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A Publication of Diamond Mind Tuition Payment Processing A Beginner’s Guide Understanding Payment Processing for Independent Schools
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Beginnner's Guide to Tuition Processing

Aug 30, 2014

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Page 1: Beginnner's Guide to Tuition Processing

A Publication of Diamond Mind

Tuition Payment Processing

A Beginner’s Guide

Understanding Payment Processing for Independent Schools

Page 2: Beginnner's Guide to Tuition Processing

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.  Electronic Options for Accepting Tuition Payments

2.  Surcharge Fees vs Convenience Fees 3.  How the New Settlement Rules and

Visa Education Program Impact Your School

4.  Applying Surcharge Fees: Notification Requirements and Limitations

5.  Applying Surcharge Fees: Disclosure and Processing Requirements

6.  The 10 States that Prohibit Surcharge Fees

7.  Discount for Cash: A cost-neutral option for accepting tuition payments

8.  Recurring billing for tuition payments: Another way to reduce costs

9.  Should You Hire a tuition management company?

Page 3: Beginnner's Guide to Tuition Processing

Tuition Payment Processing:

A Beginners Guide Tui$on  payments  are  a  love-­‐hate  rela$onship  for  the  administra$ve  staff  at  most  independent  schools.    As  your  largest  regular  receipt,  these  payments  are  an  important  part  of  the  fuel  that  keeps  your  school  running.      Due  to  the  significance  that  tui$on  plays  at  your  school,  offering  numerous  op$ons  for  payment  acceptance  is  important.  In  general,  collec$ng  tui$on  payments  comes  with  a  few  challenges  such  as  ease  of  use,  mee$ng  parent  needs,  and  covering  your  costs.  You  need  to  provide  easy,  common  op$ons  for  your  busy  parents  while  mee$ng  their  needs,  and  you  also  need  to  simultaneous  minimize  the  cost  of  collec$ng  payments  or  $me  spent  in  the  reconcilia$on  process.    For  most  schools  this  means  you  need  to  carefully  consider  the  costs  and  availability  of  each  op$on.  You  also  need  to  issue  payment  reminders,  follow-­‐up  with  lagging  payments,  and  be  sure  that  your  system  complies  with  the  latest  state  and  federal  rules  for  processing  ePayments.  Simply  put,  you  need  to  develop  the  right  tools  that  help  you  minimize  costs  while  reducing  hassles.    This  guide  is  designed  to  help  you  develop  the  tools  you  need  to  successfully  implement  ePayments  at  your  school,  and  by  the  end  you  will  be  able  to  answer  three  ques$ons  that  every  independent  school  business  officer  needs  to  consider:    1.  What  are  the  different  op$ons  your  school  has  for  collec$ng  tui$on  

payments  electronically  and  what  are  the  pros  and  cons  of  these  different  op$ons?  

2.  What  does  your  school  need  to  do  to  comply  with  the  new  rules  allowing  surcharge  fees  for  credit  card  payments?  

3.  Should  your  school  hire  a  tui$on  management  company  to  help  you  manage  these  different  op$ons?  

Please  note  that  nothing  in  this  guide  cons0tutes  as  legal  advice.  It  is  cri0cal  to  check  with  your  legal  counsel  to  ensure  compliance  with  all  applicable  state  and  federal  laws  when  processing  electronic  payments.    

Page 4: Beginnner's Guide to Tuition Processing

CHAPTER ONE

ePayment Options for Accepting

Tuition Payments

Page 5: Beginnner's Guide to Tuition Processing

Your  parents  expect  to  be  able  to  pay  their  children’s  tui$on  online  using  their  preferred  credit  and  debit  cards,  or  by  transferring  their  bank  funds  through  an  Automated  Clearing  House  (ACH).      As  a  business  officer,  you  need  to  make  these  op$ons  available  while  minimizing  the  cost  and  hassles  to  your  office.  To  achieve  the  right  balance  for  your  school,  it  helps  to  think  about  the  two  issues  separately.  First,  how  do  you  reduce  the  work  you  need  to  do  with  invoices,  collec$ng  payments,  and  following  up  with  lagging  payments?  Second,  how  do  you  minimize  the  cost  of  processing  an  ePayment?    For  the  laUer,  looking  into  cost-­‐neutral  opportuni$es  will  allow  your  school  to  accept  many  forms  of  payments,  and  reduce  the  amount  of  fees  to  be  absorbed  by  school.  

