Credit Cards
An employee credit card is a privilege granted to an individual by the College, so it is the duty of each individual cardholder to ensure the responsible use of College funds. Employees involved in any aspect of the purchasing process have a responsibility to ensure that the highest standards of ethics, integrity, and fairness are maintained in all such activities. The Business Office is responsible for the administration of the College’s credit card program.
Getting Started
To inquire about applying for a College credit card, please contact the Credit Card Team (wccreditcardFREEwashcoll).
The College's Corporate Card (TRUIST Visa IntelliLink) program provides for issuance of chip enabled VISA cards to authorized individuals as a convenience for College Related Purchases.
Follow these steps to obtain a College Issued Credit Card:
- Submit a completed TRUIST Credit Card Application
- Be alert for emails from the Credit Card Team (wccreditcardFREEwashcoll) and VISA/TRUIST/IntelliLink providing login credentials to instructions for use of your credit card. Once you receive your welcome email and temporary login, you can set up your account at Visa IntelliLink. Setup Account Guidelines.
- Sign and submit the Credit Card Agreement upon receipt of card.
- Obtain IntelliLink training from the Credit Card Team (wccreditcardFREEwashcoll) to reconcile your transactions and submit your reports or delegate another system user as your proxy.
College credit cards should be the last choice for purchasing. Egencia should be used to book travel. Etrieve should be used for travel reimbursements, check requests, requisitions, and purchase orders. The purchase of tangible goods should be done through the College’s other options, including the College Amazon account, whenever possible. The exception is when there is an immediate need for an item or a significant cost savings that would preclude the use of the other available options.
To be considered a tax free and appropriate business expense the basic rule is that the expense must be both ordinary and necessary and be directly connected with or related to your job duties.
The term ordinary refers to an expense connected to a common and accepted practice for your department.
The term necessary refers to an expense that is appropriate and helpful in developing or maintaining your department or program activities.
Job roles and responsibilities have a significant impact on what is considered a reasonable business expense.
The following questions should be considered when determining the appropriateness of costs:
- Would you be comfortable justifying the purchase to students, alumni, trustees, and parents?
- Would you be confident if the cost was selected for audit?
- Would you be comfortable explaining to a donor that their donation was used this way?
- Would you be comfortable defending the purchase under public scrutiny or reading about it in the newspaper?
Washington College is exempt from sales tax in the State of Maryland and many other states. Cardholders are responsible for informing the vendor of the College's sales tax exemptions. The exemption information must be given to all vendors by the cardholder at the time of the transaction to exempt payment of sales tax. A copy of Maryland sales tax exemption certificate can be found on the Tax Exemption Certificate Document.
Charge/Purchase Information
Personal purchases may not be made using a College credit card. If a cardholder accidentally makes a personal purchase using a College credit card, the cardholder will be liable for reimbursement to Washington College for the total dollar amount of the personal purchase and may be liable for any additional costs incurred in connection with the personal purchase. A cardholder must contact the Credit Card Team (wccreditcardFREEwashcoll) immediately upon making a personal purchase using a College credit card for instructions regarding reimbursement to Washington College. Excessive use of a College credit card for personal purchases may result in a card being inactivated.
Credit card charges may be denied for several reasons:
- Wrong number
- Wrong expiration date
- Wrong PIN number
- Reached your credit limit
Verify you have entered all the above information correctly before reviewing the following possibilities of charge denial.
Washington College restricts the use of the Visa Corporate Cords to certain MCC codes. Should you need to purchase something outside of the approved MCC codes, please contact the Credit Card Team (wccreditcardFREEwashcoll).
First, try contacting the merchant to resolve the problem.
If the charge is, in fact, a fraudulent charge, contact 1 (844) 487-8478 immediately. The Bank's Customer Service Representatives are available 24/7. Visa will cancel your card immediately and issue a new card.
In addition to the above phone call:
- Alert the Credit Card Team (wccreditcardFREEwashcoll) of any irregularities
- Make temporary arrangements to cover expenses if needed
All expenses over $5,000 will need review by the Controller. Please read the Expense Guidelines for further information.
Review the Expense Guidelines.
The Office of Information Technology (OIT) must approve all technology hardware purchases (ex: battery backups and external hard drives) to ensure the best pricing, supportability, and compatibility with Washington College's network and other technology hardware. Computers, phones, iPads, etc., must be purchased by OIT directly.
