Credit Cards

All cardholders must submit a Visa Cardholder Agreement for one or both the Purchasing Card (PCard) or the Travel and Expense (T&E) Card. Agreements must have the sign-off of the Reports-to Manager and the Department Budget Owner. Department Budget Owners cannot sign their own agreement - it must be a one-up Approver.

The Purchasing Card (PCard) is intended for low-risk and low-dollar goods and services for your unit or area. Examples might be books, subscriptions, safety and laboratory expenses. Catering expenses up to $5000 are allowed on the Purchasing Card if a T&E Card is not available. 

The Travel and Expense (T&E) Card is intended to accommodate all travel-related and meeting expenses. This would include dining and entertaining. Catering charges should be charged to the T&E Card.

Each card serves a different function and has specific workflow controls and approvals associated with purchases of good and services. Consequently, the administration of each card is unique. They are easily identifiable by embossed labels and unique images on both cards. 

A cardholder application must be submitted and approved. Then they will be sent email invitations for mandatory card training sessions (one for each card). When training is completed, the card(s) will be ordered from Visa and arrive approximately 5-10 business days later at Supply Chain Management offices. The cardholder will be sent a distribution email approximately one week prior to the time and date to come and pick up the respective card from our offices.

Cardholders accept the responsibility of being issued a University Credit Card. Responsibilities are are listed on the card application on which they signed-off. Cardholders are responsible for adhering to the Corporate Card Program Agreement terms and conditions, program guidelines and University policies. They should never be used by anyone else other than the cardholder themselves.

Reconcilers or delegates are optional and can be assigned by the cardholder to reconcile transactions of their behalf for both PCard and T&E transactions.

Reconcilers are a great option to assist with reconciliation and can often expedite the submission process. However, the cardholder is still responsible for ensuring adequate supporting documentation (statements, receipts, invoices) are provided within the card program’s reconciliation timeframe and will be held accountable for reconciliation deadlines even if the reconciler is absent or on vacation.

For PCards a maintenance form is required to be completed and submitted to the card program via finance@ucalgary.ca.

For T&E Cards, this can be done directly by the cardholder through Employee Self-Service>Travel & Expenses>User Preferences>Delegate Entry Authority

A .pdf statement is emailed directly to the cardholder on the 26th of each month from the email ‘notifications@centresuite.com'. Be sure to set this as a safe sender in your email and be sure to review the transactions for accuracy. Cardholders may also log on to CentreSuite to download statements. Please use the Quick Reference Guide using CentreSuite to access Visa card statements. Statement requirements for reconciling transactions are based on project, grant or department requirements. Check with your finance team for requirements.

Transactions from Visa are uploaded into Peoplesoft nightly for both PCards and T&E Cards. Cardholders will receive their Visa statement/s from notificationsgcentresuite.com on the 26^th of the month; however, transactions close to the statement date may not appear in Peoplesoft for an additional day or two.

If the cardholder identifies that a transaction is not valid, call Scotiabank immediately at the number on the back of the card and report the fraudulent charge. Then email finance@ucalgary.ca to advise them of the path forward (cancel/replace card/refund). Include the cardholder name, card type, date of contact with Scotiabank. Once the disputed amount is resolved, a credit for the amount will allocated to the replacement card.  Reconcile both the fraud charge, and the credit as usual which will net zero the charge. More detailed instructions for reporting fraud are listed in the Corporate Card Handbook on the University Corporate Card website.

All charges, including fraud routing in Peoplesoft must be reconciled within regular Corporate Card deadlines. Reconcile both the fraud charge, and if received within deadlines, the credit as usual which will net zero the charge. Alternatively, once the credit is received, reconcile it separately. If any charges remain unreconciled they will be subject to regular card program escalation and card suspension processes. If you don’t recognize a charge, please see the FAQ “How do I handle a charge I don’t recognize”. Instructions for reporting fraud are listed in the Corporate Card Handbook section 6.11.

All charges listed on PCard statements and T&E statements (including fraud) issued from Visa on the 26^th of every month must be reconciled by the 15^th of the next month (example; statement/s received on January 26^th must be reconciled by February 15^th) The only exception is when the transaction is for future dated travel.  If statement transactions remain un-reconciled the cardholder will move into the escalation process which will include a warning email, card suspension and possible allocation of the transaction(s) to Department funding. Due to an extended reconciliation timeline, extension requests for reconciling such as vacation schedules, funding issues, and credit issuance may not be approved.  More details regarding card program escalations are listed in the Corporate Card Handbook section 7.3.

Credits will be treated as any other charge. They will be loaded into PeopleSoft and should be reconciled against the same account to which the original charge was allocated.

There is a feature available in My Wallet. When there is a transaction for future travel, the cardholder can apply a future travel date to each applicable line and complete the expense after the travel has occurred. This is important as it alleviates any email reminders from the Card Program that their reconciliation is past due. Please refer to Step 3 in the 'Submitting a Travel & Expense Card Claim' Quick Reference Guide on how to allocate a future travel date.

On the 26^th of each month, Scotiabank will issue a new statement containing the posted transactions. The cardholder has until the 15^th of the following month to reconcile and submit the transactions for approval unless they are future dated for travel.