UNM students trying to pay for fall classes found themselves being charged an interest rate to use credit cards through a service called PayPath.
It's a new tactic used by the University to "outsource credit and debit card processing" to the external party in order to save costs associated with keeping cardholder information, according to an FAQ on the UNM Bursar's Office webpage.
"As a result of this transition, a 2.75 percent service fee (minimum $3.00 fee) will be assessed on all credit and debit card payments processed by TouchNet via their PayPath service," the site reads.
That means a student paying a tuition of $5,000 will be charged a service fee of nearly $140.
The service fee percentage and $3 minimum, established by TouchNet PayPath, aims to cover credit card processing costs, according to the Bursar's FAQ. The service accepts all major credit cards, including Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express.
“This was a business decision the University made as a cost cutting measure to help offset the large expense of the credit card fees that the University had been absorbing,” said University spokeswoman Dianne Anderson. “By eliminating this expense, the University will not have to search for revenue to pay for it by other means.”
According to the FAQ, an increasing number of schools have made a similar transition and, in a 2014 survey, 90 percent of the public institutions surveyed charge a fee for credit card payments, while some schools no longer accept credit cards at all.
Anderson, speaking on behalf of the Bursar's Office, said the service fee is only added to credit and debit card payments, adding that there are no fees on check or cash payments, as well as when using Automated Clearing House, an electronic method of making payments.
As for students worried about handling large amounts of cash, Anderson said there are resources available.
“No one should carry around a large amount of cash with all of the electronic options now available,” she said. “If a student has a bank account they should pay online with an electronic check/ACH payment, a physical check or use their institutions’ bill payment service.”
Students without a bank account can visit the Nusenda branch in the SUB or any other financial institution and open one.
For international students who don’t have a U.S. bank account, UNM offers a wire transfer service called Flywire, Anderson said. This service offers the lowest exchange fees available for a wire transfer of funds.
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Andreas Steinmetz, a graduate student studying sport administration, said he had never heard of the new fee or of TouchNet, but he also said he doesn't use his card to pay at the Bursars Office.
For those that do, Steinmetz thinks the Bursar’s Office should have given a warning to students following their last payments that the next would have to go through TouchNet.
"I understand that operational costs are expensive but to tack it onto students who are already paying other fees and tuition, I just think they should look for another way to cover that cost," he said.
Harmony Linebrink, a junior communication and journalism major, said she had not heard about this information at all.
"I feel like it’s a little unfair,” she said. “Why should we be outsourcing UNM to anything that will not be benefiting our education, our own campus and even our local faculty?"
When informed that the Bursar’s Office will still accept checks and cash, Linebrink said she didn't think anyone really carried either way anymore. She thinks students should have been informed a year or a semester in advanced through social media, the UNM website and local media.
"I feel like we give so much of our information like our (social security number) out to UNM – why would we give any information out to someone we don't know? Another face, another name that we don't know," she said.
"This is our own life. We are here to get an education. We already give our heart and soul in tuition, let’s just add another thing to that, we now have to be charged for."
Anderson said for students who cannot pay full tuition off their credit card all at once, there are options.
“They should look into other financing options available,” she said. “Credit card interest rates are often much higher than most student loan options.”
UNM offers payment plans that will allow student to pay their account off throughout the semester, Anderson said. She added that there is a set-up fee, but it is usually less than the interest or service fee accrued over several months when using a credit card.
