Travel and Purchasing Card Procedures

This document applies to all University staff members.

The procedures that must be followed for implementing the Travel and Purchasing Card Policy.

Applying for a travel or purchasing card

Only existing staff member can be issued with a travel card or purchasing card (pCard).

Travel and purchasing cards cannot be issued to contractors, sub-contractors or students.

1.For a Purchase Card an online Purchasing Card Application form must be completed with approval from the Director of Faculty Finance (DFF) or Senior Finance business partner (SFBP).

2. For a travel card an online  Expense Card Application form must be completed with approval by the Faculty Dean/University Executive Committee (UEC) member/Vice-Chancellor.

3. Once the respective online form has been completed and submitted, a service request will automatically be sent to the Shared Transaction Centre (STC).

4. Requests for a travel card (TravelCard) or purchasing card (pCard) are to be processed within ten working days.

Note -This includes the time it takes for the physical card to arrive at the Shared Transaction Centre.

5. Cardholders are required to produce a UoAID for collection.

Note – these are collected from the Shared Transaction Centre at 1-11 Short Street, Level 6.

Note – The intended cardholder is required to declare and accept the delegation and personal responsibility for the use and safekeeping of the card.

Card expenditure limits

6. The expenditure limit for Travel Cards is $20,000 and for Purchasing Cards is $15,000.

7. The card expenditure limits may be increased in exceptional circumstances only.

8. To request an increase in the monthly limit, the request must be supported by a brief explanation endorsed by the relevant Director of Faculty Finance, Senior Finance business partner or Faculty Dean and sent for review through a service request to the Shared Transaction Centre (select topic ‘tCards’ or ‘pCards’ and then sub-topic ‘Limit increases’).
A permanent limit increase will only be permitted in exceptional circumstances.
Pre-approval must be obtained from the Group Financial Controller.

Use of Travel Card

9. A travel card may be used to pay for official University-related expenses such as (except where that cost will be charged back to the University’s Travel Management company):

• accommodation (Note this excludes personal costs, e.g. mini bar)
• meals
• rail, rental cars and bus travel
• taxi and shuttle service fares parking
• petrol/ diesel for vehicles used on University business (but only if no University Fuel Card held)
• cardholder’s membership subscriptions and Conference registrations (providing an existing supplier record does not exist)
• official entertainment and Hospitality expenses

A Travel card must not be used for:

• other employee’s business expenses
• personal expenses. Refer to (Personal travel expenses) for examples that are generally not reimbursable
• purchasing e.g. goods or services, assets, vehicle repairs
• insurance – Contact Risk Office
• recurring payments (UoA credit card details must not be stored on a supplier’s website)
• software (including Cloud Services) – Contact Software Admin
• payment of donations
• payment of payroll or contract-for-service arrangements
• loyalty and club memberships

Use of purchasing card

10. A purchasing card may be used to pay for one-off, low-value transactions (under $2000 NZD) or the following types of transactions:

• prepaid accommodation
• subscriptions (provided an existing supplier record does not exist)
• training courses, seminars, conference registrations (providing an existing supplier record does not exist)
• supermarket purchases (only non-catering related)

11. A purchasing card must not be used for:

• catering. Please refer to (Catering and Hospitality)
• goods or services that can be purchased via PerfectShop or strategic suppliers
• goods or services that can be purchased from an existing supplier on the University’s financial system – Peoplesoft Financials
• recurring payments (UoA credit card details must not be stored on a supplier’s website)
• software (including Cloud Services) - Contact Software Admin 
• purchasing of chemicals, biologicals and hazardous materials
• purchasing assets
• purchasing construction or renovation work that should go through Property Services
• payment of long-term hire or lease agreements
• payment of donations
• payment of payroll or contract-for-service arrangements
• loyalty and club memberships
• personal expenses. Refer to (Personal Travel Expenses) for examples that are generally not reimbursable.

Expenditure above $2,000:

One off purchases above $2,000 are only permitted in exceptional circumstances and require pre-approval from the Group Financial Controller. To request this approval a service request must be raised to Financial services, Finance Compliance under the sub topic P&E Card Policy with a detailed business purpose and supporting documentation.

Supporting documentation and reconciliation of card transactions

12. Each cardholder is responsible for obtaining adequate supporting documentation /receipts from the merchant for every card transaction.

13. Supporting documents for transactions in NZ over $200 must comply with IRD requirements for Taxable Supply Information (TSI).

14. Cardholders, or their designated delegate, are responsible for ensuring that ‘Expense Reports’ are created and submitted for approval by the 2nd business day of the following month in Concur.

15. Directors of Faculty Finance and Senior Finance Business Partner are responsible for ensuring ‘Expense Reports’ for every cardholder in their faculty/service division are processed by the 2nd business day of the following month.

