How to Obtain a PCard

 

In This Guide

  1. Applying for a PCard
  2. Activating your PCard

Resources

Obtaining a PCard

This section outlines the process for applying for and activating a university PCard. It covers the steps departments must follow to ensure proper oversight, designate roles like the PCard Liaison and Reconciler, and select eligible cardholders. It also includes instructions for activating a new card through Bank of America's Global Card Access system once received.

1) Applying for a PCard

To request a PCard, the department/unit must first ensure compliance to the following:

  1. The unit must be able to ensure that institutional policies and state and federal regulations governing the use and protection of the PCard will be followed, acknowledging that the PCard is not a personal credit card, therefore not protected from fraudulent use in case of loss, theft, or misappropriation of institutional funds. To ensure that these types of activities are protected, the university banking partner must be notified by the end of the month in which the fraudulent activity occurred on a PCard.
  2. The department head or equivalent administrator is empowering an employee within the unit to act as a PCard Liaison for purposes of reporting PCard policy violations or any other misuse of the card. This employee will need top level authorization and ongoing support from department leadership.
  3. The department head can take immediate, appropriate action upon learning of card misuse. A PCard can be suspended temporarily, individual and monthly purchase limits may be adjusted, or the PCard can be canceled, based on the degree of misuse.
  4. The department/unit has staff that provide prompt and reliable reconciliation and approval of PCard transactions. Both Reconcilers and Fiscal Officers are be identified within the unit. Note: Reconcilers may be Cardholders but cannot reconcile their own transactions or departmental PCard for which they are the Responsible Cardholder.

How to Apply

When your department/unit meets the criteria described above, follow the steps below for getting started. (If your unit wants to participate even though it does not have sufficient staff to provide for a Reconciler, an Approver, and backups for them, contact the Account Payable at FNSV-Accounts-Payable@arizona.edu.

Please note: Steps 1 and 2 are for initial setup for a department the first time they apply for a PCard. If your department has already been setup, please skip to Step 3.

Step 1

The department head must identify an individual within the department to serve as the PCard Liaison and provide to the department business office. The business office should obtain the following details before initiating the PCard Liaison Request in Concur:   

  • Located in UAccess Financials – Chart of Accounts:
    • Account Number (Primary account PCard expenditures will expense).
    • Organization code and description associated with the account number.
    • Campus Code associated with the account number.
  • The new PCard Liaison should login to Concur and initiate the PCard Liaison Request and attach a copy of their PCard training certificate. Refer to training located in Edge Learning on how to complete the PCard Liaison Request form.  
  • Prior to clicking Submit Request add the department head approver to the approval workflow by clicking Edit Approval Flow, select Add Step and a drop-down menu will appear. Search for the Department Head (use name or Employee ID) and add to the workflow for approval. User should review for accuracy prior to clicking Submit Request.
  • Upon submission the request for approval workflow routes as follows:  
    • Cardholder supervisor identified in UAccess Employee as the time approver for the employee.  
    • Fiscal Officer identified in UAccess Financials as the account approver.  
    • Department head
Step 2If a new UAccess Financials PCard Workgroup is required, please contact Accounts Payable. If a current UAccess Financials PCard Workgroup can be repurposed or updated, navigate to Reporting Transactions in UAccess Financials (Section 2) to add or remove individuals from an existing department PCard Workgroup to assign Reconcilers for the PCard activity. 
Step 3

Identify potential cardholders by applying the following criteria:

  • An employee of the university with an active paid status in UAccess Employee; responsible and reliable in following the institutional policies on the use and protection of the card.
  • The cardholder will be responsible and reliable in timely submission of financial documentation, including order forms, invoices, receipts, etc. to the Reconciler or attach appropriate documentation in UAccess Financials to the PCDO eDoc.
  • If requesting a department card, identify the responsible person or responsible cardholder who will administer the card. 

Consider the possibility of requesting a departmental PCard for a centrally located employee to place orders for those who might need to make these kinds of purchases infrequently.

Step 4

Identify individuals that meet the criteria to manage a PCard and direct them to complete the PCard training located in EDGE Learning and save a copy of the training certificate. Contact the department PCard Liaison to obtain the following details required to initiate the New PCard Request:  

  • Located in UAccess Financials – Chart of Accounts:
    • Account Number (Primary account PCard Expenditures will expense).  
    • Organization code and Description associated with the Account number.
    • Campus Code associated with the Account number. 
Step 5

The PCard Liaison or delegate may initiate the New PCard Services Request to order the PCard. The cardholder must submit the form and agree to the confirmation agreement for issuance of the PCard.  

Upon submission of the PCard Request, it will route for approval to the following:  

  1. Cardholder supervisor. (Listed in UAccess Employee)  
  2. Fiscal Officer (Department's UAccess Financials account approver).  
  3. PCard Liaison (Who is my PCard Liaison?)
  4. Card Administrator (Accounts Payable PCard Team)

Approvers will receive an email from Concur indicating they have a pending action required.  

NOTE: Due to physical restrictions on the card the name on the card may not exceed 21 characters. The Accounts Payable PCard team will assist with determining if an individual name needs to be truncated or the length of the department name for the card. 

Step 6Upon final approval the application will route to Card Administrator approval queue for the Accounts Payable PCard team to order the physical card. This process requires 2 – 3 business days and the cardholder will receive email confirmation card was ordered. Bank of America requires 7 – 10 business days to ship the physical card thus, please plan accordingly. 
Step 7The physical card will be mailed to the cardholder/department based on the mailing address on the PCard application request. The cardholder is responsible for activating the card for usage upon receipt via the Bank of America Global Card Access website portal.

2) Activating Your PCard

Cardholders (or responsible cardholders for departmental cards) must activate their new PCard prior to usage.

  1. Once your card has been ordered, you will receive an email from Bank of America with the subject: Bank of America Global Card Access - Welcome. Be sure to check your spam or junk mail folder. Complete the registration as soon as the email is received.
  2. Once the physical credit card is received, log in to Global Card Access and follow the instructions to activate the card.

Individual PCard cardholders: You must sign the back of the card.

Departmental PCard cardholders: DO NOT sign the back of the card.

If you cannot locate the welcome email from Bank of America, contact Accounts Payable at 520-621-9097 or FNSV-Accounts-Payable@arizona.edu to request a recovery email.