The basics

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A  cost-­‐neutral  opportunity  is  something  that  provides  added  value  to  both  you  and  parents,  while  preven$ng  your  school  from  having  to  absorb  the  related  costs.  For  tui$on,  board,  and  related  payments,  there  are  a  few  specific  cost-­‐neutral  opportuni$es:  checkout  and  surcharge  fee  programs,  discount  for  cash  program,  and  convenience  and  service  fee  programs.    There  are  three  poten$al  op$ons  for  cost-­‐neutral  electronic  payment  processing:    •  Convenience  and  Service  fees  •  Surcharge  fee  •  Discount  for  cash  

Cost-Neutral ePayments

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Convenience  and  Service  fees  are  charged  to  the  payer  to  reimburse  the  merchant  for  the  costs  they  incur,  because  they  allow  their  customers  to  use  credit  or  debit  cards  instead  of  just  cash,  checks  or  ACH.  These  fees  can  generally  only  be  used  when  the  payer  makes  an  online  or  other  non  face-­‐to-­‐face  purchase,  and  cannot  be  used  for  payments  other  than  on  tui$on,  board,  or  related  fees.      Another  challenge  with  convenience  and  service  fees  is  that  one  credit  card  brand,  VISA,  regulates  the  use  of  them  differently  than  the  other  brands.  As  of  January  2014,  Visa  has  expanded  their  Educa$on  Payment  Program  to  include  K-­‐12  schools,  but  there  are  s$ll  some  differences.  Similar  to  convenience  fees,  schools  are  more  likely  to  choose  this  op$on  because  they  want  to  simplify  their  reconcilia$on  process  by  outsourcing  fee  collec$on.  This  program  now  allows  all  major  credit  and  debit  cards,  including  Visa  to  be  used  for  tui$on,  board,  and  related  fees.  

Convenience and Service Fees

Page 8: Beginnner's Guide to Tuition Processing

Surcharge  fees  are  charged  to  the  payer  that  reimburses  the  merchant,  in  this  case  a  school,  for  the  costs  they  incur  because  they  allow  the  payer  to  use  a  credit  or  debit  card.  A  merchant  might  choose  to  use  a  surcharge  fee  rather  than  a  convenience  fee  because  there  are  limita$ons  on  convenience  fees  that  do  not  apply  to  surcharge  fees.  Surcharge  fees  do;  however,  come  with  their  own  limita$ons  and  rules  that  are  discussed  in  following  chapters.  There  are  three  main  reasons  a  school  might  use  a  surcharge  fee:      •  If  you  want  to  accept  VISA  card  transac$ons  •  If  you  want  to  add  a  fee  on  every  credit  card  transac$on,  

not  just  online  •  If  you  want  to  add  a  fee  on  purchases  for  items  other  

than  tui$on  

Surcharge Fees

Page 9: Beginnner's Guide to Tuition Processing

Discount  for  cash  is  a  method  for  a  school  to  accept  credit  card  payments,  and  s$ll  recover  some  or  all  of  its  processing  costs  without  charging  convenience  or  surcharge  fees.      With  this  op$on,  the  school  offers  parents  two  tui$on  prices:  one  for  paying  with  credit  or  debit  cards,  and  one  for  paying  with  a  check  or  an  electronic  funds  transfer  (ACH).      This  is  a  par$cularly  important  op$on  for  schools  that  are  not  allowed  to  charge  surcharge  or  convenience  fees,  such  as  schools  in  the  10  states  where  surcharge  fees  are  prohibited:  California,  Colorado,  Connec$cut,  Florida,  Kansas,  Maine,  MassachuseUs,  New  York,  Oklahoma  and  Texas.  

Discount for Cash

Page 10: Beginnner's Guide to Tuition Processing

Implemen$ng  a  recurring  billing  program  at  your  school  saves  your  business  office  $me  by  reducing  paperwork  and  automa$ng  a  tedious  process.      Recurring  billing  also  keeps  your  parents  happy  by  offering  them  the  op$ons  they  expect  to  see  when  making  ePayments.      There  are  no  unique  rules  that  regulate  recurring  billing,  so  your  only  concern  should  be  about  implemen$ng  technology  that  is  flexible,  responsive,  reliable,  and  the  best  fit  for  your  school.      

Recurring Billing

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Auc$on  Room,  Chris$e's  (1808):  Use  this  space  to  provide  credit  to  the  original  photo  or  graphic  creator  