Consumables and accessories (toner, cables, adapters, etc.) may be purchased without OIT approval.
For any subscription-based services (Canva, Mailchimp, etc.), please check with OIT to see if there is an already established vendor relationship and a College account that can be used. The College does offer Adobe.
Capital Purchases require approval by the Controller.
Allocating Credit Card Charges
- Visa IntelliLink will send an automated email when the monthly credit card cycle closes.
- Please complete your coding within a week of purchase and always by the 12th following the close of the cycle.
- This system is available anywhere you have an internet connection.
Follow the steps below to complete your allocation:
- Log-in to Visa IntelliLink
- Allocate/Code your Transactions. This includes a description in the box explaining the business purpose of the charge. For example, who, what, where, and when.
- Attach Images(s) to match the transaction. Detailed receipts are required.
- How to attach images in Visa Intellilink
Thank you for completing your allocation!
- How to attach images in Visa Intellilink
A cardholder should allocate expenses immediately upon incurring them, as noted above. Not meeting the deadline of the 12th of each month may result in the loss of the privilege of having a corporate credit card.
- First: A warning will be issued.
- Second: Card will be locked until all charges are allocated and required images are attached.
- Third: Card will be de-activated for a 90-day period. Once a card is reactivated, any further late allocations may result in the permanent deactivation of the card.
Cardholders are responsible for reporting their expenses monthly, coding all charges on their charges, and ensuring images are received at time of purchase. Delegates may be used to aide in the process of coding and attaching images. Cardholders may assign their coding and imaging to a delegate when necessary. The Cardholder is still responsible for the timely submission of their expense report.
For more information, contact the Credit Card Team (wccreditcardFREEwashcoll).
Credit Card Approvers
- Log-in to Visa IntelliLink (Home Screen Navigation)
- Review Expenses
- Is the charge appropriate for your departmental needs and within your budget?
- Is the charge coded to the correct department and object?
- Does the attached image match the transaction amount?
- Approve Expense per Approver Guidelines (PDF).
Additional Resources
If a cardholder is going to be traveling, the cardholder should call the phone number on the back of the credit card and notify TRUIST. It is not uncommon for TRUIST to assume fraud and block a credit card if transactions appear outside of a “normal” area. Alerting TRUIST to travel or getting a note added to an account should stop this from occurring.
If a TRUIST representative states that (s)he cannot assist you with a travel notice and the credit card is declined while traveling:
- Travel in the US: call the number on the back of the credit card for further assistance.
- Travel internationally: call 1-910-914-8250 for assistance.
Temporary Credit Increases may be needed for travel, bulk purchases or other large purchases beyond your credit limit. These increases will usually remain in effect for no longer than 30 days. Please follow the steps below if a temporary credit increase is needed.
- User - Contact your Approver (e.g., Department Chair, Provost, Project/Research Manager)
by email to request increase.
Include:
- Name of credit card holder
- Amount of increase
- Reason for increase (e.g., travel with students)
- Length of temporary increase - Approver - If the increase is approved by you, forward original email request with
your stated approval to the Credit Card Team (wccreditcardFREEwashcoll).
A request for temporary credit increase must include the email chain noted above. Requests may not be granted.
Rebates associated with a college credit card transaction must be deposited in full with Accounts Receivable against the account which was charged with the initial purchase. Any gift cards or other incentives received as a result of credit card purchase must be used for college purposes. All supporting documentation should be retained by the cardholder, as per policy.
The cardholder is responsible for ensuring that returns and their associated credits have been properly reflected on the monthly statements. The charge transaction will be processed in the billing cycle that it occurred, and the credit will be processed in the billing cycle that it is received. This may result in the charge and the credit occurring on two different billing cycles. Do not request a refund check.
If purchased items or credits do not appear on the monthly statement within 30 days after the date of the transaction, the cardholder shall notify the Credit Card Team, (wccreditcardFREEwashcoll).
On the road and need to know how much is available on your credit card? You may register for TRUIST eZBusiness for access to your current charges and credit availability.
The College corporate credit card must be returned to the Credit Card Team (wccreditcardFREEwashcoll) prior to separation from the College. All charges incurred with the card must be coded and all images attached before an employee will receive clearance on the HR termination checkout sheet.