Innovations

New Payment Process Hopes to be “POP”ular
with Students and Staff

by Peggy Fitzwater

If you were around Student Fiscal Services in the beginning of January, you would have thought SFS was considering venturing off into the unknown. Terms such as ViaWarp, POP, ARC and IRD were commonly heard throughout the office. Staff could be seen shaking their heads in bewilderment as new equipment began appearing on desks.

On January 3rd 2006 SFS began using POP (point of purchase) scanners and software (ViaWarp) to process all tuition checks brought into the office. As a student hands a customer service representative their payment, the check is scanned. Within seconds the check payment is either approved by the bank if there are sufficient funds in the account, or the payment is denied.

If the check payment is accepted, the student is given a receipt to sign acknowledging that SFS will convert their check into an electronic fund transfer. That evening the transactions are transmitted electronically to US Bank and the funds are withdrawn from the students’ bank accounts.

If a student does not want their check converted or it is denied for insufficient funds, they are given alternative payment options such as paying with cash, mailing in their check, using SFS’s online Webcheck to have the money automatically withdrawn from their bank account or paying with a credit card. You can find out more about Webcheck by clicking on this link:

http://www.washington.edu/admin/finmgmt/qi/directions/july05/headlines3.htm

In the coming months, SFS will be measuring the success of the new process in reducing the number of returned payments.

In March, SFS will begin using ARC (Accounts Receivable Conversion) and IRD (Image Replacement Document) to process payments that are not eligible to be processed by POP. These will include checks for departmental cash transmittals, scholarship and invoice payments that are mailed to SFS or placed in the outside payment slot. The bank will not verify funds for these payments but this process results in the funds being deposited sooner into the UW’s bank accounts.