Section wrap-up •  There are several options and

methods for applying fees •  Fees are designed to help you

recuperate or share the cost •  Cost-Neutral opportunities are a

win-win for you and parents •  Recurring billing is easy to use, and

an expected option from parents

Chapter 1

Wrap up

Page 12: Beginnner's Guide to Tuition Processing

CHAPTER TWO

Surcharge Fees vs

Convenience Fees

Page 13: Beginnner's Guide to Tuition Processing

When  it  comes  to  ePayments,  a  popular  topic  business  officers  ofen  debate  is  about  the  different  op$ons  they  can  implement  to  ensure  their  school  won’t  have  to  absorb  fees.  Though  surcharge  and  convenience  fees  are  not  all  too  dissimilar,  there  are  various  pros  and  cons  between  the  two  op$ons  and  how  your  parents  will  perceive  them.    Surcharge  fees  are  making  big  come  back.  As  of  January  27,  2013,  merchants  can  now  use  surcharge  fees  that  were  previously  prohibited  by  the  major  credit  card  companies.  This  change  came  about  as  a  result  of  the  2012  seUlement  of  a  class  ac$on  lawsuit  against  VISA  and  MasterCard  regarding.  The  seUlement  leaves  the  rules  about  convenience  fees  intact,  but  gives  merchants  new  and  significant  la$tude  to  charge  surcharge  fees.    

Surcharge & Convenience Fees

Page 14: Beginnner's Guide to Tuition Processing

Understanding the Difference

A  surcharge  fee  is  a  fee  charged  to  the  payer  that  reimburses  the  merchant  for  the  costs  they  incur  because  they  allow  the  payer  to  use  a  credit  card.      

A  convenience  fee  is  a  fee  charged  to  the  payer  that  reimburses  the  merchant  for  the  costs  they  incur  because  they  allow  their  customers  to  use  a  payment  channel  that  is  different  than  the  normal  payment  channel.    

VS  

Page 15: Beginnner's Guide to Tuition Processing

As  an  example,  if  your  tui$on-­‐paying  parents  normally  walk  into  the  finance  office  and  hand  the  bursar  or  financial  administrator  a  credit  card  to  pay  tui$on,  the  convenience  comes  from  the  ability  to  pay  online  instead.  In  this  instance,  you  can  charge  the  parents  a  convenience  fee  for  offering  that  op$on.    The  most  important  thing  to  understand  about  these  fees  is  that  they  differ  in  five  significant  ways,  which  will  be  covered  in  the  following  chapters:    •  Whether  the  merchant  can  choose  to  set  the  fees  as  either  a  

percentage  of  the  total  transac$on  and  or  a  flat  fee  •  Whether  the  fees  can  be  implemented  on  all  types  of  cards  

including  debit  and  prepaid  •  How  the  merchant  must  inform  the  customer  about  the  fees  •  How  and  when  the  merchant  informs  the  credit  card  company  

that  they  will  be  charging  these  fees  •  Whether  the  fees  can  be  used  in  the  ten  states  that  currently  

prohibit  surcharge  fees:  California,  Colorado,  Connec$cut,  Florida,  Kansas,  Maine,  MassachuseUs,  New  York,  Oklahoma  and  Texas?  

Understanding the Difference

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Auc$on  Room,  Chris$e's  (1808):  Use  this  space  to  provide  credit  to  the  original  photo  or  graphic  creator  

Section wrap-up •  Each fee type has a set of unique

requirements •  There are 10 states that prohibit the

use of fees, but there are other options

•  Being transparent and clear about fees reduces issues with parents

Chapter 2

Wrap up

Page 17: Beginnner's Guide to Tuition Processing

CHAPTER THREE

Settlement Rules and

Your School

Page 18: Beginnner's Guide to Tuition Processing

Now  that  you  understand  the  differences  between  convenience  and  surcharge  fees,  what  does  this  mean  for  your  school?  The  simplest  answer  is  that  you  can  now  consider  adding  a  surcharge  when  your  customers  pay  with  credit  cards.    If  you  have  been  charging  convenience  fees  un$l  now  or  have  forgone  charging  any  fees  at  all,  you  now  have  the  op$on  of  charging  your  customers  a  surcharge  fee  instead.      The  main  reason  a  merchant  might  want  to  implement  a  surcharge  fee  is  to  make  the  collec$on  of  payments  via  credit  cards  cost-­‐neutral.  By  charging  some  or  all  of  the  cost  of  processing  a  credit  card  transac$on  back  to  the  customer,  the  merchant  recovers  that  cost.  There  are  also  limita$ons  on  convenience  fees  that  do  not  apply  to  surcharge  fees.  However,  keep  in  mind  that  surcharge  fees  come  with  their  own  limita$ons  and  rules.    

Getting into Surcharge Fees

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A  merchant  must  also  comply  with  the  following  five  requirements  to  use  a  surcharge  fee:    •  No$fy  the  card  company  and  your  acquirer  at  least  30  

days  before  beginning  to  use  the  surcharge  •  Limit  surcharging  to  credit  cards  only  (no  surcharges  on  

debit  or  prepaid  cards),  limit  the  amount  to  4%  of  the  total  transac$on  or  the  actual  costs  of  processing  credit  card  transac$ons,  whichever  is  less,  and  limit  applica$on  of  the  fee  to  either  the  brand  or  product  level  

•  Disclose  the  surcharge  amount,  that  it  is  a  merchant  surcharge  and  clearly  alert  customers  to  the  prac$ce  at  the  point  of  sale  and  on  every  receipt  

•  Include  the  surcharge  with  the  purchase  as  a  single  transac$on  

•  Check  with  your  legal  counsel  if  you  do  business  in  one  of  the  10  states  that  currently  prohibits  surcharges:  California,  Colorado,  Connec$cut,  Florida,  Kansas,  Maine,  MassachuseUs,  New  York,  Oklahoma  and  Texas.  

