Procurement Card News

Procurement Card Vouchers with a status of “Bypass Loaded” will post to period 13 accounting

All Procurement Card Vouchers that were approved in Workflow by July 6, 2008 should have loaded to General Ledger on July 7, 2008 with an effective date of June 30, 2008. It was brought  to our attention today that the electronic file with this group of vouchers did not properly generate and did not post to GL in period 12.

A new file has been created and will still be posted to FY 08 accounting.  This file will be have an effective date of 6/30/2008 with a Journal id of 1WEBPCARDZ. This will post to FY08, period 13.   These GL entries will be available for your review and/or adjustments as of tomorrow morning, 7/11/08. 

Security Alert - Office Supply/Toner Scams

Be wary of phone calls from anyone who is claiming to your “regular supplier” for office supplies. It could be an office supply scam. The scam artist is generally trying to obtain information so that they will be able to bill the department for phony orders or misrepresented orders. The scam artist may actually send merchandise, however the quality is usually less than desirable and the price is inflated. If you believe you are the victim of an office supply scam, contact our department as soon as possible. For more information about office supply scams, please visit the following link: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/supplies.shtm

NEW PHISHING EMAIL SCAM:  "Refund for your credit card"   

There have been reports that an email is circulating claiming that the IRS will put a refund onto a credit card if you verify your account information.  This is not a legitimate email and should be deleted.

FYI:  Scam emails will ask for your account verification to gain access to your credit card and/or identity.  Never give out your account number or other personal data to someone who contacts you via phone or email.  If you receive a fraudulent email, do not reply to it or click on the link in an email under any circumstances. 

To read more information regarding scam emails go to SECURITY ALERT – PayPal Email Scam.

Please email ProTrav@uiowa.edu if you have any questions.

UPDATED 6/18/08 - Rescheduled due to flooding and yearend

Timetable and Reminders for Closing Fiscal Year 2008

As we approach the end of the fiscal year, careful planning will be required in order to prevent overdrafts in State Appropriated expense accounts and to close all accounts for the fiscal year on a timely and efficient basis.

ProTrav Travel Vouchers

Travel Expense vouchers to be recorded in FY 07-08 for travel completed prior to June 1 should be in the Accounts Payable and Travel Department by June 9; this includes e-vouchers for travel.  Please keep in mind that it takes several days for a voucher to move through all the channels of approval and arrive for processing.  Therefore, for travel already ended, this process should be started immediately.  For travel ending after June 1, the voucher should be submitted immediately upon return if it is to be processed this fiscal year.  Unless travel is occurring in the last week of June, all vouchers that must be processed this fiscal year should be in the Accounts Payable and Travel Office no later than June 16.  For travel occurring after June 16, all vouchers that must be processed for this fiscal year must be complete thru workflow and all required documentation submitted to the Accounts Payable and Travel Department no later than 4:30 p.m., July 2, 2008.  ProTrav date questions may be directed to the Accounts Payable and Travel Department, Karen Housel at 5-0409.

Procurement Card Vouchers

The June billing cycle has been modified in order to accommodate fiscal year spending. 

Modified billing cycles: 
 
June billing cycle:  5/28/08-6/20/08
July billing cycle:  6/21/08-7/28/08

Procurement card transactions that have a POST date on or before 6/20/08 will be processed within FY 07-08.  Note: Post date is often days later than the actual transaction date.  It's the departments/cardholders responsibility to be sure they are monitoring their account to be sure transactions that need to post to this current fiscal year appear on their Procurement Card Statement on or before 6/20/08.

June Procurement Card Vouchers complete (approved through workflow) by 06/30/08 will post to the accounts (Master File Keys) listed on the voucher. 

Procurement Card Vouchers not complete (still in workflow, voucher has an audit error, or voucher not reconciled) by 7/3/08 will post to the cardholders’ "default" account.   The default entry can be reversed up until July 14, 2008 once the voucher has been approved in workflow and approved by the Accounts Payable Department.

In order to accommodate year end posting during 7/04/08 and 7/13/08, the following journal ids will truncate with an alpha character.

• 1PCRDFLT00 (Procurement Card Voucher default) will post as 1PCRDFLT0A, 1PCRDFLTOB accordingly.
• 1PCRDREV00 (Default reversals), will post as 1PCRDREV0A, 1PCRDREVOB accordingly.
• 1WEPCARD1 (Regular Procurement Card Voucher) will post as 1WEBPCARDA, 1WEBPCARDB accordingly.

