Controls on the EdAssist Disbursement Solution

EdAssist has developed a number of controls to assure that disbursement cards provided to employees for the payment of tuition will not be abused.

Controls on the disbursement card itself

The EdAssist virtual payment solution provides a number of controls over how the disbursement card may be used:

1. It pulls card numbers from a pool for each transaction that is approved through the EdAssist procurement platform. In this way the employee is not tied to a single card. A card is created for each transaction at the point it is approved through the EdAssist platform.
2. It limits the spend on the card to the amount that was approved through the EdAssist procurement platform.
3. It ties the transaction to a set of Master Card codes that limit its usage to accredited educational institutions and book stores.
4. It may only be used for two transactions. This gives the employee the ability to use the virtual card for tuition, and then separately for text books.
5. It has a time stamp placed on the card that requires its use within 60 days of creation.

Controls on the back-end of the disbursement process

The employee is required to submit a Grade and Documentation transaction within 60 days of course completion. Reminders are sent out to the employee at 15, 30, 45 and 60 days from course end date. Should the employee not submit a Grade and Documentation transaction within 60 days of course completion they will be placed on hold to prevent additional requests and sent a repayment form for the total amount of the disbursement.

If the employee submits the Grade and Documentation transaction within 60 days of course completion EdAssist will verify the amount the EduPayment card was used for and reconcile that against the detailed receipt. A receipt must be on school letterhead and reflect the employee name, the term, the course(s) taken, the tuition for those courses and list any fees specifically and their corresponding cost.

Additionally, to establish successful completion of the course EdAssist requires a detailed grade report which must be on school letterhead and reflect the employee name, the term, the course(s) taken and their corresponding grade. Should an employee drop a course or receive an insufficient grade for a course,they are automatically placed on hold to prevent additional requests and sent a repayment form for any outstanding amount for the dropped or failed courses.

What controls are in place to ensure individuals don't seek refund through alternative means?

In accordance with the rules for credit card usage, the seller (school, bookstore) is required to post credits back to the EduPayment card and not to provide a cash refund. When this occurs, EdAssist will verify the credit and note it accordingly on the employees account. This is most common with schools and dropped course tuition but has occurred at bookstores very infrequently. As with reimbursement, after completion of the course text books can be sold by the employee with no indication to EdAssist.