Surcharge Fee Requirements

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There  are  two  main  reasons  you  might  want  to  consider  using  a  surcharge  fee:    using  a  fee  on  every  credit  card  transac$on,  and  if  you  want  to  add  a  fee  for  items  other  than  tui$on.      Adding  a  Surcharge  Fee  to  Every  Credit  Card  Transac8on  Because  convenience  fees  can  only  be  used  on  alterna$ve  payment  channels,  some  credit  card  charges  cannot  add  a  fee.  For  example,  if  a  parent  walked  into  your  bursar’s  office  and  paid  tui$on  with  a  credit  card,  you  could  not  use  a  convenience  fee  for  that  transac$on  because  it  is  not  considered  an  alterna$ve  payment  channel.  The  surcharge  fee,  however,  is  specifically  allowed  for  all  credit  card  transac$ons,  even  those  that  are  conducted  face-­‐to-­‐face.    Adding  a  Surcharge  Fee  to  Items  Other  Than  Tui8on  The  rules  that  govern  convenience  fees  restrict  their  use  in  the  school  environment  to  purchases  for  tui$on  or  other  directly  related  educa$onal  purposes.  Surcharge  fees  have  no  such  restric$ons,  so  you  could  use  these  fees  for  uniform  purchases,  food  purchases,  dona$ons,  and  gifs.    

Considering Surcharge Fees

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Auc$on  Room,  Chris$e's  (1808):  Use  this  space  to  provide  credit  to  the  original  photo  or  graphic  creator  

Section wrap-up •  Fees can be added to more than

Tuition •  Each major credit card has a set of

unique rules •  Legislation often dictates how

ePayment fees can be used

Chapter 3

Wrap up

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CHAPTER FOUR

Applying Surcharge

Fees

Page 23: Beginnner's Guide to Tuition Processing

Surcharge Fee Requirements

If  you  have  decided  to  use  a  surcharge  fee  for  credit  card  purchases  in  any  department  of  your  campus,  there  are  several  requirements  with  which  you  must  comply.  In  this  chapter,  we  will  discuss  two  of  the  five  requirements:  no$fica$on  to  the  card  companies  and  your  acquirer,  and  the  applica$on  of  applicable  limita$ons.      No8fica8ons  and  Limita8ons  You  must  provide  no$fica$on  to  both  VISA,  MasterCard,  and  to  your  acquirer  if  you  intend  to  apply  a  surcharge  fee  for  purchases  with  these  cards.  The  no$fica$on  must  be  provided  30  days  before  you  begin  to  apply  a  surcharge.  You  should  have  the  merchant  ID  you  plan  to  use  handy  when  comple$ng  the  form,  and  must  complete  one  form  for  each  merchant  ID  on  which  you  plan  to  use  a  surcharge.  

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Surcharge Fee Limitations

There  are  three  limita$ons  merchants  must  observe  when  using  a  surcharge  fee:  processing  cost  caps,  brand  or  product  level  surcharges,  and  only  applying  them  to  credit  cards.    Processing  Costs  Cap    While  the  merchant  does  have  some  discre$on  to  determine  the  amount  of  the  surcharge,  it  cannot  exceed  the  lesser  of  four  percent  of  the  total  transac$on;  or  the  actual  cost  of  processing  credit  card  transac$ons.      Brand  Or  Product  Level,  Not  Both      Merchants  have  the  op$on  to  add  a  surcharge  at  the  brand  level  to  all  credit  card  transac$ons  or  to  par$cular  types  of  Visa  and  Mastercard  credit  card  transac$ons  at  the  product  level  (e.g.,  Visa  Tradi$onal,  Visa  Tradi$onal  Rewards,  Visa  Signature),  but  not  both.    Credit  Cards  Only      Under  the  rules  of  the  seUlement  agreement,  surcharge  fees  cannot  be  used  on  purchases  made  with  debit  or  prepaid  cards.  Even  if  a  debit  card  user  chooses  credit  at  a  point  of  sale  terminal,  the  transac$on  made  with  a  debit  card  cannot  have  a  surcharge  fee  applied.      