CASH BACK/FRAUD PROTECTION OFFERS

Technology Allowance Policy Effective October 1, 2007

The University of Iowa has implemented a new Technology Allowance Policy.

• Operations Policy
• Campus Announcement
• Request for Technology Allowance Form
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Verizon Announcement

Questions about this policy can be directed to Debby Zumbach at deborah-zumbach@uiowa.edu or 319-335-3815

Important Message to University of Iowa Procurement Cardholders:

Use of the internet for the procurement of goods and services online has become a common way of doing business across most industries including the University of Iowa. With this method of ordering and payment comes a certain amount of risk. This memo serves as a reminder to UI cardholders to be sure when doing business online that both the vendor and their site are reputable and secure. Be aware of overly aggressive vendors attempting to solicit business from unsuspecting users by offering enticing incentive or customer appreciation offers.

Web Loyalty Inc. is a defined online vendor that has partnered with approximately 140 e-commerce sites. Upon completion of certain online transactions an additional internet window will appear. This advertisement is intended to entice users to become a member of a particular rewards club. The pop up message varies but usually involves an incentive or customer appreciation offer in some form. If the user accepts the incentive or customer appreciation offer, there is a chance that the user might be enrolled into a discount rewards club. The user is then given 30 days to cancel their enrollment before they are charged a monthly fee of $10.

The rewards club obtains the user’s credit card number from the purchase made prior to the incentive message that is displayed. The actual rewards club referenced in this email is run by Web Loyalty Inc. The monthly charges can appear under a variety of names but will begin with WLI (Web Loyalty Inc).

A complete list of vendors partnered with Web Loyalty Inc is not available. A partial list has been provided below.

• WLI*RESERVATIONREWARDS.CO
• WLI*TRAVELVALUES
• WLI*SHOPPERDISCOUNT

If a charge from one of these vendors, or comparable, posts to your procurement card, please contact the vendor immediately for a credit.

If the vendor does not credit your card within a week of the request, please fill out a Dispute form and fax it to the number listed on the form.

Questions can be directed to protrav@uiowa.edu.

Motor Pool-Wex Card-Alternative Payment Tool for Fuel Purchases

Motor Pool is offering a new Wex Card for the purchase of fuel as an alternate to using the procurement card. Participating departments will be charged $5/month/vehicle for this service plus the cost of the fuel. Benefits include; reduced price, tax exemption, and the opportunity to allocate expense to one or more accounts.

Questions can be directed to Michael Wilson, 5-5088, Fleet Services Manager.

SECURITY ALERT – PayPal Email Scam

A fraudulent email scam which impersonates the vendor PayPal has been reported to the Procurement Card Administration team.

These emails “appear” to come directly from PayPal and the subject line is addressed “Letter of Confirmation”.

The email is asking for confirmation of your order. The emails intent is to get the recipient to dispute this transaction and by doing so, provide credit card information. These types of emails are an illegal attempt by unknown persons to collect personal information and account numbers. These e-mails are random and are being sent using a spam list that includes individuals who in many cases do not even have PayPal account.

There has been no breach of any secure account information.

This type of email fraud, called “phishing” is under investigation by U.S. Bank’s Fraud Prevention and Investigation area in conjunction with Visa and the Federal Bureau of Investigations. However, it is very difficult to catch cyber-criminals, and so we believe that these fraudulent emails will continue to be sent for some time.

There are several steps you can take to avoid becoming a victim of this type of fraud:

Never give out your account number or other personal data to someone who contacts you via phone or email. Both U.S. Bank and Visa already have the information we need to maintain your account. We would never contact you to ask for verification. If you receive a fraudulent email, DO NOT REPLY to it under any circumstances and furthermore, do not click on the link in the email. Questions can be directed to protrav@uiowa.edu.

Upper Level Report/Review Now Available in ProTrav:

ProTrav offers an “Upper Level” role to facilitate administrative review of Procurement Card and Travel related expenses. Reviews can be done at a cardholder, traveler, department or organizational level. Individual with budgetary responsibilities, Deans, Directors, Department heads, and other supervisory staff could likely benefit from this type of access to travel and pcard data. If you or others in your department could use this type of information to better perform your job duties, please complete the access request form.

For more information about this role click here or contact protrav@uiowa.edu with questions.

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