Payment Card Processing Newsletter
NOVEMBER, 2019 ISSUE
University of Nebraska—Lincoln
PCI Compliance Team
The PCI Compliance Team is a collaboration between Information Technology Services (ITS) and the Office of the Bursar. It is a cross-functional team responsible for administering the University of Nebraska-Lincoln payment card policies and procedures, monitoring payment card activity, and educating merchants.
Contact Information
Information Technology Services (ITS)
Chris Cashmere phone: 402 472-1423
Office of the Bursar
Jennifer Hellwege phone: 402-472-9003
Lisa Hilzer phone: 402-472-9004
Download the printable PDF version of this newsletter here.
New Terminal Options Available to UNL Merchants
The State’s (and subsequently UNL’s) credit card processing contract with Elavon started in 2015 with our departments receiving or purchasing new credit card machines. For Payment Card Industry (PCI), each terminal has a certification with the Security Standards Council (SSC). Each certification period is for approximately five years. When a certification expires, no more updates are pushed to the terminal and it is no longer approved by the SSC. Most of our terminals are Payment Card Industry (PCI) – PIN Transaction Security (PTS) 3.x certification which will expire in April 2020. In addition to the PCI-PTS 3.x certification expiration, another significant change is occurring in the industry. Vendors are no longer making terminals with an analog phone line connection. We have historically used analog terminals in order to minimize our PCI scope.
What does this mean for UNL Departments processing credit and debit card transactions using a terminal? As of April 2020, your terminal’s certification will expire and a new terminal will need to be purchased in the near future. We have worked with Elavon and the State to determine what options are available to us. If the terminal has encryption and tokenization and is an approved solution on the SSC website, UNL will allow the terminal be connected by Ethernet to UNL’s network. Due to the encryption and tokenization, this removes actual credit card data from UNL’s servers and retains our PCI scope reduction necessary for compliance. The use of encryption and tokenization has also been approved by the State.
Attached is a list of terminals now available for purchase. These terminals will be certified through April of 2026 . Safe-T is an Elavon product which allows for encryption and tokenization of a transaction. Safe-T must be loaded on your terminal and has a monthly fee of $25. This will allow you to stay PCI compliant even though you are connecting to UNL’s network. If using an Ethernet cable, the terminals should be ready for use as delivered. A SIM card is not required because the Ethernet and/or WiFi is an acceptable replacement for terminals which don’t leave campus. If the use of WiFi is desired, ITS can assist in the proper setup needed. Let the Bursar’s Office know if that is wanted, and they will assist you with this process. If you truly need a mobile terminal for off campus use (out of campus WiFi range) there may be other WiFi options and SIM cards are available for certain terminal models.
Please review the options available and consider them for your future terminal needs. When you are ready to make your purchase, send your request to Jordan Bergman at: jbergman4@unl.edu
American Express Added as Payment Option for UNL
We are excited to share that American Express has been added to the State’s (and subsequently UNL’s) credit card processing contract with Elavon. American Express can be added to your payment options and will appear on your monthly Elavon statement similarly to your other card sales and fees. The rate for processing American Express is 2.05% which is comparable to our other card options. If you are interested in adding American Express to your merchant account(s), contact Jordan Bergman at: jbergman4@unl.edu
Adding the option to stand-alone terminals is a very quick switch. Ecommerce accounts take a bit more, but can be changed fairly easily as well.