If/when multiple funding sources are indicated, the cardholder is responsible to obtain the review and approval (signatures) of all those individuals whom have budgetary control over each indicated funds/org. A reconciliation report is not considered submitted until it is received by the Program Administrator (Finance).
Cardholders are strongly encouraged to register their card upon issuance of their card to obtain a username and password. Cardholders are also able to review their transactions as they occur at any time they wish through this website.
Related Links:
How to Reconcile Transactions:
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How to Approve Transactions:
ManagingTransactions_Approver_QRG_APJ81