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Implementing Fees

Providing  no$fica$on  to  the  credit  cards  and  your  acquirer  is  fairly  straighkorward,  and  applying  the  cap  requires  a  simple  modifica$on  of  your  checkout  process.  However,  determining  whether  a  card  that  you  can’t  see  is  a  debit  or  a  credit  card  is  not  as  simple.      To  iden$fy  and  block  payments  with  debit  cards,  your  payment  processor  must  be  able  to  perform  a  Bank  Iden$fica$on  Number  (BIN)  look  up.  It  is  important  that  you  check  with  each  sofware  provider  you  use  to  process  payments  to  ensure  that  they  can  provide  this  service  if  you  want  to  use  a  surcharge  fee.    If  it  turns  out  that  your  vendor  is  unable  to  dis$nguish  and  treat  debit  and  credit  cards  differently,  Diamond  Mind  has  a  product  that  can  do  this  for  you  and  is  compa$ble  with  any  gateway  you  are  using.  Our  Card  Validator  allows  you  to  instantly  determine  whether  the  proffered  card  is  a  credit  card  and  reject  the  card  if  it  is  not.  Our  Card  Validator  is  fully  PCI  compliant  and  is  regularly  updated  with  all  of  the  most  recent  card  iden$fica$on  data.      

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Section wrap-up •  Understand the different

notifications and limitations of fees •  Surcharge fees can only be added to

credit, not debit cards

Chapter 4

Wrap up

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CHAPTER FIVE

Applying Surcharge

Fees

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Applying a Surcharge Fee

When  it  comes  to  applying  a  surcharge  fee,  communica$on  is  an  important  aspect.  For  any  item  that  would  have  a  surcharge  fee  added,  a  merchant  needs  to  disclose  the  fee.  Also  of  note,  there  are  specific  processing  requirements  that  regulate  the  what,  where,  and  how  in  regards  to  disclosures.    A  U.S.  merchant  who  uses  a  surcharge  fee  must  provide  clear  disclosure  to  the  merchant’s  customers  at  three  points:  the  point  of  store  entry,  the  point  of  interac$on  or  sale,  and  on  the  transac$on  receipt.    It  starts  with  the  point  of  store  entry  or  in  an  online  environment,  the  first  page.  A  merchant  must  list  that  a  surcharge  will  be  added,  but  will  not  be  greater  than  its  applicable  merchant  discount  rate  for  credit  card  transac$ons.  The  surcharge  must  also  be  listed  at  the  point  of  interac$on  or  sale  with  the  customer.  Finally,  a  surcharge  must  also  be  listed  on  the  transac$on  receipt  provided  by  the  merchant.  The  exact  dollar  amount  of  the  actual  surcharge  must  be  listed  on  the  receipt.  

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Disclosure | Interaction

The  point  of  entry  disclosure  must  include  a  statement  that  the  surcharge  the  merchant  imposes  is  not  greater  than  the  merchant’s  discount  rate  for  credit  card  transac$ons.  This  includes  the  amount  of  any  surcharges  that  the  merchant  imposes,  and  a  statement  that  the  merchant  is  imposing  the  surcharge.    The  point  of  interac$on  or  sale  disclosure  must  no$fy  the  customer  of  the  merchant’s  surcharging  prac$ces  (including  the  amount  of  any  surcharges  that  the  merchant  imposes  and  a  statement  that  the  surcharge  is  being  imposed  by  the  merchant),  in  a  manner  that  does  not  disparage  the  brand,  network,  issuing  bank,  or  the  payment  card  product  being  used.    Merchants  are  free  to  develop  their  own  signage  that  meets  surcharging  requirements,  and  are  permiUed  to  combine  brand  messages  if  more  than  one  credit  card  brand  is  surcharged.    

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Surcharge Fee Examples

Mastercard  Surcharge  Example  MasterCard  offers  the  following  examples  of  compliant  surcharge  disclosure  :    We  impose  a  surcharge  on  credit  cards  that  is  not  greater  than  our  cost  of  acceptance  We  impose  a  surcharge  of  __  %  on  the  total  transac$on  amount  on  MasterCard  credit  card  products,  which  is  not  greater  than  our  cost  of  acceptance  We  do  not  surcharge  Debit  MasterCard  cards    On  each  transac$on  receipt  the  merchant  must  disclose  that  it  is  a  merchant  surcharge,  and  provide  the  dollar  amount  of  the  surcharge.  The  rules  also  require  that  the  surcharge  fee  be  processed  with  the  purchase  as  a  single  transac$on.    

