CASHNet: Getting Started
This is not a typical blog, as it is more of an effort at disseminating information about the new CASHNet system being used by the Business Office. It affects all students and the way we handle financial transactions; I want students to know that changes are occurring.
Efficiency and cost savings are the reasons for the change to the electronic billing, payment and refund system. Students will now have access to their account 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Payments may be made at any time and refunds will be processed more quickly by being directly deposited into students’ bank accounts.
A special mailing will go out Friday to explain these changes, but I want to address them here, too.
Access to billing statements is provided through the Web for Student portal on the OIT Web site. While there, a student may look up their account balance and pay with a credit card or electronic check.
Payments made with a credit card are subject to a 2.75% service fee paid by the student. VISA payments are not accepted, due to VISA banking regulations that permit only a flat fee as a service charge. Electronic checks will be accepted with no service fee being passed on to the student.
This new process provides added safety from identity theft. No credit card numbers, or personal information, are stored on campus. It is also convenient for budgeting, as students select the payment amount that is convenient for them.
Through e-Billing, students are provided a customized billing statement online. Students will receive an e-mail indicating the bill is available for viewing. The bill will include payment options and due dates. Students may grant access to parents, or others, to view the account and make payments.
With e-Refunding, students will have quicker access to refund amounts which will be directly deposited into their bank account. Students may use existing banking relationships and make changes online.
CASHNet complies with all of the laws, rules and regulations associated with our university. It is an opportunity to utilize more technology in our business transactions.
In providing more efficient financial transactions, OIT is reducing the cost of doing business, which ultimately results in lower tuition and fees for students.
Efficiency and cost savings are the reasons for the change to the electronic billing, payment and refund system. Students will now have access to their account 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Payments may be made at any time and refunds will be processed more quickly by being directly deposited into students’ bank accounts.
A special mailing will go out Friday to explain these changes, but I want to address them here, too.
Access to billing statements is provided through the Web for Student portal on the OIT Web site. While there, a student may look up their account balance and pay with a credit card or electronic check.
Payments made with a credit card are subject to a 2.75% service fee paid by the student. VISA payments are not accepted, due to VISA banking regulations that permit only a flat fee as a service charge. Electronic checks will be accepted with no service fee being passed on to the student.
This new process provides added safety from identity theft. No credit card numbers, or personal information, are stored on campus. It is also convenient for budgeting, as students select the payment amount that is convenient for them.
Through e-Billing, students are provided a customized billing statement online. Students will receive an e-mail indicating the bill is available for viewing. The bill will include payment options and due dates. Students may grant access to parents, or others, to view the account and make payments.
With e-Refunding, students will have quicker access to refund amounts which will be directly deposited into their bank account. Students may use existing banking relationships and make changes online.
CASHNet complies with all of the laws, rules and regulations associated with our university. It is an opportunity to utilize more technology in our business transactions.
In providing more efficient financial transactions, OIT is reducing the cost of doing business, which ultimately results in lower tuition and fees for students.
posted by VVL at 2:05 PM
6 Comments:
I don't like this process because students are paying more when they pay their balance with a credit card. Lower tuition and Fees is never going to happen so I don't believe that. Maybe tuition wont go up but it is because we are now paying a finance fee which ultimately already increased tuition for students paying with a credit card.
I have to say that just sounds like another example of OIT giving lip service to being "student-centered" but then letting dollars drive every decision. When the CU was being remodeled, we were told that the Bistro would be open "all the time" for students' convenience, but it's clear that it's really only open when management is confident it can turn a profit. This year, the Marketplace is closed on weekends -- I don't know any other college with on-campus housing that doesn't provide weekend meals -- forcing students to cook their own food or trek off-campus, because the college couldn't see a clear profit in having the cafeteria open. It's really sad.
While there are some great things about using CashNet from what I can tell, the convenience fee and Visa policies are bad ideas. I realize that it's important to keep a handle on costs but excluding Visa card usage and charging a "convenience fee" are not the way to do it. Every other enterprise counts these expenses as just a cost of doing business. I don't see Amazon nailing each of its customers for the privilege of doing business.
It might have made sense to simply say that the "biggest items," bills for in-person tuition (not online classes) and for room & board couldn't be paid by credit card at all, and leave everything else alone.
Actually, I bet OIT will lose a good chunk of what it gains by dumping Visa and instituting the convenience fees because it'll have to spend more time on collections and billing and dealing with bounced checks. Hopefully I'll be wrong on that.
I honestly have concluded that the OIT administration really doesn't know what being student-centered means. I apologize for posting this anonymously. I know you're doing the best you can but this call was a mistake.
I wonder with how much is being saved, how much our cost is actually going to go down, or is someone in administration getting a nice pay raise? i hate that OIT decided to pass the buck to the students to pay the extra amount, but doesn't lower tution at all.
I would also have to agree with the above person, this school no longer looks at students as people, but merely as cash.
I must agree with the previous two posters. Seems that the current adminstration is so focused on the CHP building that they have lost sight of ' cost effictive ' measures for the campus population. One could compare this to the Men's Basketball team as Champions of Character, with one variation, Champions of no Character.
Just ran into another great example of how customer service is not very "customer-centered" here. Went to the library to get a book and ran into a closed gate. It wouldn't bother me much to have the library closed part of the day during holiday breaks, except that there were people working inside! Why is the library closed when employees are there??? If you have two employees working in the library, that should be sufficient to open the gate and let people in, at least when traffic is light, like this week. Pretty poor.
I am a very open minded person about most things in life.Cash net in principle sounds like a winner.Why not give it a chance and then mend it or amend cash net if it doesn't pan out?
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