| Policy Approval Authority | President |
| Responsible University Office | Procurement Services and Contract Management, Finance and Administration |
| Responsible Officer(s) | Executive Director, PSCM |
| Contact Person | Antoinette Bridges |
| Primary Audience |
Faculty
Staff Administration |
| Date Submitted to Policy Library | 07-15-2019 |
| Status | Active |
| Adoption Date | 07-01-2019 |
| Last Review Date | 07-30-2025 |
| Policy Category/Categories |
Finance / Risk Management
|
This document provides an overview of the university’s Commercial Card Programs. It outlines university policies and procedures for program participants at Northern Illinois University (NIU). This document is regularly reviewed and revised as necessary. The latest revision date is noted above.
The Commercial Card Programs provide full-time faculty, staff and graduate student employees of Northern Illinois University with an efficient, cost-effective method for making business-related purchases on behalf of the university. In addition, it offers a process for individuals to make official travel arrangements without obligating personal funds. Benefits include fast and convenient purchasing, reduced paper usage, fewer cash transactions, and streamlined procurement and payable processes.
Deans/division heads and/or designees are responsible for identifying individuals in their respective areas who will become cardholders. They also authorize and approve the card type and spend limit for their cardholders. Deans/division heads and/or designees will empower cardholders to make sound business and financial decisions in the best interest of NIU.Cardholders should be prudent fiscal stewards so that spending does not exceed budgeted balances and ensuring compliance with the State, Federal and University policies and procedures. The use of commercial cards results in an immediate expense/obligation to the university, although the expenditure may not be reflected on departmental budgets until a later date. Commercial card purchases may also result in doing business with vendors that have not been vetted through the Procurement Services and Contract Management (PSCM) office. It is essential that cardholders avoid any transactions with suppliers or individuals where a perceived or actual conflict of interest may exist or the vendor is debarred/revoked.
State and federal regulatory guidelines, compliance requirements, university policy and internal controls may restrict the types of goods and spending amounts available to cardholders.
The following regulatory guidelines apply to the Commercial Card Program:
All purchases must abide by established university policies. Deans/division heads and/or designees may impose additional restrictions and limitations on cardholder activity. In such an event, individual divisions/departments are responsible for monitoring cardholders’ compliance with those additional requirements.
Antoinette Bridges, Card Services Manager
Cardservices@niu.edu
815-753-6727
Jay Monteiro, Program Administrator
Cardservices@niu.edu
815-753-6728
Cheryl Alliston, Program Administrator
Cardservices@niu.edu
815-753-8431
JP Morgan Chase, 800-270-7760 or
Cardholder Customer Service, 800-316-6056
The university participates in two types of commercial card programs with JP Morgan Chase and Company, the One Card, and the Declining Balance feature option. Declining Balance is a feature added to the One Card. JP Morgan Chase and Company refers to one of the selected card programs as “One Card.” This is not associated with NIU’s OneCard ID Services.
The One Card program combines the procurement and travel functionalities into a single card. Deans/division heads and/or designers have two options to consider when distributing cards through this program. Option one, which will be referred to as the P-Card, is designed for individuals who are responsible for all types of spending within their units, from travel to everyday business expenses. Option two, referred to as the T-Card, is designed for individuals required to travel but with no other spending responsibilities within their units. Commercial cards should only be used by the cardholder to make business-related purchases on behalf of NIU.
P-Cards are used to acquire items, including travel, which do require a purchase order (usually processed through PSCM with a purchase order.
A detailed list of allowable, allowable with restrictions (AWR), and prohibited items is located in Section VII of this manual.
The DB is an add-on feature to the One Card (P-Card) and is designed for employees who travel with students or university guests to provide meals and refreshments. It is a one-time use feature for which a credit limit is assigned to the card based on the budgeted expenditures for the trip. The declining balance feature automatically closes when the credit limit and/or the end travel date has been reached.
Note 1: Intercollegiate Athletics Department establishes credit limits annually in support of the NIU coaches and assistant coaches, along with an extended period to cover the sport. Athletics will provide a list to the Card Administrators to establish the designated cardholders annually.
Note 2: Cash withdrawal limits are determined and approved by department business needs. Since the DB feature offers more flexibility in purchasing and cash withdrawal, it is important that proper care and protection of the card is considered, and detailed record keeping is imperative.
T-Cards are used to acquire travel related purchases/activities only. Travel purchases must be made in accordance with the university’s travel policy.
Items must meet all the following criteria to qualify for purchase with a P-Card or T-Card:
The university has established transaction limits, monthly spend limits, and merchant category code (MCC) blocks to assess card usage. No limit is placed on the number of transactions per card. The standard P-Card and T-Card have a $5,000 single transaction limit and up to a $25,000 monthly spend limit as approved by deans/division heads and/or designees. These amounts can be higher if approved by the dean/division head. Employees of the PSCM office have cards with higher limits, up to the small purchase limit due to the nature of their positions.