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Section wrap-up •  Surcharge fees prevent your school

from absorbing costs •  There are specific rules and

regulations for using Surcharge Fees

•  Disclosure and Communication are important aspects when using fees

Chapter 5

Wrap up

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CHAPTER SIX

States that Prohibit

Surcharge Fees

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States that Prohibit Fees

If  your  school  has  opera$ons  in  any  of  the  following  10  states,  you  must  check  with  your  legal  counsel  to  determine  what  types  of  fees  you  can  use  on  credit  and  debit  card  charges:      1.  California    2.  Colorado  3.  Connec$cut  4.  Florida  5.  Kansas  6.  Maine  7.  MassachuseUs  8.  New  York  9.  Oklahoma    10. Texas  

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States that Prohibit Fees

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Understanding Regulation

The  10  states  that  do  not  strictly  allow  the  implementa$on  of  surcharges  come  as  a  result  of  a  class  ac$on  lawsuit  seUlement.  However,  in  2013  there  were  44  bills  across  23  states  that  focused  specifically  on  credit  and  debit  card  surcharges.  Due  to  the  changing  environment  of  surcharges,  it’s  important  to  remain  vigilant  for  any  changes  in  your  state.    Fee  regula$on  varies  by  state,  but  the  interpreta$ons  of  these  statutes  vary  from  lawyer  to  lawyer.  As  a  result  there  is  no  defini$ve  guide  to  what  fees  you  can  use.  It  should  be  noted  that  consumers  who  are  subjected  to  checkout  fees  in  states  where  they  are  protected  by  law  can  report  the  retailer  to  their  state  aUorney  general's  office.  Therefore  it  is  important  to  have  your  legal  counsel  advise  you  on  the  legality  of  implemen$ng  any  fees  if  you  are  in  one  of  these  10  states.    

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Other Options

Regardless  of  the  determina$on  about  the  applicability  of  surcharge  and  convenience  fees  for  your  school,  one  op$on  is  to  implement  a  discount  for  cash.  In  the  next  chapter  you  will  learn  how  to  create  a  discount  for  cash  program  so  that  you  can  accept  credit  cards  and  neutralize  processing  costs  even  in  states  that  prohibit  surcharge  fees.    

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Section wrap-up •  Currently only 10 states prohibit

the addition of fees •  Regulations change often •  Discount for Cash prevents you from

absorbing Fee costs

Chapter 6

Wrap up

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CHAPTER SEVEN

Getting Started with Discount for

Cash

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Discount for Cash

Merchants  use  convenience  fees  and  surcharges  to  make  the  collec$on  of  tui$on  payment  and  other  purchases  via  credit  card  cost-­‐neutral.  By  charging  some  or  all  of  the  cost  of  processing  a  credit  card  transac$on  back  to  the  customer  via  these  fees,  the  merchant  recovers  that  cost.      But  what  if  you  do  not  want  to  or  are  not  able  or  allowed  to  charge  these  fees?  Can  a  school  offer  credit  card  payments  and  s$ll  recover  some  or  all  of  its  processing  costs  without  charging  these  fees?  Yes.    A  school  can  offer  tui$on  payments  by  credit  card  in  a  cost-­‐neutral  way  through  a  discount  for  cash  program.  With  this  op$on,  the  school  offers  its  parents  two  tui$on  prices:    one  for  paying  with  credit  or  debit  cards  and  one  for  paying  with  a  check  or  an  electronic  funds  transfer.      

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Breaking Even

On  the  surface,  this  op$on  may  appear  to  lose  money  for  the  school,  but  discount  for  cash  is  transformed  into  a  cost-­‐neutral  op$on  by  simply  increasing  the  published  costs  of  tui$on  and  related  fees  and  then  discoun$ng  back  for  parents  who  pay  cash.      In  this  way,  the  increased  tui$on  offsets  the  merchant  service  fees  incurred  by  parents  paying  with  credit  and  debit  cards.  To  avoid  a  sudden  and  drama$c  increase,  some  schools  have  opted  to  increase  tui$on  by  a  small  amount  annually  un$l  the  price  of  the  cash  op$on  essen$ally  makes  up  for  the  merchant  service  fees.  

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DFC in Fee Prohibited States

Your  school  is  in  one  of  the  10  states  that  do  not  allow  fees    The  biggest  reason  you  should  consider  discount  for  cash  is  if  your  school  is  located  in  one  of  the  ten  states  where  surcharge  fees  are  prohibited,  namely  California,  Colorado,  Connec$cut,  Florida,  Kansas,  Maine,  MassachuseUs,  New  York,  Oklahoma  and  Texas.  Since  you  cannot  use  surcharge  fees  in  these  states  and  convenience  fees  may  be  problema$c  as  well,  the  discount  for  cash  op$on  is  the  best  way  you  can  offset  the  merchant  service  fees  you  pay  for  credit  card  charges.  

