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ASU starts credit card fee


Beginning Nov. 1, students will no longer be able to pay for tuition with credit cards or debit cards unless they pay a 2.75 percent convenience fee.

That means in-state students who pay tuition bills with a credit card would add an additional $118.28 to their $4,301 tuition. Out-of-state students would add an additional $382.75 to their $13,918 tuition.

InfiNET, a third-party vendor that has been contracted by ASU Business Services, will handle the tuition payments and charge a convenience fee for processing and depositing the money to ASU, said Joanne Wamsley, the director of Business Services.

Wamsley said the change has been in the planning stages for more than eight months because ASU was losing more than $2 million per year due to fees associated with running credit cards.

Residential Life charges, parking tickets, student health charges and library fines will follow the same guidelines as tuition payments, Wamsley said.

Credit card companies have been adding more costly restrictions in processing transactions to curb credit card fraud, she said.

In the past, ASU paid for the restrictions.

"It's very burdensome for companies like ASU," she said.

"The move also affects the credit cards accepted for payment. MasterCard, Discover and American Express will be accepted, but VISA will not.

Wamsley said VISA does not accept outside vendors, like infiNET, to handle their transactions and charge a convenience fee.

"We would be violating their rules, so it's out of [ASU's] hands," she said.

However, American Express, a card not previously accepted, will be a payment option, she added.

"In the past, there wasn't enough volume of users to justify it," she said.

eCheck, an electronic checking system, is also being added to help with tuition payments.

Instead of writing a paper check from a savings or checking account, students can process an electronic check, Wamsley said.

She said the eCheck system is being added because Business Services has realized paying online is very popular.

"It's something we wanted to add for awhile," she said.

Although ASU will have to pay a processing fee for eCheck, it is "fairly nominal," she added.

Wamsley said she is unsure exactly what the processing fee will be.

Nov. 1 was chosen as the revamping date because that's when spring semester charges are due, Wamsley said.

Tourism management senior Megan Windham is upset ASU will no longer accept credit cards without the convenience charge, but understands the reasons behind the change.

"It's crazy and it sucks, but if the University is losing that much money then I guess its fair," she said.

Reach the reporter at kristi.eaton@asu.edu.


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