Merchant Accounts

Merchant Credit Card  |  Central Merchant Account

Merchant Credit Card Summary

Purpose

Dartmouth College requires all departments that process, store or transmit credit card data remain in compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). The purpose of the Merchant Credit Card Policy is to protect our customers’ credit card data, to uphold the College’s reputation, to reduce the financial costs associated with a breach of credit card information and to outline best practices for all aspects of credit card transactions.

Background

PCI DSS was established by the credit card industry in response to an increase in identity theft and credit card fraud. Every merchant who handles credit card data is responsible for safeguarding that information and can be held liable for security compromises. This standard has 12 requirements, including controls for handling credit card data, computer and Internet security and an annual self assessment questionnaire.

Entities Affected By This Policy

Any College department that accepts credit card payments and retains sensitive cardholder data in paper or electronic format must comply with the Policy.

Who Should Read This Policy

Anyone that conducts Dartmouth College business and is affiliated with the acceptance of payment cards as a form of payment.

Read the full policy: Dartmouth College Merchant Services Policy for detailed explanation of requirements and procedures for setting up a department or program specific merchant account. 

Central Dartmouth College Merchant Account

The Dartmouth Finance Central Merchant Account has been established to assist departments with accepting credit card payments from external organizations on ad hoc basis. 

Purpose:

The purpose of the central Dartmouth College merchant account is to address the need for the College to be able to accept payments by credit card for ad hoc billable services or events. Examples of transactions that would be appropriate for the Centralized Merchant Account would be:

• Departments or Programs that are providing billable services less than 5 times per month.
• Departments or Programs that are holding a couple day event or conference and need to accept payments for registration during a set period of time to offset costs associated with the event (food, lodging, parking, speaker fees) 
   

Registering to utilize the Centralized Merchant Account: 

Departments must complete the Central Credit Card Processing Request for consideration of being able to use the central Dartmouth College merchant account. The following information must be provided at the time of submission:  

The Department or Program should provide: 

• Name of department or program
• Department Contact and contact phone number
• Chart String where the revenue and associated transaction fees should be posted
• Description of the service or event that will be generating revenue
   

If approved, next steps are dependent on if revenue is being generated from a service or event:

For Services:

• If for a service, invoicing will be generated from the system. The department will need to submit an Invoice Generation Request for each billable entity or individual. 
• Payee Name
• Payee Email Address
• Payee Address
• The cost of that service either in lump sum or unit cost and number of units being billed
   

For Events

• If for an event needing a simple checkout with single or multiple options, complete the Event Simple Checkout Request
• This request allows for the creation of a Buy Now button to be embedded on the event site for individual items.
• Multiple Buy Now buttons can be provided if multiple items are needed. 
   

Departments and Programs should be aware that there are processing fees (Authorize net: 1.95%, plus Chase: 2.00% interchange fee for each transaction, plus $.10/batch transfer) and those processing fees will be applied as a separate line item following the monthly reconciliation.

Departments that are holding events are responsible for the setup of their own event website and will be provided with a link or embeddable Buy Now button for their site for individuals to register and pay. Reports can be generated as negotiated with the Authorize.net Administrator.