Merchant Services (MS) collaborates with Stanford departments to help them establish merchant accounts and securely process credit/debit card payments for their products and services. There are important factors merchants must consider when beginning to accept credit/debit card payments. These include establishing roles and responsibilities for the process, determining payment method and the associated fee structure and obtaining approval for third party service providers.
For more information on getting started with accepting credit/debit card payments, refer to Topic Overview: Merchant Account Life Cycle.
Stanford purchasing cards (PCards) are outside the scope of MS as they are a tool for individuals making purchases on behalf of the university and are managed by Payment Services. For more information, refer to PCards Overview or submit a Support Request for PCard Assistance
Determine a Processing Method
Prior to accepting credit cards, determine what’s being sold, the prices and options for accepting and processing payments. Determining how and where to accept payments is an important consideration. The Payment Card Industry – Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) sets very specific rules on how high-risk cardholder data is managed. Selecting the appropriate method helps merchants accept credit cards in a safe and compliant manner. Please use the guideline below to determine what processing method is appropriate.
Processing Method | Description |
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Point-of-Sale (POS) |
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E-Commerce |
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Conference and Event Registration (E-Commerce) |
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Mail Order / Telephone Order (MOTO) |
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Fee Structure
It’s important that merchants consider the associated fee structure when reviewing the available processing method options.
Fee Type | Description |
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Credit Card Processing (All Merchants) | Processing fees are billed on a monthly basis. Credit card processing fees are typically 2.5% to 3% of credit card revenue and generally debited from your department’s PTA on the 10th business day of the month following the month in which they were incurred. |
Stanford Merchant Services Fee | Billed monthly at 0.8% of the prior month's card revenue via an iJournal to your department's PTA with an expense type of 58502 (Stanford Merchant Services Fee). This fee is assessed by the university on all credit card revenue collected through any channel. |
Terminal for Purchase |
One-time purchase price for the following PCI-validated point-to-point encryption (P2PE) equipment provided by Wells Fargo:
Monthly service fee:
Monthly cellular network fee:
Note: Departments are solely responsible for obtaining the equipment pricing provided by other approved third party service providers. |
Terminal for Rental |
Rental fee ($49.99 per device) with one-time activation fee ($25), and monthly access fee ($15 per month) Rental fee will not be charged for the month, if terminals are ordered after and/or returned before the 20th of the same month. No fees are charged if departments borrow one of the three terminals available from Treasury’s loaner program, subject to availability. |
Merchant Responsibilities
Stanford merchants are required to maintain compliance with university policy and PCI DSS. This requires that the merchant assign the necessary roles in their organization to manage all compliance responsibilities. For more information on university policy and merchant responsibilities, refer to Resource: Merchant Responsibilities.
Approved Service Providers
The Office of the Treasury (OOT) centrally manages Stanford University’s relationship with its acquiring bank to facilitate processing services that meet department needs and adhere to industry and institutional data security standards. All Stanford entities that accept credit cards must use Stanford’s acquiring bank and an approved vendor. Leveraging existing relationships and proven products allows departments to expedite new merchant account set ups and maintain compliance.
The following approved vendors are centrally supported by MS and are acceptable for deployment on campus. Please contact MS for information prior to engaging the service. If there is a vendor not listed below that you feel is essential to your business, please contact MS for a consultation. Please note that all new vendors used for payment card processing must be approved per the guideline.
Approved | Description |
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Wells Fargo Payment Gateway/CyberSource |
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POS Terminal Provided by Wells Fargo |
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Event Management |
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Other |
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