University of Arizona, Procurement & Contracting Services, Purchasing Card Program Information

The Purchasing Card may be used wherever Visa is accepted, following University Purchasing policy and procedures.This convenient purchasing tool may be used directly at a storefront or for orders via the phone, fax or online.Suggested uses include operating supplies, lab equipment, computer equipment, conference registration fees, professional memberships and dues; as well as non-contracted services such as cell phone bills and equipment repair.The Purchasing Card is to be used for University of Arizona business only, not for personal use. All transactions made using the Purchasing Card must benefit and support the University’s mission of education, research and public service.Fraudulent or intentional miss-use of the card will result in cancellation of the card and/or possible criminal charges.

PCard General Guidelines Card

This wallet sized card provides a partial list of allowable and unallowable purchases on the PCard. JPMorgan Chase and PCard contact information is also listed.

Purchasing Card Misuse Policy and Pyramiding Policy

In accordance with the University of Arizona policy for the Misuse of University Assets, the following guidelines have been established for reporting misuse specifically through the Purchasing Card program.

Suspected misuse of University assets through the Purchasing Card Program should immediately be reported to the Purchasing Card Administrator, Purchasing Card Program Manager or Purchasing Director.

The Purchasing designate who receives the notification will in turn contact the Senior Vice President for Business Affairs, as well as the credit card bank, JPMorgan Chase, to initiate a claim in the Visa Liability Waiver Program.

Following the University of Arizona Misuse of Assets policy, the Senior VP for Business Affairs will determine the appropriate course of action, which may include an investigation by Internal Audit, and/or the University Police Department.

These guidelines are established for reporting University Employee Misuse of a University Purchasing Card, and do not apply to non-employee fraud, such as lost/stolen cards. Non-employee fraud should continue to be reported to the PCard Administrator and the credit card bank, JPMorgan Chase.

The University of Arizona Policy on Employee Misuse of Assets:
http://web.arizona.edu/~policy/misuse.pdf.

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Pyramiding, or fragmenting, is making a purchase greater than $5,000 and paying for the item(s) in separate payments of less than $5,000 over an interval of time. Individual purchases to any merchant may not exceed $5000. Intentional fragmenting of a purchase may result in civil or criminal penalties under the Arizona Board of Regents Procurement Policy and/or cancellation of the Purchasing Card. For more information, go to: http://pacs.web.arizona.edu/pacs_home.html.

Characteristics of the Purchasing Card

The University of Arizona Individual Purchasing Card is a J P Morgan Chase Visa card issued to an individual employee. The Department name appears on the card under the cardholder name for reference. Individual Purchasing Cards are nontransferable and non-assignable and remain the property of the University of Arizona and J P Morgan Chase.

The University of Arizona Departmental Purchasing Card is a J P Morgan Chase Visa card issued to a University department. The University’s name appears on the card under the Department name for reference. Departmental Purchasing Cards are transferable and assignable and remain the property of the University of Arizona and J P Morgan Chase.
Each Purchasing Card is assigned a default FRS account number and object code. The FRS account number and object code may be changed at any time. To change or split fund an account number or to change an object code on a single transaction, the cardholder must notify their reconciler when documentation is handed in for each transaction.

Purchasing offers three Purchasing Card Programs for Individual or Departmental PCards: the Classic PCard Program, the Travel Enhancement Program and the PCard Plus Program. Each PCard may be set up with a combination of these programs.