Cardholders are encouraged to allocate transactions throughout the month.
Cardholders, transaction approvers, proxies, etc. must notify card services immediately if they transfer to another department, separate from niu, retire, or take an extended leave of absence. Cardholders must seek to have all transactions reviewed and allocated prior to separation.
See Changes in Employment Status for instructions.
To obtain a One Card, the prospective cardholder must complete an electronic application. The application is routed to the Approving Manager, then to the cardholder’s dean/division head or designee. If a dean/division head’s approval has been designated to another individual, the dean or division head will notify Card Services of the designation. The program administrators provide the final approval of the application and process the request in the vendor card system.
To obtain the DB-Card feature, the prospective cardholder must complete the Declining Balance Feature application (PDF) and submit it, complete with all signatures, to Card Services. Card Services will process the request in the vendor card system.
Newly issued cards are delivered to Card Services approximately 7-10 business days after the introductory training has been completed. Cardholders will receive an email from Card Services when the card has arrived to arrange for distribution. Prior to distribution of the card, cardholder must submit the electronic Commercial Card Agreement and the card approver must have submitted their approval as well. Cardholders must present a photo ID at the time of card distribution.
New program participants are required to complete introductory training prior to the distribution of cards. Information regarding the training for new participants is available at Procurement Services and Contract Management (PSCM) under Training.
All program participants are required to complete refresher training annually. Refresher training is available online through Blackboard. Card Services will notify program participants at least 30 days in advance of the deadline with information about completing annual training. Annual training also includes all commercial card related training, e.g., IT Security, PCI, etc.
Card Services may withhold the distribution of new and replacement cards or suspend current cards and/or approving rights pending the completion of all required training, including annual training.
The below allowable purchases, allowable purchases with restrictions (AWR), and prohibited purchases lists are not all inclusive. Participants should contact Card Services and/or review policy to assist in determining if a purchase is allowable.
Travelers are required to complete travel vouchers and submit them to Accounts Payable Services (APS) with detailed receipts.
Note: Approvals and other supporting documentation for restricted purchases must be stored with purchase receipts and uploaded to the card system. Standard purchase limits apply.
NIU is not subject to IL sales and use tax. The cardholder is responsible for ensuring no taxes are charged to the card. The university’s sales tax exemption number is printed on the card and should be provided to the supplier upon request. Sales tax exemption form can be found at Illinois Sales Tax Exemption Certificate (PDF). When purchasing outside the State of Illinois, contact Accounts Payable Services to determine whether NIU is sales tax exempt.
It is the cardholder’s responsibility to obtain a refund for any sales tax that was charged in error on his/her commercial card.
All products must be shipped to NIU Central Receiving in DeKalb or an NIU outreach center location (Chicago, Naperville, or Rockford).
No purchase should be shipped to a cardholder’s home, unless approved by the Division Head or Dean. The standard address format is:
Shipping Address
Cardholder Name – PCard
Department Name
Northern Illinois University
180 West Stadium Drive
DeKalb, IL 60115-2828
Billing Address
Cardholder Name
Department Name
Northern Illinois University
1425 W Lincoln Hwy
DeKalb, IL 60115-2828
An exception can be made to ship to an address other than Central Receiving. A Request for Exception (PDF) form should be filled out and submitted to Card Services.
Cardholders should read instructions for returns and retain the original packaging and documents until they are certain the goods will be kept. If items must be returned, cardholders should work directly with suppliers to obtain Return Authorization numbers (if applicable) and receive credits. Cardholders should arrange with a carrier to pick up the return from Central Receiving. Cardholders may contact Distribution Services to pick up the return and deliver it to Central Receiving. In some cases, suppliers charge restocking fees. Cardholders should not be charged restocking fees when the return is a result of the supplier’s error.
The card-issuing bank will send a replacement card to Card Services upon expiration or notice of fraudulent transactions on current card. Card Services will email cardholders when replacement cards arrive to arrange a time for distribution. Cardholders are required to show identification before receiving cards.
Cardholders can dispute charges to their commercial card accounts by notifying the card-issuing bank at 800-316-6056. Reasons to dispute charges include duplicate or altered charges, unprocessed credits, damaged or defective goods, goods not received, etc. Cardholders must immediately notify Cardservices@niu.edu and card-issuing bank at 800-316-6056 of disputed items and fraudulent activity. The bank will deactivate the card and issue a new one.
Cardholders must notify the card-issuing bank at 800-316-6056 and Cardservices@niu.edu immediately when they discover their card is lost or stolen. The bank will deactivate the card and issue a new one.
