INTRODUCTION University of Houston System credit card processing of donor gifts and pledge payments is performed at the designated Bank of America website through use of the Payment Collection Gateway. The Payment Collection Gateway provides donors with a way to submit their credit card payments over the internet and to manage those payments over their life on the system. This same Payment Collection Gateway enables University Advancement staff to process credit card gifts on the donors behalf. It is the policy of University Advancement to provide this Bank of America credit card processing system to allow donors the option to make donations in a non-cash method and to ensure that all donor credit card information be protected and kept secure whether in the hands of the credit card on-line user, or in the possession of the University Advancement staff. It is the policy of University Advancement to record open-ended credit card pledges on a year-toyear basis in order to be consistent with electronic fund transfer procedures. APPLICABILITY This policy and procedure applies to all donor and alumni gifts received using a credit card transaction. PROCEDURES Web User Experience: On-line donors to the University of Houston System begin their session on the designated UHS website of their choice. This can be through a college- or program-based website or a campusbased website. In each situation the UHS website directs the user s browser to the Bank of America Payment Collection Gateway. The Bank of America assumes transactional responsibility for the credit card account authorization, approvals/denials and settlement through the credit card banking networks. Upon transaction completeness, a personalized thank you email signals the user of the transaction s success and the user is seamlessly returned to the University of Houston designated website of interest. When a credit card transaction is denied the donor is notified by the bank site, given several chances to correct the missing/incorrect information, but the gift does not process after three unsuccessful attempts have been made. In any case, all sensitive cardholder data including number, expiration date and security code are maintained by the Bank of America and not by the University of Houston System. Credit card gifts received from the call center, by mail, or by response device or gift transmittal form are submitted on the donor s behalf by the appointed Donor and Alumni Records (DAR) Financial Assistant at the on-line Bank of America Payment Collection Gateway. The DAR Financial Assistant chooses Authorization & Capture (Sale) under the credit card section. On this screen, the DAR Financial Assistant completes the customer account information including the remittance ID, the credit card type, the credit cardholder s name, billing address, zip code, phone number and credit card number. Then the DAR Financial Assistant adds the credit card expiration month and year and adds the security code from the signature panel. After entering the transaction amount, Rev 0 Effective Date: May 2010 Approval: AML Page: 1 of 6
the Advance donor database ID number is added. When this has been completed, the gift is submitted to the Bank of America for authorization. Initial batching process of credit card payments Following a successful credit card gift submission to the Bank of America, gift information is added to the donor database Advance. Different scenarios occur in processing donor gift payments via a credit cards. The following scenarios outline the processes the DAR Financial Assistant follows to accurately and securely complete those transactions: Pledges from Call Center The following procedures apply to the processing of a pledge for a single or multiple payment via a credit card: The Call Center records the credit card payment information manually on a piece of paper which includes a way to track the credit card number back to the donor in the batch. All credit card documents are stored in a lock box in the Annual Giving Suite. Only two DAR Financial Assistants have keys to the lock box. The DAR Financial Assistant retrieves the stored credit card payment information and proceeds to submit it to the Bank of America s Payment Collection Gateway. Once the credit card gift has successfully processed at the Bank of America, the DAR Financial Assistant enters the donor s gift onto the Advance database system and compiles the appropriate information to create the pledge. The system processes this information so payment schedules are automatically created. The following night, or on the appropriate payment date, a batch is automatically built that pulls together all due transactions. The batch is left in an "Open" status in the Advance database system. The Financial Assistant then reviews and closes this batch. Multiple pledges sent to DAR for specific programs Multiple payment credit card transactions occur when a donor s intention is to make a pledge to be paid using the same credit card number for a series of payments over a set period of time. The following procedures apply to the processing of multiple credit card payments to fulfill a pledge made for specific programs, such as the Athletics Department or Bauer School of Business: When notified that a donor wants to make a multi-payment credit card pledge, the DAR Financial Assistant goes to the Bank of America Scheduled Payment module and creates a new customer profile. The first screen captures the donor s name, address, email, work, home and cell numbers. After completing this screen, the DAR Financial Assistant selects Save and add credit card button. The create credit card payment screen appears and the donor s name and billing address are added along with a total pledge amount, and the credit card number including number, expiration month and year, and the security code from the signature panel. Next the payment plan is added which can only be one time, weekly, monthly, or annually. All payment plans can only be implemented for future dates; payments added on the 15 th of the month will process on the 16 th of the month, unless a later date is selected. Once a payment plan has been added, the last selection is for duration. The duration can be a specific date, a quantitative number of payments, or continual until the payment plan is requested to be stopped. Rev 0 Effective Date: May 2010 Approval: AML Page: 2 of 6
