Accepting?
How often have school business managers heard
parents moan, “Can’t you just accept my Visa™
card?” Or, “I could be getting points if you would
just accept my credit card!”
Let’s face it, for a variety
of reasons, a growing
number of parents want
to use credit cards – and
they particularly request
to use Visa cards to pay
for their child’s private
school education.
To Accept or Not to Accept
– That is the Question
For a school business officer, it’s not so
easy to answer parent questions about
credit cards. There are school board
policies, state regulations, federal laws,
and credit card industry standards that
need to be understood and followed.
There is also the concern about how
the credit card surcharge will be paid.
Credit card acceptance poses a dilemma
for schools.
Credit Card Use is on
the Rise
To compound the dilemma, more
parents than ever are asking to use
credit cards because of privacy and
security concerns, funds availability
issues, and increasing loyalty award
point programs.
Parents are recognizing that, for many
payment transactions, credit cards are
safer, easier, and more convenient.
Credit cards can be used quickly for
phone, online, and mobile payment
transactions. They often offer purchase
protection and insurance, and they
will intervene in transaction disputes.
The big credit card companies follow
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elevated industry standards for data
encryption to defend against fraud and
security breaches
Reasons Your
Families Want
to Pay With
Credit Cards
They encounter financial
distress, sickness, or
unemployment.
Smart is pleased to be cooperating with
Visa in an effort to meet the growing
number of family requests to use the
premier credit card in the world.”
Smart Helps with the
Credit Card Dilemma
Smart and Visa
Collaborate to Offer
Convenience to Private
School Families
Smart Tuition is able to assist
your school in understanding the
laws, regulations, and security
issues surrounding a school credit
card acceptance program. Our
knowledgeable staff can develop
payment programs to satisfy your school
board and your parents.
Smart’s mission is to help schools
get tuition bills paid. “Now with our
Visa collaboration, we are better able
to serve our client school families,”
stated Knapp. “This is a pleasure, and
it also reflects our shared commitment
to be on the cutting edge of payment
acceptance technology.”
For years, Smart Tuition has been
Payment Card Industry Data Security
Standard (PCI-DSS) compliant. This
means that we follow the privacy and
security standards to ensure consumer
protection when using credit cards.
Additionally, we carry cyber security
insurance to protect our client schools
and families in the unlikely event of a
privacy breach.
Visa has already unveiled plans to
expedite the implementation of chipbased credit card technology within
the United States. This will provide
for dramatically increased credit card
security as compared to magnetic stripe
Smart’s legal team is familiar with
state laws that regulate credit card
surcharges. Matt Knapp, CEO of Smart
Tuition, commented, “We recently
worked with Visa to encourage their
review of surcharge rules. As a result,
technology, which has been a staple of
the U.S. credit card industry since the
1960s.
According to Visa, the move will not
only provide for global credit card
interoperability, but will also go a
long way toward establishing the
infrastructure necessary to handle
payments based on Near Field
Communication (NFC), the contactless
technology driving virtual wallet
applications that are already available
in certain Android Smartphones and are
planned to be part of future versions of
the iPhone.
They need a personal
bridge loan until a sales
commission or bonus
comes in to pay the bill.
They find it’s easier to
budget between pay
periods.
They like to earn points on
loyalty reward cards.
“Without a doubt, Visa is where we
want to be;” declared Knapp, “National
trends point to credit card usage
increasing, and that means, for our
business, we want to be aligned with
the industry leader to best serve our
schools and families.”
Have an Attractive, Up-to-Date Website
Your website will likely be the first place people turn when they want to learn more about your
school. Make sure it’s inviting and modern. Have clear information about the admissions process
and resources to answer frequently asked questions. This is one of the best opportunities you have
to maintain interest in your school – don’t let it go to waste!
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