Program violations include, but are not limited to the following:
Violation of the NIU Commercial Card Program may result in one or more of the following actions:
The following changes in employment status require cardholders to return their card(s) to Card Services:
It is recommended that cardholders cease purchasing at least 30 days in advance of a known change in employment status to allow time for allocation and reconciliation of transactions prior to their departure.
Cardholders or their approving managers should complete an electronic OnBase Commercial Card Cancellation Request form. Cancelled card should be shredded or otherwise destroyed in a manner that will prevent future use of the card. (please do not return card to Commercial Card Services).
If a cardholder transfers to another department and the new employment role includes purchasing responsibilities, a new card application must be submitted.
When a cardholder takes an extended leave of absence, they should notify Card Services so the card can be suspended for the duration of the leave. Once they have returned from leave, they will need to notify Card Services so their card can be reinstated.
When a cardholder leaves their department or the university, all records (paper and electronic) should be left with the cardholder’s business office per the retention schedule.
Exceptions are not granted after the purchase is made.
Exceptions to this policy may be granted on a limited basis. Exceptions granted after the purchased will require written approval from the Dean/Division Head. A Card Exception Request Form is used to obtain approval to use the card for an expense that is normally prohibited by a policy or is above a cardholder’s limit. Only Card Services is authorized to grant exceptions. Due to the complexity of exception requests, Card Services may request additional reviews by other areas and/or individuals. An exception will be processed within 10 business days. If an exception is granted, the cardholder must keep documentation and upload the approved form to the transaction in PaymentNet to ensure availability by internal and external auditors.
Cardholders must keep documentation supporting their card purchases for six (6) years after the date of original transaction, then destroy or delete/over-write in a secure manner pursuant to the provisions of 44 Ill. Adm. Code 4400.40, provided all audits have been completed, if necessary; no litigation is pending or anticipated; and upon receipt of an approved State of Illinois Records Disposal Certificate. Contents of this record series may include but are not limited to invoices and/or receipts from vendors, transaction slips, packing slips, equipment forms, exception request forms, transaction logs or statement of account, billing reports, and any other related supporting documents and correspondence.
To dispose of a record, the department or division must submit a records disposal certificate (PDF), to the records management specialist, who will then submit the information to the Secretary of State’s Office. This certificate must be completed thirty days prior to any disposal or destruction of the record. Additionally, the Secretary of State must provide their approval on the certificate before the record may be disposed.
After approval from the state is obtained and the certificate is returned to the university, the department or division may dispose of the document. If the destruction of the record is approved, the department or division may utilize university shredding services by submitting a shredding request form. The department or division is responsible for any incurred expenses.
Department is responsible for keeping records of former employees for 6 years.
Cardholder transactions are randomly reviewed for compliance with university policy by program administration, business managers, internal auditors, and external auditors. All program participants are subject to such reviews and are obligated to cooperate with audit requests.
All transactions involving travel and/or travel vouchers are reviewed by Accounts Payable Services.
DB-Cards are issued by the Card Services office. Card Services or a division designee, such as the Business Manager, will assign credit limits to cards when approval for funding has been received. DB-Cards should be used only when traveling with students or university guests.
Below are general guidelines for DB-Cards. Deans/division heads and/or designees, along with their Business Managers, may impose additional and/or stricter processes and procedures for DB-Card holders in their areas.
Allowable purchases on DB-Cards include transportation, lodging, restaurants, cash withdrawals at ATMs, and other incidental needs that may arise when traveling with students or university guests. Items listed under Types of Purchase Categories - Prohibited Purchases are prohibited, except as noted.
The One Card Travel only (T-Card) is designed for individuals who travel for university business. Allowable purchases include transportation and lodging while in travel status. Travel purchases must be within allowable standards set by the State of Illinois and NIU Travel Regulations. Upon return from business travel, T-Cardholders are required to complete travel vouchers and submit them to Accounts Payable Services with copies of detailed receipts within the designated time period. Original receipts should be stored with T-Card transaction reconciliations.
Items listed in Section VII. E are prohibited on a T-Card. Whether using the card to make advance travel arrangements or while in travel status. The following items are also prohibited on a T-Card:
The cardholder is required to complete all travel-related fields in the vendor card system when signing off and allocating transactions. Those fields are:
Additional information for travelers is found in the NIU Travel Regulations. This should also be done if you are purchasing travel for another person/s.
*Graduate Assistants are allowed to purchase meals on their T-Cards as long as they do not exceed the State per diem allowances. If the traveler over spends on meals, they are required to reimburse the university via cash or check within two weeks of the notification. Receipts for meals must be obtained, saved, and uploaded to the bank’s card system. Failure to comply may result in suspension of the T-Card.
Directions to produce the Statement of Account in the PaymentNet System.
Log into PaymentNet:
Policy Library
815-753-5560
policy-library@niu.edu