Online Payment Platform

The vendor is required to provide a comprehensive, cloud-hosted online payment platform delivered as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution.
- The solution must support secure, compliant, and fully integrated tuition and institutional payment processing across all institutions.
- Annual subscription services for the hosted platform and its functional modules
- Required hardware components (e.g., card readers) necessary to enable or optimize use of the services
- Integration with institutional student information systems (sis), ERP platforms, payment processors, and campus portals
- Implementation support, onboarding, configuration, and training services
- Full regulatory compliance with FERPA, PCI DSS, and HIPAA (as applicable).
- Provide a secure, scalable, fully integrated seas platform that supports: 
•    Real-time tuition and fee payments 
•    Billing and cashiering 
•    Automated payment plans 
•    Electronic refund disbursements 
•    Integration with third-party systems
•    Streamline workflows and provide mobile-first, user-friendly design 
•    Provide optional AI-driven features to support automation, advanced analytics, and intelligent customer support
•    Turnkey solution from a single vendor 
•    Real-time ERP integration (PeopleSoft, banner, sap, oracle) 
•    PCI-DSS and PA-DSS certified 
•    Centralized payment gateway: ach, credit/debit, and campus cards 
•    Real-time reporting 
•    Flexible, multi-tenant configurable architecture 
•    Ach account validation, with configurable options per institution. 
•    Institutions must be able to validate all ach transactions or to validate only newly added or updated bank accounts in accordance with agency guidelines. 
•    The solution should support this flexibility to manage transaction costs effectively, as full validation on every transaction may not be necessary or cost-efficient.  
•    Ability to customize the account display to suit institutional preferences and improve user experience 
•    Dedicated interface for third-party sponsors to securely log in, view student bills , and facilitate payments on behalf of the student
- Functional modules
1. Billing and Payments 
•    Title iv refund management 
•    SMS/email payment reminders 
•    Mobile and online payments, including the acceptance of digital and mobile wallet payments 
•    Ability to direct payments to specific charges, accounts, or balances, as defined by the institutions’ policies (e.g., tuition, housing, meal plans) 
•    Flexible, customizable payment plans 
•    Support for international and third-party payers 
•    529 plan compatibility 
•    Optional: financial wellness tools 
•    Student access to IRS tax form 1098t 
•    Students ability to set up automated payments 
•    Authorized user access (e.g. parents, sponsers) with permission to pay/view bills and receive refunds 
•    Consent manager functionality for student control of data sharing and communications 
•    Real-time, on-demand billing statements generation 
2. Cashiering 
•    In person cashiering with real-time posting  
•    Bank account verification prior to EREFUND 
•    EMV POS hardware and encrypted card readers 
•    Support for point-of-sale (POS) and point-to-point encryption   
•    (P2pe) hardware, including maintenance and compliance  
•    Ability to apply a convenience fee to students for credit or debit card transactions (online or in-office), in accordance with applicable regulations.
3. Refund management 
•    Self-service enrollment for direct deposit 
•    Refund tracking with alerts and audit logs 
•    Parent plus loan refund ability 
4. Marketplace and e-commerce 
•    Custom department storefronts 
•    Support for various payment methods  (invoicing, foreign currency, pay-later) 
•    Tender-type reporting at the merchant level 
•    Support for t-link payments, third-party software payments, and flexible department-specific workflows
•    Mobile POS devices for use at departmental or organizational events.

- Contract Period/Term: 1 year
- Pre-Proposal Conference Date: August 12, 2025
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: August 19, 2025