Restrictions / Non-Allowable Expenditures

Policy Restrictions by Program:

Expenditure Category		Classic PCard Program	Travel Enhancement Program	PCard Plus Enhancement Program
Alcohol	Not Allowed		Not Allowed	Not Allowed
Airfare / Transportation	Not Allowed		Allowable (4)	Not Allowed
Animals	Not Allowed		Not Allowed	Not Allowed
Business Meetings / Business Entertainment	Not Allowed		Not Allowed	Allowable
Cash advances / Wire transfers / Money orders	Not Allowed		Not Allowed	Not Allowed
Conflict of interest vendors	Not Allowed		Not Allowed	Not Allowed
EBay	Restricted (1)		Restricted (1)	Restricted (1)
Employee Service & Achievement Awards	Not Allowed		Not Allowed	Allowable
Firearms or ammunition	Not Allowed		Not Allowed	Not Allowed
Flowers / Decorations	Restricted (2)		Not Allowed	Allowable (2)
Food	Restricted (3)		Not Allowed	Allowable
Foreign Visitors (Payments to or on behalf of a foreign visitor; including travel related expenditures such as airfare, shuttle, train, etc.)	Not Allowed		Not Allowed	Not Allowed
Gifts / Donations	Not Allowed		Not Allowed	Not Allowed
Hazardous Materials (Hazardous materials are defined as radioactive materials, compressed gas, bulk ethyl alcohol and DEA licensed materials, including prescription drugs)	Not Allowed		Not Allowed	Not Allowed
Hotels	Not Allowed		Not Allowed	Not Allowed
Payments to Individuals	Not Allowed		Not Allowed	Not Allowed
Medical Services (Medical Services are defined as expenses related to medical care or services.)	Not Allowed		Not Allowed	Not Allowed
Pre-paid Cards including Gift Cards and Phone Cards	Not Allowed		Not Allowed	Not Allowed
Purchases over $5,000	Not Allowed		Not Allowed	Not Allowed
Relocation / Moving Expenses for Employees	Not Allowed		Not Allowed	Not Allowed
Rental Vehicles / Gasoline	Not Allowed		Allowable (5)	Not Allowed
NOTES:
(1) Exceptions may be granted to use EBay through Purchasing.
(2) Flowers / Decorations are restricted where no business is conducted nor business objectives present (for example, a life event such as a birthday or memorial service, a holiday related party or employee social function).
(3) Food used for research activities or educational programs is allowable on the PCard, for example animal feed, water, food for patients (i.e. snacks for patients after blood draws, etc.).
(4) Payments to or on behalf of a foreign visitors are not allowed; including travel related expenditures such as airfare, shuttle, train, etc.
(5) Purchasing gasoline for a personal vehicle is not allowed on the PCard; even if used while on University Business.

Join the PCard Program

Criteria for Departmental Participation

In order to participate in the University of Arizona Purchasing Card program, each department/unit must be able to give "yes" answers to the following questions:

Will your unit be able to insure that rules and regulations governing the use and protection of the Purchasing Card will be followed? These concerns stem from the fact that the Purchasing Card is not a personal credit card, thus is not protected from fraudulent use in case of loss or theft or misappropriation of the account number unless JP Morgan Chase is notified by the end of the month following the month in which fraudulent charges occurred.
Will your Department Head or equivalent administrator empower one of your employees to act as a Purchasing Card Liaison for purposes of reporting Purchasing Card policy violations or any other misuse of the card? This employee will need top level authorization and on-going support.
Will the Department Head take immediate, appropriate action upon learning of card misuse? Cards can be suspended temporarily, individual and monthly purchase limits can be lowered, or cards can be canceled, based on the degree of misuse. Notify the Program Administrator immediately.
Do you have staff that can provide prompt, reliable reconciliation and approval of Purchasing Card transactions? Both primary and backup Reconcilers and Approvers should be identified within your unit. NOTE: Reconcilers may be cardholders, and may reconcile or approve their own transactions, but not both. If the Approver in a department must also be a cardholder, another person must function as the Reconciler or Approver for their transactions.
Will your department be able to establish a system for handling and archiving purchase documentation, including order forms, receipts, invoices, packing lists, etc. Note: The department is solely responsible for maintaining detailed documentation for audit purposes.
Do the Reconciler and Approver have the computer hardware necessary to run the JP Morgan Chase PaymentNet Web Site required for this program? Each Reconciler and Approver will need a computer for this purpose.

