UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

Theresa Knott

Flexible Spending Account Changes

University of Portland is happy to announce some unique opportunities for Flexible Spending Accounts benefits this year per the Consolidated Appropriations Act which allows temporary changes to Section 125 cafeteria plans due to the COVID-19 pandemic:

  • All Medical and Dependent Care FSA unused 2020 account balances will automatically rollover into 2021 accounts and will be amounts that are in addition to 2021 elections.
  • Employees can elect up to $10,500 per household for Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts for the 2021 calendar year.
  • We are allowing employees to submit new enrollments or change requests to 2021 FSA elections during the month of April to go into effect May 1, 2021.  If you wish to enroll in an FSA plan please complete and submit the 2021 Flexible Spending Account (FSA) Enrollment.
  • All out-of-pocket amounts paid by an individual taxpayer for COVID-19 PPE for use by the taxpayer, the taxpayer’s spouse, or the taxpayer’s dependents after January 1, 2020 are eligible to be reimbursed under health FSAs and HSAs.

If you have any questions please reach out to the HR benefits team at benefits@up.edu.

Please Note: PCard Reconciliation Due March 9

As we head into and early spring break, the controller’s office wants to remind faculty and staff that may be traveling and not on campus next week, that they still need to do PCard reconciliation of February charges before Monday, March 9.  If you have charges for the month of February on your card, and you know you will not have any more charges, you can log onto the Wells Fargo website prior to the end of the month, enter descriptions and save your changes. Turn over your receipts in a PCard envelope to your approver before you leave campus and from any computer, wherever you are, you can log onto the Wells Fargo website and hit the Statement Reviewed button.  This will ensure that you are following your agreement with the University to reconcile your cards.

If you have any questions, please call or e-mail Theresa Knott in the Controller’s office at ext. 8712 or pcard@up.edu.

Barnes & Noble P-Card Purchase Changes

Shopping cart with credit card and keyboard.

There has been an upgrade to the Barnes and Noble Bookstore credit card processing system, according to Theresa Knott, controller’s office. Faculty and staff who purchase items with a P-card at the bookstore will now need to have a PIN set up for the PIN and chip features on their cards. In the past the bookstore staff were able to manually enter card information and override the necessity of entering a PIN if the cardholder didn’t know or have a PIN set up on the card. That will no longer be possible. Please be prepared to enter a PIN number for all P-card transactions with the bookstore. If you have not set up a PIN, or if you do not remember your PIN, you will need to call Wells Fargo to reset the PIN. Follow the instructions below.

  • Call Wells Fargo at 1-800-932-0036 and select option 2
  • Option 1
  • Option 2
  • Enter your account number (pcard number)
  • Enter your Unique ID#.  Your Unique ID is the last four digits of your UP ID#.
  • Select a four digit PIN

For more information contact Knott at pcard@up.edu.

Reconcile PCards by Jan. 7, Please

The controller’s office wants to remind faculty and staff that may be traveling and not on campus the first week in January, that they still need to do PCard reconciliations of December charges before Thursday, January 7, 2020. Wherever you are, the first week in January you can log onto the Wells Fargo website and hit the Statement Reviewed button. This will ensure that you are following your agreement with the University to reconcile your cards. If you have any questions please call or e-mail Theresa Knott in the controller’s office at x8712 or pcard@up.edu.

Paperless P-Card Statements Are Here!

The controller’s office is pleased to introduce paperless P-card statement submissions to Wells Fargo beginning this month.  Starting Monday, March 18, the feature will be available to all cardholders. Submission can be done from any computer, phone (Android or Apple) or mobile device (Android or Apple).

Using the new receipt-imaging feature means no more lost receipts. Cardholders will be able to easily keep track of receipts by attaching them to their statements from either a desktop or a mobile device. The process of reviewing receipts will be streamlined, which means that cardholders and approvers will not have to deal with submitting paper receipts, documentation or envelopes. Receipt imaging goes far beyond just making life easier. Going paperless will reduce business expenses and it advances the University’s efforts toward sustainability.

In the next week the controller’s office will be sending out more information on training materials to upload documentation from a computer or mobile device via the Wells Fargo CEO app, what users should attach as proper documentation, and a receipt imaging implementation timeline.

If you have any questions please contact Theresa Knott, Lori Watson, or Eric Barger at pcard@up.edu.

New Monthly PCard Calendar

knott copyAll PCard cardholders are asked to please open and download the updated 2016-2017 calendar for reference during the new fiscal year. Cardholders will need to have monthly reconciliations completed by the last day indicated in blue on the calendar. Approvers have until the last day indicated in pink to approve statements of cardholders in their departments. The calendar can also be found on the Controller’s web page on the left side bar under “Purchase Cards.”

For more information contact Theresa Knott, controller’s office, at 8712 or knott@up.edu.

P-Card Users, Take Note

knott copyVisa is offering a new service to merchants to provide greater security for online transactions. The Verified by Visa service is a global program that helps to verify the identity of an online shopper at checkout and in real time through the shopper’s use of his or her personal password or other identity data. This works like a PIN for an ATM card.

Some staff have already encountered this service when making online purchases (such as airline tickets). Wells Fargo has informed the University that more and more merchants will be using Verified by Visa in the near future. Any merchant using the service is required to include the Verified by Visa logo on their home page with an option to sign up before the checkout process begins. This will affect any personal Visa card purchases, as well as those made for official University business with a P-card.

The first time a P-card user attempts to make an online purchase from a merchant enrolled with Verify by Visa, he or she will be asked to activate the card during checkout. This will require a unique ID number (the last four digits of your UP ID number), the monthly credit limit, and the University’s zip code. This information is available at https://www.wellsfargo.com/com/ (where you reconcile your P-card) and by clicking on “personal profile” in the “user information” link on the left sidebar. P-card users are also welcome to contact Theresa Knott, purchase card coordinator (pictured), at 8712 or knott@up.edu for this information, Once you have activated your card with Visa and have created a password, you will be able to use that password any time you encounter the Verified by Visa at checkout.

If you would like the option to activate your card in advance or learn more about the Verified by Visa service please refer to the FAQs provided by Wells Fargo on the Controller’s website at this link. For more information contact Knott at 8712 or knott@up.edu.