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Cost-Neutral Opportunities

You  do  not  want  to  deal  with  fee  compliance  Discount  for  cash  is  specifically  allowed  by  all  the  major  credit  cards  and  does  not  require  the  merchant  to  comply  with  any  federal  or  state  regula$ons  or  credit  card  rules.  That  means  there  are  no  limita$ons  on  the  type  of  card,  the  brand,  the  type  of  purchase  or  any  disclosures  or  special  no$ces  required.    So  you  may  want  to  consider  offering  discount  for  cash  if  you  do  not  want  to  be  bothered  with  all  of  the  requirements  that  come  along  with  using  surcharge  or  convenience  fees.    Your  parent  community  prefers  it  Diamond  Mind  recently  asked  a  group  of  school  business  officers  whether  they  thought  their  parent  clients  would  prefer  to  pay  a  convenience  fee  or  receive  a  discount  for  cash.    While  the  business  officers  were  split  on  what  they  thought  the  parents  would  prefer,  two  out  of  three  parents  asked  said  they  preferred  the  discount  for  cash.  With  the  discount,  parents  have  a  simpler  transac$on  and  feel  good  about  saving  money.  

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Section wrap-up •  Discount for Cash works in the 10

states that prohibit fees •  Great option to save money, yet offer

addition payment methods •  Reduces the need for other fee types

Chapter 7

Wrap up

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CHAPTER EIGHT

Recurring Billing for

Tuition Payments

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Understanding Recurring Bills

It  is  important  that  your  business  office  keeps  up  with  the  trends  in  the  industry,  and  recurring  billing  op$ons  are  becoming  more  common.  One  method  that  school  business  officers  are  reducing  their  workload  is  through  the  implementa$on  of  recurring  tui$on  bills,  which  allow  parents  to  automa$cally  pay.    Reducing  the  payment  cycle  workload  is  another  way  school  business  officers  can  condense  the  overall  costs  incurred  in  accep$ng  tui$on  payments.  The  reality  is  that  parents  expect  to  see  payment  op$ons  at  their  child’s  independent  school  that  mirror  op$ons  available  elsewhere.    For  both  of  these  reasons,  implemen$ng  a  recurring  billing  program  is  a  good  idea  for  most  schools.  It  saves  the  business  office  hassles  by  reducing  paperwork  and  automa$ng  a  tedious  process.    

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Easy Options = Happy Parents

Recurring  billing  is  an  arrangement  where  a  consumer  preauthorizes  a  merchant  to  bill  the  consumer's  credit  card  account  at  predetermined  or  variable  intervals  (monthly,  semi-­‐annual  or  annually).  The  amount  can  be  the  same  each  $me  or  can  vary  depending  on  usage  such  as  u$li$es.    Parents  like  this  op$on  because  they  don’t  have  to  track  due  dates  or  risk  late  fees,  and  business  officers  like  it  because  they  don’t  have  to  track  down  lagging  payments  and  will  know  for  certain  when  payments  will  be  made.  There  are  no  unique  rules  that  regulate  recurring  billing,  so  your  only  considera$on  is  pupng  the  technology  in  place  that  is  best  for  your  school.    

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Choosing the Right Program

You  will  want  a  program  that  is:      Flexible:  Can  modify  the  payment  plan  to  be  whatever  your  school  wants  it  to  be.    Responsive:  Can  easily  be  suspended  or  reac$vated.    Up-­‐do-­‐date:  Can  incorporate  the  latest  rules  and  your  decision  on  surcharge  fees,  convenience  fees  or  discounts  for  cash.    Reliable:  If  you  are  going  to  outsource  this  task,  entrust  it  to  a  company  or  consultant  with  a  proven  track  record  in  payment  acceptance  and  the  independent  school  environment.      One  such  sugges$on  that  meets  each  of  these  requirements  and  more  is  Diamond  Mind’s  Tui$on  Portal  offering,  which  has  robust  recurring  billing  op$ons.  

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Section wrap-up •  Recurring Billing pre-authorizes a

card •  Easily set and forget billing for

parents •  Reduce workload and time spent

collecting tuition

Chapter 8

Wrap up

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CHAPTER NINE

Should you Hire a Tuition

Management Company?

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Tuition Management Companies

By  now  you  should  have  a  good  sense  of  the  issues  to  consider  prior  to  implemen$ng  an  efficient  and  cost-­‐effec$ve  tui$on  payment  system  at  your  school.      Fortunately  there  are  also  third-­‐party  solu$ons  that  allow  your  school  to  implement  cost-­‐neutral  op$ons,  manage  and  understand  the  latest  regula$ons,  and  almost  en$rely  take  over  the  heavy  lifing.      Tui$on  Management  Companies  (TMC)  are  common  alterna$ves  to  in  house  solu$ons.  In  some  instances,  a  TMC  may  be  a  good  fit  for  your  school.  In  other  instances,  you  can  avoid  the  extensive  costs,  and  simply  work  with  your  card  processor  and  office  staff  to  implement  the  sugges$ons  in  this  guide.  

