Credit Card Acceptance Considerations

A department wishing to apply for a credit card merchant account has many things to consider.  If you have any questions or concerns about these, please reach out to Dan Christensen, Controller, at (435) 797-1055 or dan.christensen@usu.edu.

Some of the things you will need to consider include the following:

1. Potential revenue. Will the potential increase in revenue be enough to justify the workload involved with administering and reconciling a merchant account? If so, then establishing a merchant account for credit card acceptance may be the bst option. If not, it might be in the department's best interest to accept only cash and checks, or to use the Credit Card Machine Rental Program.
2. Frequency of Sales. How many credit card transactions will be performed in a month? What is the cost of the hardware? If the activity/event/conference will be held only one time, or sales of items will be for a limited time, it may be in the department's best interest to use the Credit Card Machine Rental Program instead of purchasing equipment and becoming a Merchant.
3. Technical Support. Depending on the method of credit card acceptance, departments will need varying degrees of technical support from their IT staff. Merchants may also need technical support to complete the required annual PCI compliance attestation.
4. Department Staffing Levels. Acceptance of credit cards requires administration of the account, monitoring, and reconciling. Departments must consider availability of staff for these functions.
5. Payment Collection Methods. When reviewing and considering which payment collection method to adopt, consider which method best suits the business needs and the needs of the customer.