CashNet integration details - Q&A with CashNet
Q. We would like to create an integration where a user can click a payment link within Primo and be sent to a CashNet payment screen. Is an eMarket required to create such an integration?
A. Yes, an eMarket license is required to create an integration as described. You can build your own checkout with eMarket. The way that this would work is when the user clicks the link in Primo, a URL is sent containing a string of data including the charge, the "item code" (charge code, e.g., replacement vs. fine, etc.)., and the employee ID, and the user can pay the amount. The amount paid is then reported as a "postback" HTTPS notification which can go to wherever you specify. The Postback message can include employee ID (provided that was sent from Primo when the user navigated to CashNet), business unit (campus), item code (charge code). It is likely that the Sacramento custom parking portal uses an eMarket license.
Q. Is it possible to run transactions from multiple campuses through a single eMarket license?
A. Yes. All payments would go to a single bank account, but the postback messages could be sent to server/script that would parse out transactions by campus, and then checks would have to be cut to each campus. Stanislaus did this for parking fees with other CSUs, where payments from other CSUs went through their single CashNet database. Conceivably, the Chancellor's Office could be used as the single eMarket license and CashNet database.
Q. Are there other considerations we would need to know for building an integration of this type?
A. Dominguez HIlls currently doesn't use ePayment/CashNet. Each eMarket license is $3500, but there are also deployment fees. You also need to decide if you will accept ACH (electronic checks).
Q. Can you describe the terms by which campuses enable CashNet payments through PeopleSoft? It’s my understanding that on many CSU campuses, PeopleSoft processes payments from users through “SmartPay”. In conversations with other CSUs who have built CashNet integrations, my understanding is that some have used SmartPay instead of eMarkets to build custom payment applications – is this possible? If so, is purchasing multiple SmartPay licenses required to build integrations outside of PeopleSoft?
A. SmartPay is a service that Cashnet offers, where we process the credit card payments on behalf of the university and then pass on the convenience fee to the student. This way, the university can offer credit cards as a payment tender while not having to incur the cost of merchant fees assessed by the credit card companies.
Smartpay can run either through an eMarket or through ePayment, a module we offer that allows the university to collect tuition payments from the student account page. Smartpay does not exist without eMarket or ePayment.
ePayment integrates with the ERP and is used to process tuition payments and other charges. However, it requires the payee to be authenticated. It is also a lot more expensive than an eMarket. I think they best scenario would be through individual eMarket licenses for the ALMA project if you need easy reconciliation or one eMarket for all payments.
Q. I'm curious about 'retail terminals'. In conversations with other CashNet institutions, we've heard that “Retail Terminals” could be configured that would enable payments to go to different bank accounts. Basically, we are having some difficulty figuring out the reconciliation process, whereby we have all payment go to a single bank account, that would then need to be reconciled and paid out to individual campuses. Ideally, we’d be able to, in a single e-market, configure the e-market in such a way that charges paid for a Northridge charge were paid to a Northridge bank account, a San Jose charge was paid to a San Jose bank account, etc. Does that make sense? Can you give me some more information about retail terminals, and whether we could configure an emarket to send certain types of transactions to different bank accounts?
A. With Cashnet a single eMarket can have only a single credit card terminal (although a different terminal can be identified for iPad usage). Also, retail terminals are generally used for cashiering, and it is possible to have multiple retail terminals one each by station, and the cashier would log into the corresponding station.
If the plan is to use a single eMarket checkout (within CSUIP’s Cashnet database), then it would be a single ecommerce credit card terminal. It would be up to CSU to disburse funds from the single larger account to the individual school’s bank accounts outside of Cashnet.
Within Cashnet if you are able to send different item codes per campus, or some other campus identifier reference, you would easily be able to run reports in Cashnet to determine which funds belong to which campus. Alternatively, if reconciliation is a big concern, to make it absolutely distinct, they could opt for an eMarket license for each campus, whereby each eMarket would have the individual schools credit card terminal configured. As you know this will cost quite a bit more because a license is needed at each site, and will take longer to deploy.