16. Original invoices or receipts are to be scanned and attached to the transaction in the ‘Expense Report’.

17. A credit card docket by itself is not an adequate receipt.

18. Failure on the part of the cardholder to provide appropriate original receipts may result in the cancellation of the card.

Disputed transactions

19. If a cardholder disputes a transaction that appears on their statement they must categorise the transaction as a ‘Disputed Transaction’ in the ‘Expense Report’.

20. The cardholder must submit a service request to Financial Services selecting Finance Compliance and the sub-topic P&E Card Disputed Transactions.

21. If approved, the transaction will be forwarded to the University’s bank for investigation.

22. The bank will only investigate and resolve transactions that are disputed within 60 days of the transaction being made.

23. If a disputed transaction is resolved in the University’s favour, the bank will credit the amount of the transaction on the cardholder’s credit card.

24. If the dispute resolution goes against the University, the original debit entry on the cardholder’s statement will stand. The bank will re-debit the card which will require reconciling to the appropriate account.

Card fees

25. No card replacement fee will be charged if the card has been compromised and a new card is re-issued.

Cancellation of cards

26. Cards which have been issued to staff members who no longer require them are to be cancelled.

27. When a cardholder leaves the University’s employment, it is the responsibility of the cardholder and relevant line manager to ensure that all unreconciled transactions are cleared two business days prior to their leaving date.

Note - Please submit a service request to the Shared Transaction Centre selecting the ‘TravelCards’ or ‘pCards’ topic then ‘Cancellation’ sub-topic. On receipt of the request, Shared Transaction Centre will advise the bank to cancel the card immediately.

28. Upon confirmation from the card administrator, the card is to be cut up and disposed of in a security bin.

Lost or stolen cards

29. If a travel card or purchasing card is lost or stolen it must be reported to both the bank and to the Shared Transaction Centre as soon as possible.

Note - Please submit a service request to the Shared Transaction Centre selecting ‘tCards’ or ‘pCards’ topic, then ‘Lost cards’ sub-topic.

30. The cards are to be blocked immediately from further use.

Note - For lost or stolen cards:

In New Zealand contact ANZ Card Centre, Wellington 0800 473 473

If overseas (call collect/reverse charges) ANZ, Auckland Card Centre +64 9 522 3010

or VISA International (call collect/reverse charges) Singapore +65 345 1010

or contact local bank displaying the VISA logo or a VISA office

Misuse of cards

31. Misuse of cards may result in disciplinary action possibly including termination of employment in addition to any action by an external enforcement agency.

32. The card may be placed on hold, withdrawn or cancelled.

33. In addition, the University may seek the reimbursement of losses or costs from the person concerned.

34. Legal proceedings may also be taken against the cardholder for any fraudulent or pre-meditated misuse of this card.

Ownership of the card system

35. The distribution and control of cards will be managed centrally by the Shared Transaction Centre.

36. Staff in the Shared Transaction Centre will be the only point of contact with the bank regarding the issuance of cards.

Responsibility for purchasing

37. The provision of a travel card in no way signals a change in the Procurement Policy.

38. Travel cardholders are not responsible for purchasing. Any purchasing related items must be completed with either a purchase order (where this is an existing supplier) or a purchasing card (providing it adheres to the Travel and Purchasing card policy and the Travel and Purchasing card procedures).

The following definitions apply to this document:

Cardholder is the staff member to whom the card has been issued.

Chargeback is when travel costs such as air fares, accommodation and rental vehicles are charged to the travel management company who then on charge the University.

Travel card refers to a credit card issued to a staff member who is required to undertake frequent travel on behalf of the University and/or pay for official travel related entertainment. Also referred to as a ‘TravelCard’.

Taxable Supply Information (TSI) is the minimum set of information that suppliers and customers must keep as evidence of a transaction in the form of an invoice or receipt to support a GST Return.

Purchasing cards refers to a credit card issued to a staff member who is required to undertake purchasing on behalf of their department. Also referred to as a ‘pCard’.

Staff member refers to an individual employed by the University on a full, casual or part time basis.

Travel Management Company (TMC) the travel agency contracted by the University to supply travel management services.

University means Waipapa Taumata Rau - the University of Auckland and includes all subsidiaries.

Include the following:

• Sensitive Expenditure Policy
• Gifts and Hospitality Policies
• Procurement Policy
• Travel Policy
• Travel and Purchasing Card Policy
• Expense Card Application Form
• Purchasing Card Application Form

Owned by: Chief Financial Officer
Content manager: Group Financial Controller
Approved by: Vice-Chancellor
Date approved: 24 May 2018
Reviewed date: 31 March 2025
Next Review date: 31 March 2029