In order to run PaymentNet effectively, we recommend the following:

· An Internet browser that supports SSL (Secure Sockets Layers). We recommend Internet Explorer 4.01 SP2 or greater, as well as Netscape 4.7 or greater. · Screen resolution of 800 x 600 or greater is recommended. · Access to the Internet.

Getting Started

When your unit meets the criteria described above, here are the steps for getting started. (If your unit wants to participate even though it does not have sufficient staff to provide for a Reconciler, an Approver and backups for them, contact the Purchasing Card Program Administrator).

Step 1	Submit a New Department Application. This includes determining whom the Liaison between your cardholders and the PCard Program Department will be. The Department Head or equivalent administrator must sign and authorize their department to join the PCard Program. New Department Applications should be mailed to the PCard Program Coordinator.
Step 2	Assign Reconciler and Approver roles (including backups) to department employees. .
Step 3	A. Identify department members that are to be cardholders and submit applications. Complete an Individual Purchasing Card Application for each employee. Fill out all fields, click on the SUBMIT button at the bottom of the screen, print the resulting form and get it signed by the cardholder, liaison and department head. New applications should be mailed to the PCard Program Coordinator. B. If requesting a Department Card, identify the responsible person who will administer the card. Complete a Departmental Purchasing Card Application for a card in the name of the department to be held in the business office. Fill out all fields, click on the SUBMIT button at the bottom of the screen, print the resulting form and get it signed by the responsible person, liaison and department head. New applications should be mailed to the PCard Program Coordinator.
Step 4	Set up a system for handling and archiving purchase documentation, including order forms, receipts, invoices, packing lists, etc. Remember: The department is solely responsible for maintaining detailed documentation for audit purposes.
Step 5	Identify potential cardholders by applying the following criteria: An employee of the University of Arizona. Responsible and reliable in following the policies concerning the use and protection of the card. The majority of potential purchases are suitable for Purchasing Card use. Will be responsible and reliable in timely submission of order information, invoices, receipts, etc. to the Reconciler. Consider the possibility of requesting a Purchasing Card for a centrally located employee to place orders for those who might need to make these kinds of purchases only infrequently.
Step 6	The University of Arizona and the departments are responsible for determining credit card transaction limits for each cardholder. The University has set the maximum limit for single transactions at $5,000. Any department may set a lower limit for individual transactions for any cardholder or departmental card. Cardholders within a department may have various limits, determined by the department's needs. Departments must also set a dollar limit per cycle (month) for each cardholder or departmental card. It is recommended that the lowest limits practical be set to minimize risk. Departments must set limits on each cardholder's or departmental card’s number of transactions per day and number of transactions per cycle. Should a cardholder or department wish to increase or decrease any of these limits after they have been set, they should confer with their supervisor and the Department Purchasing Card Liaison. The Liaison will send a Change Form to the Program Coordinator to make approved changes. Limit changes may be made at any time and as often as required.
Step 7	After the cards are ready, the PCard Program Coordinator will contact the Liaison to set up software training for Reconcilers and Approvers and training for cardholders.

Card Management

Purchasing Cardholder Application and Management

The cardholder must complete and sign the Individual Purchasing Card Application including the Purchasing Cardholder Agreement. This application establishes the default FRS account for each cardholder, the cardholder's purchase limit and identifies the Reconciler and Approver for each cardholder. By signing the Purchasing Cardholder Agreement, the cardholder agrees to comply with the following terms and conditions:

Guidelines in the University of Arizona's Procurement Policies and Procedures Manual
Notify the proper authorities if the card is lost or stolen

Delegation or Assignment

Individual Purchasing Cards MAY NOT be delegated or assigned to others. Departmental Purchasing Cards MAY be delegated or assigned to others. A responsible cardholder of department cards must authorize use of the card for each transaction. Responsibility for the card should be transferred or the card temporarily suspended during the absence of a responsible cardholder (i.e. Sabbatical leave, vacation, extended illness, etc.)

All Purchasing Cards are the property of The University of Arizona and JP Morgan Chase.