Once the credit card gift has successfully processed at the Bank of America, the DAR Financial Assistant enters the donor s gift onto the Advance database system and compiles the appropriate information to create the pledge, donor s payment type, and payment schedule. On the scheduled payment date, the automated Advance process creates a batch of the due credit card pledge payments and single payment gifts. The batch is left in the "Open" status in the Advance database system. The Financial Assistant then views and closes this batch. Modifying donor s name or credit card information - When donors submit name or address changes, or provide a new credit card amount, number or expiration date, the DAR Financial Assistant performs the following modifications at the Bank of America Scheduled Payment module, as described: Searches Customer Profiles to locate the donor s record on the Bank of America system. Clicks the edit icon next to the name, next to the address, and next to the payment record. Financial Assistant checks modify to make any or all changes needed. Credits and voids for credit cards - When it is necessary to credit a previously processed credit card transaction where a batch has already been closed for settlement, the DAR Financial Assistant takes steps to refund the money to the cardholder s account. To do this, he or she selects the payment ID for a credit card transaction on the Transaction Search Results screen. The Transaction Details screen appears for the selected transaction. If the transaction is linked to a prior transaction, the parent transaction ID appears. Clicking the link displays the original transaction. Partial credits can also be issued in any amount up to the original amount charged. The DAR Financial Assistant clicks on the Credit Card Screen and completes the customer account information as follows: Types the missing digits of the customer s credit card number. Adjusts the amount to be credited if it is a partial credit. Types the customer s email address if they determine to send an amended receipt to them. Clicks the submit button. When it is necessary to void a previously processed credit card transaction where a batch has already been closed for settlement, the DAR Financial Assistant takes steps to void a credit card by removing it from the current batch, if the batch has not been closed for settlement and prevents the cardholder s account from being charged. (If the batch has been settled, a credit must be processed.) Selects the payment ID for a credit card transaction on the Transaction Search Results Screen. When the Transaction Details screen appears for the selected transaction, Financial Assistant chooses the action link, Void. Void appears as the action link only if the batch has not been closed for settlement. If the transaction is linked to a prior transaction, the parent transaction ID appears. The Financial Assistant clicks the link displaying the original transaction. Clicks Void. Rev 0 Effective Date: May 2010 Approval: AML Page: 3 of 6
Clicks the submit button. Reporting - Upon transaction completeness, the appointed DAR Financial Assistant pulls reports from the Bank of America s website to monitor, track, manage and reconcile all types of credit card payments made on the Payment Collection Gateway for any given payment application. The following reports are used by Donor and Alumni Records: Transaction Summary Report This report assists in reconciling payments processed through the Payment Collection Gateway with what has been added to the donor database Advance. Settlement Batch Activity Report - This report provides a breakdown of credit card type and amount by day. It also shows a total of what has been processed on any given day. Payment Account Activity Report This report is used for finding transactions by last name, zip code, or date of birth. Payment Tender Activity Report This report is used for searching credit card numbers by first two (2) and last four (4) digits of the credit card. Note: None of the above reports contains any sensitive credit card information. Reconciling credit card transactions Each month the Financial Assistant generates a Settlement Batch Activity Report totaling the month s successful credit card transactions and sends it to the designated financial contact at each campus. The designated financial contacts use this report to verify all bank statements, the PeopleSoft records, and the Advance database system records reconcile. If there is a discrepancy, the designated financial contact at a campus contacts the DAR department to research. Once it is resolved, the Financial Assistant makes appropriate corrections to the Bank of America website, and then makes entries to correct the Advance database system and the PeopleSoft system. Securing Donor credit card information It is essential that a donor s credit card information be protected and kept secure while in the possession of UHS employees. The following processes are always followed in order to keep the donor s credit card information confidential and to maintain the highest security possible: Strict control is maintained over the internal or external distribution of any kind of media that contain credit card numbers. The University of Houston uses University of Houston Police Department officers as its secured couriers to transport gifts across campus, and each delivery is kept record of so that it can be accurately tracked. Any correspondence including inter-office email reports created about credit card transactions does not contain credit card numbers. Any casual notes made by DAR personnel containing credit card information are destroyed by cross-cut shredding so that cardholder data cannot be reconstructed. Credit card information is not held in the Advance database. When credit card information comes from the Bank of America online giving website, only the gift information is added to Advance. Rev 0 Effective Date: May 2010 Approval: AML Page: 4 of 6
Credit card numbers associated with multi-payment credit card pledge payments are not stored. After entering this information on the Bank of America on-line giving website, credit card numbers are permanently blacked out using an indelible marker, or destroyed by cross-cut shredding. Any donor credit card information received in writing through a Gift Transmittal Form (GTF) or other support documentation is permanently blacked out using an indelible marker prior to filing the donor s records with the corresponding batches. Note: Access to computing resources and cardholder information is limited to only those individuals whose jobs require such access. For maximum security reasons, only three designated DAR personnel have access to a donor s credit card information. CROSS-REFERENCES Bank of America Payment Collection Gateway User Guide Data Integrity Reports RESPONSIBILITIES DAR Financial Assistant responsible for processing on-line credit cards with the Bank of America website, credit card batching, reviewing, processing on Advance and reconciling all credit card transactions. The Financial Assistant is also responsible for researching issues with the Bank of America website, or with a donor s credit card payments. When necessary, the Financial Assistant is responsible for modifying donor s records on Advance. DAR Manager responsible for supervision of the Bank of America on-line credit card processes and approving the reversal of certain credit card transactions. DAR Manager is responsible to report Bank of America System Failures to UHS Office of the Treasurer and to the Bank of America. Executive Director of Advancement Services is next in line, should DAR Manager be unavailable. UHS Office of the Treasurer is responsible for overseeing any problems experienced with Bank of America on-line credit card processes. Advancement Information Services (AIS) department responsible for providing the technical processes that support the credit card processing transactions. REVIEW AND APPROVAL Executive Director of Advancement Services Note: In the event this policy is revised, it must be reviewed with the following: Rev 0 Effective Date: May 2010 Approval: AML Page: 5 of 6
UHS Department of Internal Audit UHS Office of the Treasurer Advancement Information Services UH Executive Director of Finance University Advancement Business Services University Advancement Office of Stewardship Rev 0 Effective Date: May 2010 Approval: AML Page: 6 of 6