Responsible Credit Card Use

Making a Purchase

The Fleming Credit Card may be used for departmental purchases and payment of goods and services where it is cost effective, efficient and feasible operationally to do so. Purchases can be made in person at the supplier site, over the phone, internet, via fax, or by mail. When you are placing an order remember to:

  • Identify yourself as a Fleming employee
  • Inform the supplier that you are using a Fleming Credit Card
  • Inform the supplier that they are not to send a bill or invoice to Accounts Payable
  • Provide cardholder name
  • Provide individual  Credit Card number
  • Provide expiration date of the card
  • Provide description of goods to be ordered and confirm prices
  • Provide delivery address including building and room number and loading dock
  • Confirm that the total order including shipping, handling and exchange rate does not exceed your single-purchase limit.
  • Provide any other information necessary to make the purchase
  • If making purchase over the internet, print confirmation receipt showing item(s) purchase, date, cost of goods etc., for month-end reconciliation/Cardholder Activity Report purposes as no further receipt may be issued.

The cardholder is responsible for ensuring receipt of goods, and for following up with the vendor to resolve any delivery problems, discrepancies or damaged-merchandise concerns.

Upon receipt of your order keep the documentation received from the supplier (typically a sales receipt or packing slip with pricing information) for monthly reconciliation/Cardholder Activity Report.

Note:  Please ensure documentation is accessible to at least one other person in your department during a temporary leave of absence from the College (e.g., sabbatical, sick leave, maternity leave, etc.)

Restricted Credit Card Commodities

Visa Cards are used for the purchase of low dollar value Goods or Services  ($4999.99 CAD or less before tax.)

The Purchasing card is not to be used to purchase any commodities from the list below, even if they are Fleming College business related. There are compliance issues relating to many of these items that require either pre-audit or pre-authorization.  If a cardholder purchases a restricted commodity, they will reimburse the college for the cost.

The VISA Card is NOT to be used for:

  • Internal service providers (i.e., any supplier using Fleming’s internal chart of accounts numbers)
  • Hazardous or Radioactive materials
  • Products/services $4999.99 (before taxes) or over.
  • Long term (1 year or more) rental or lease of equipment
  • Automatic annual payments of subscriptions(Manual payments are permissible when it has been confirmed funds are available)
  • Materials requiring a Government permit (radioisotopes, viruses, etc.) or other hazardous materials
  • Personal purchases (no personal charges of any type that belong to staff/faculty, etc.)
  • Departmental Food purchases from restaurants, fast food restaurants, etc.
  • Prior to making a purchase related to Computer Equipment or software, staff should contact Information Technology Services and/or Purchasing to determine if the purchase should be co-ordinated through these areas.
  • Prior to making a purchase related to Office Furniture, staff should contact the Purchasing department.

Prohibited VISA Card Transactions:

The following goods and services may not be purchased with a Visa Card:

  • Salary & salary related charges including temporary help and consulting fees
  • Capital purchases (capital item has a unit price of $5000 CAD or more before tax and shipping and is not consumable and has a useful life greater than one year
  • Cash advances
  • Any purchases where the cardholder has decision-making authority or direct financial interest within the vendor organization.
  • Purchases must not be split to circumvent employee visa card limits. (This includes not using two different cards or splitting it over different days). If the dollar amount of the item exceeds the established Card limits, please contact the Corporate Finance department.

If you have any questions regarding these restrictions, or the appropriate use of the Credit Cards, please contact the Corporate Finance department.

Misuse of Cards

The issuing of a Fleming Credit Card represents Fleming’s trust in you as a responsible employee who will safeguard and protect College assets. As a cardholder, you assume the responsibility for the protection and proper use of the VISA card. This includes both the proper and ethical use of the Credit Card as well as the monthly reconciling/Cardholder Activity Reporting of the associated account.

Inappropriate use of the card will be viewed by Fleming as a serious matter. Cardholders are responsible for compliance with these policies and procedures, including requesting appropriate approvals, retaining receipts, and obtaining proper signatures/approvals on all applicable documents.

The card may only be used by the individual whose name appears on the card.  Credit Cards and card numbers must be safeguarded against use by unauthorized individuals within or outside the college.

The following situations are examples of misuse of the credit card:

Personal misuse:

  • Purchases made for the sole benefit of the employee
  • Assignment or transfer of an individual card to another person
  • Use of a VISA card by a suspended or terminated employee

Administrative misuse:

  • Lack of proper and timely reconciliation/Cardholder Activity Reporting of individual cardholder accounts
  • Lack of funds in your departmental budget accounts
  • Splitting an order to avoid the single-purchase limit
  • Use of the Credit Card to purchase commodities that have been restricted as described above

Credit Card reviewers have the responsibility to report instances of misuse.  Managers have the responsibility to suspend or terminate card privileges in instances of misuse, and report them to the Corporate Finance department.  As the Manager approving the issuance of the card to the cardholder, the Manager is responsible for verifying proper use and monthly reconciliation/Cardholder Activity Reporting of the card by the cardholder or other designated individual and provides approval to this effect on the monthly “Cardholder Activity Statement”.

The College may cancel VISA cards for non-adherence.

It is the responsibility of the department head and the cardholder to ensure that the Corporate Finance department is notified no less than 2 weeks prior to cardholder leaving the college upon termination of employment, sabbatical, maternity or parental leave, retirement, or any other applicable circumstances.

Identifying Phishing scams

No financial institution, whether bank, credit Card Company, or otherwise, contacts their customers via email to request account information. Often these emails claim that accounts have been declared suspended or on hold, and request that the card information be resubmitted or updated in order to reactivate the account.

If there is any concern about a card or card number, financial institutions will phone you first, or if they are unable to reach you, will contact the Corporate Finance department and / or post you a mailed notification. The only email you should ever receive from a financial institution will be updated terms of service.

Any email, regardless of how professional or legitimate it may appear (i.e. professional wording, logos or graphics), that requests your account information is fraudulent. These emails are referred to as “phishing” emails.

If you are at all in doubt as to the legitimacy of an email, please call the phone number for Customer Service on the back of your credit card in order to speak with a US Bank or Customer Service Representative. For more information on phishing emails or other concerns regarding potential fraudulent activities, visit VISA’s Common Frauds information page.