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Inside TCMs

TMCs,  such  as  FACTS,  SMART  and  TADS  take  over  all  or  part  of  a  school’s  tui$on  collec$on,  thereby  relieving  the  school  from  some  of  the  administra$ve  burden.  Generally,  a  school  signs  on  with  the  TMC  to  handle  either  all  payments  coming  into  the  school,  or  just  the  most  administra$vely  burdensome  payments  such  as  60/40  or  the  10-­‐month  payment  plans.  In  this  process  the  TMC  sends  the  bill  to  the  parent,  and  the  parent  pays  the  TMC  directly.  Then  the  TMC  cuts  a  check  to  the  school  that  aggregates  all  the  payments  made,  minus  a  $40-­‐50  fee  per  family.      In  general,  the  smaller  the  size  of  your  school,  the  more  sense  it  makes  to  work  with  a  TMC.  In  addi$on,  because  personal  checks  and  payments  made  over  the  phone  require  more  hands-­‐on  processing,  if  a  significant  percent  of  your  parent  payments  are  made  in  either  of  these  ways,  a  TMC  might  be  a  good  choice.      On  the  other  hand,  if  your  parent  popula$on  largely  pays  online,  a  card  processing  company  like  Diamond  Mind  that  can  offer  recurring  billing,  discounts  for  cash  and  all  the  other  electronic  payment  op$ons  can  meet  your  needs.  Also,  if  your  tui$on  payments  are  mostly  of  the  easy-­‐to-­‐accept  kind  (100%  or  60/40)  a  TMC  may  not  bring  enough  value  to  be  worth  the  associated  costs.  

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Choosing a TCM

When  choosing  a  TMC,  there  are  various  things  to  look  for  to  ensure  your  school  gets  the  most  bang  for  your  buck.  One  of  the  most  important  aspects  is  to  ensure  that  it  is  user-­‐friendly.  When  choosing  a  system,  parents  will  be  frequently  interac$ng  with  it,  and  they  will  want  something  easy  to  navigate,  and  understand.      Unfortunately  you  may  not  find  Yelp  style  reviews  for  these  sort  of  companies,  so  ask  for  tes$monials  and  customer  case  studies  to  get  a  beUer  understanding  of  what  their  clients  think  about  the  solu$on.    In  addi$on  to  an  easy-­‐to-­‐use  system,  the  TCM  needs  to  be  on  top  of  the  latest  regula$ons  and  changes  to  your  state.  As  you  have  likely  no$ced  while  reading  through  this  guide,  the  ePayment  landscape  con$nues  to  change,  so  it’s  important  that  any  service  provider  follows  the  latest  legisla$ons.  Further,  in  some  cases  the  rule  changes  can  benefit  your  school,  so  it’s  ideal  to  work  with  a  thought  leader  who  can  take  advantage  of  any  new  opportuni$es.  

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Questions to ask of TCMs

Overall,  ensure  that  any  TMC  is  also  reliable,  efficient,  and  flexible.  Your  TMC  will  be  communica$ng  directly  with  parents  on  your  behalf,  so  you  need  to  ensure  that  their  tone  and  customer  service  ethic  is  consistent  with  the  image  you  seek  to  convey.      They  also  need  to  be  efficient,  as  you  are  looking  to  improve  cash  flow  and  reduce  the  $me  you  need  to  spend  on  collec$ons.      How  much  effort  does  the  TMC  make  when  a  payment  is  late  before  it  hands  the  case  back  to  your  office?  What  are  their  average  processing  $mes?  Finally,  can  the  TMC  work  with  families  going  through  financial  hardship?  Can  they  accept  different  types  of  payment  and  different  payment  plans?      Ensure  that  a  TMC  is  as  flexible  with  parents  as  your  school  would  be.  

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Auc$on  Room,  Chris$e's  (1808):  Use  this  space  to  provide  credit  to  the  original  photo  or  graphic  creator  

Section wrap-up •  TCMs are ideal for small schools

with low internal resources •  Online or ePayments will reduce

your need for a TCM •  Make sure the TCM you hire shares

the same values, offers free support

Chapter 9

Wrap up

Page 55: Beginnner's Guide to Tuition Processing

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Speak to a Subject Matter Expert

Diamond  Mind  would  like  to  show  you  how  any  school  can  start  saving  money  today.  Our  simple,  straight-­‐forward  proposal  process  will  result  in  a  detailed,  prac$cal  business  case  you  can  use  to  evaluate  your  op$ons.  Our  commitment  to  a  no-­‐sell  approach  means  there’s  never  any  pressure  from  us.  

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