<p>Hi all! I learned something interesting today when I was chatting with a lovely woman in student receivables that I figured I would share.</p>
<p>D1 had a small scholarship for Study Abroad this summer that wasn’t being automatically refunded to her bank account; she had set up the direct deposit for refunds earlier this year. She had sent a few emails back and forth (she’s now in England on the SA trip) and the refund was put into motion. However, when she got the receipt, it was for about half of the total. I offered to make the phone call for her. </p>
<p>In the email it states “We are obligated when there is a credit refund due to the student to refund credit cards first up to the amounts that were originally charged.” So I assumed that the other half was somehow getting credited back to me, since I have paid things for her along the way. Student receivables told me this was true. I asked how we could avoid this in the future and she said that if we “pay by check” electronically when we pay on her account it is considered “same as cash” and her total refund will go to her. If we pay “by debit” on her account, then it triggers this credit refund situation.</p>
<p>In my mind, paying by check electronically and paying by debit electronically are the same thing, as they both come out of my checking account. However, UA’s systems don’t agree. We will be “paying by check” electronically from now on.</p>
<p>Are you saying that you paid her bill by debit card rather than using a bank account number and the bank’s routing number? If so, it makes sense that UA would process the refund this way.</p>
<p>What likely happened is that even though you paid with a debit card, the transaction was processed as credit (so you didn’t have to enter a pin number). UA paid credit card interchange (transaction) fees for the transaction rather than the lower fee for debit cards and electronic withdrawals. By refunding back to the card, UA is entitled to a refund of some of the interchange fees. The policy used to be to issue checks for all refunds or cash if the amount was under $50, but then people could overpay, earn the credit card rewards, and get large amounts of cash back, thus causing UA to pay more interchange fees than it needed to. Some employees in the Student Receivables office are not aware of this policy, but the computer system will forbid them from issuing cash/check refunds for amounts paid via credit card or a debit card processed as credit.</p>
<p>I will say that I’m glad that UA doesn’t charge a fee to pay by credit/debit card as credit card grace periods allow one to stretch out tuition payments by almost 2 months (depending on ones statement close date) fee-free and with rewards.</p>
<p>^^^Yup. And in my head it’s the same as writing a check (and the lovely woman in SR laughingly agreed) but it’s run through the system differently. </p>
<p>I guess in the past, they’ve mailed D a refund check but she’s set up her direct deposit since. It’s the first time it’s been an issue. And now I know better :)</p>
<p>Our Senior son’s account had close to $3000 extra after paying for summer housing at the Bluffs and a summer parking permit. (Thanks to National Merit $2000 research Stipend and a CBH Summer Scholarship.) Since we had paid about $1250 on our credit card last school year for his meal plan, Accounts Receivable credited our Master Card first. Our son got the remaining balance direct deposited into his checking. We also lost the Rewards Points earned on our card. </p>
<p>Since I had just cashed out most of our Rewards Points for a new gas range, we now have a negative balance on our Rewards account. </p>
<p>I don’t know whether it is a good thing knowing the negative balance won’t be around too much longer…we have to pay our Freshman son’s bill in a few weeks.</p>