North Fulton Council
PTA
®
everychild. onevoice.
®
Electronic Transactions for
your PTA organization
June 26, 2013
Should your PTA accept
Credit Cards?
The Positives:
 Most people carry credit cards.
 Mobility – smartphones & tablets have made it easier to accept
credit cards.
 More payment methods available to your parent base which can
lead to increased membership, spirit wear, yearbook sales &
donations.
Things to consider:
 You will need to establish appropriate policies & procedures.
 You will have to secure physical resources (i.e. smartphones or
tablet, wi-fi or data plan, service providers/card swipers).
 You will need sufficient human resources (i.e. treasurer, volunteers
to complete the credit cards procedures).
Your PTA’s Responsibilities
 Must hire a 3rd party processing company, who complies with
Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) for
online & swiped transactions.
 Must establish policy/procedures such as:
 Merchant transactions must be reconciled & signed by two
individuals (i.e. cash verification form).
 Merchant Service Fees are a separate budgetary line item.
 All documents with credit card data must be stored in a
secure area;
 Don’t store PIN, CVV2/CVC2/CID numbers;
 Never acquire or disclose any cardholder data without the
cardholder’s consent;
 Ensure volunteers taking credit card information are properly
trained in your credit card policies & procedures
 Keep proper documentation (i.e. signature of cardholders) for
any possible disputes.
rd
3
Party Processing
Companies
PayPal Non Profit Services
 Can accept credit cards online or via a free card swiper.
 All funds collected are placed in the same PayPal account.
 PTA Treasurer must transfer the money on a regular basis
from the PayPal account to the PTA checking account.
 Cost: 2.2% + .30 per transaction for 501(c)(3) organizations.
Square
 Can accept credit cards via a free card swiper.
 All funds collected are transferred directly into the PTA
checking account.
 Cost: 2.75% per swipe or a flat monthly fee of $275.
Intuit GoPayment, Merchant on the Move, Mobile Merchant Pro &
others
Best Practices
Online Payments Procedures:
 This account is for collection of funds only.
 Establish a separate bank account to restrict internet access into the
general checking account.
 The non-signer reviewing the monthly bank statements also reviews
the monthly statement for online payments.
Credit Card Payments Procedures:
 The 3rd party processing company (merchant) must be certified
compliant with PCI DSS.
 Merchant statements must be clear, detailed and accessible.
 Accept only swiped transactions, no hand written account numbers.
 In your merchant contract, confirm only the PTA can confirm a refund
& that the merchant will provide guidance on challenging a disputed
payment.
Resources
Georgia PTA Guidance
http://www.georgiapta.org/documents/OnlineReceiptofPaymentsPoliciesa
ndProcedures.pdf
National PTA Guidance
http://www.pta.org/files/Money_Matters_In_An_Electronic_Environment.p
df
NFC PTA
www.nfcpta.com for this presentation
Other Resources
http://www.txpta.org/documents/PTA%20Resources/Treasurer/electronic/
Financial%20Procedures%20for%20Accepting%20Electronic%20Paymen
ts.pdf