FMO Newsletter-March 2025

This issue of the Financial Management Office Newsletter includes information about the following:

The Financial Management Office Newsletter is distributed monthly.  Should you have any questions about this newsletter, contact Amy Kunz via email: amykunz@hawaii.edu.

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Credit Card Administration – CampusGuard Assessment and AP 8.710, Credit Card Administration

Target Audience: All

The University partnered with CampusGuard to conduct an assessment of the University’s compliance with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS) requirements.  Last December, CampusGuard conducted a remote PCI DSS v4.0 assessment covering seventeen merchant departments that were selected to provide a representative sample of the University’s merchant environments and supporting infrastructures.

While the CampusGuard final report noted that overall, the University’s PCI compliance program has established policies, oversight and stakeholder involvement to effectively limit the University’s PCI scope, some gaps were identified and included the following:

  • Use of general purpose computers for providing access to self-service ecommerce websites for making payments in person
  • Insufficient procedures and documentation for protecting payment terminals or card readers against unauthorized tampering or substitution
  • Use of non-compliant third-party service providers
  • Redaction of stored hardcopy cardholder data in lieu of shredding cardholder data through cross-cut shredding
  • Accepting cardholder data via multi-function fax machines and/or through Voice-over-IP (VOIP) telephones

Based on the gaps identified and recommendations of CampusGuard, AP 8.710 will be updated to incorporate requirements and guidance in these areas.  A Zoom session is planned to share the CampusGuard Assessment outcomes, discuss the proposed updates to AP 8.710, and provide other credit card updates: 

Date:  Thursday, March, 27, 2025
Time:  1:00 p.m.
Zoom registration:
https://hawaii.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_RyhSjs0KSV2gq5ZAPKSKVw

The session will be recorded for those that are not able to attend the live session.  Notification of the Zoom session and registration information was also sent to the PCI-DSS listserv. 

Should you have any questions, please contact Joanne Yama at jyama@hawaii.edu

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Electronic Funds Transfer Payment – Notification to the Treasury Office

Target Audience: All

In accordance with AP 8.702, Establishment of Electronic Funds Transfer and Receipt of Funds, Campuses and Departments shall inform the Treasury Office when new electronic funds transfer (EFT) agreement are established.  Recently, there has been an increase in EFT payments remitted by service providers that handle the Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments for multiple customers, such as Bill.com.  A small test payment may be remitted in advance by the ACH service providers.  Due to limited information on the ACH payment notification of the actual sender and without notification from the campus/department that established the EFT authorization, the Treasury Office is unable to determine which campus or department the payment belongs to.

Reminders:

  • As the Treasury Office is responsible for reviewing and signing EFT agreement forms, please contact the Treasury Office for assistance when establishing new EFT agreements utilizing the remitter’s forms.  If the UH EFT form is used, provide a copy to the Treasury Office.
  • Notify the Treasury Office of expected EFT payments, especially from new payment remitters or non-recurring payments.
  • Please promptly review the “Unidentified Wire” emails that are sent by the Treasury Office and contact the Treasury Office by the due date to claim any payment for the department.  Unclaimed EFT payments will be returned to the sender.

The Treasury Office can be contacted at uh-treasury@lists.hawaii.edu.

Should you have any questions, please contact Joanne Yama at jyama@hawaii.edu.

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Salary Overpayment Reminders

Target Audience: Fiscal Administrators and Fiscal Support Staff

Salary overpayments have been on the rise in recent months. As a reminder, it is important that all leave earned and taken be recorded in a timely manner, in accordance with the applicable bargaining unit contracts, to minimize and prevent salary overpayments. Additionally, all separations from service must be processed promptly to avoid salary overpayment.

Supervisors play a key role in monitoring the paid leave balances of their subordinate employees to ensure that no salary overpayments occur. Specifically, employees should maintain a balance of at least ten (10) working days of vacation and ten (10) working days of sick leave (or 160 hours).

Department personnel should individually track employees’ paid leave balances to prevent salary overpayments. Timely reporting of any potential overpayment situations to the Payroll Office may help mitigate issues before they occur.

For any questions regarding salary overpayments, please contact the UH Payroll Office at payroll@hawaii.edu.

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Quarterly Interest Rate for Late Vendor Payments

Target Audience: Fiscal Administrators and Fiscal Support Staff

Pursuant to Section 103-10 of the Hawai`i Revised Statutes, the interest rate for obligations related to goods delivered or services performed remaining unpaid after 30 days is equal to the prime rate for each calendar quarter plus two percent. The interest rate is adjusted quarterly using the prime rate as posted in the Wall Street Journal on the first business day of the month preceding the calendar quarter. Please refer to the Comptroller Memo for the 2nd quarter interest rate and calculation.

Should there be any questions regarding this change, please call the Disbursing Office at (808) 956-5535.

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