A Guide to TouchNet Ready Partners: FAQs for Integrated Campus Services

In the digital age, there is seemingly a technology solution for anything and everything you could think of. This is great when you’re looking for solutions to fill niches across your campus services. However, it can also lead to challenges in managing financial transactions from countless sources across a campus, with problems ranging from inconsistent customer experiences to reconciliation nightmares.

TouchNet addresses the challenges of disparate payments by working closely with third-party vendors. TouchNet Ready Partners program brings together a network of certified vendors and service providers that integrate seamlessly with TouchNet’s technology platform to accept digital payments.

Using integrated partners is advantageous for several reasons. It ensures compatibility between campus vendors and administrative solutions, creating a cohesive and efficient system that simplifies financial operations. These integrations allow institutions to offer a wide range of payment options, improve data synchronization, and enhance the overall user experience.

Furthermore, a unified payment platform streamlines campus transactions, reducing administrative burdens, and ensuring compliance with financial regulations. By leveraging the TouchNet Partner Network to provide services to a campus, institutions can focus more on their core mission—education—while confidently managing their financial processes.

In this blog, we cover the most frequently asked questions about TouchNet Ready Partners and how they connect with TouchNet.

What are TouchNet Ready Partners?

TouchNet Ready Partners are campus service providers and vendors that have established validated integrations with TouchNet payment solutions. Your institution will also maintain a contractual relationship with any TouchNet Ready Partner that is integrated to your TouchNet environment.

Which TouchNet solutions are Ready Partners integrated with?

TouchNet Ready Partners integrate with TouchNet in a variety of ways. Partners may integrate with TouchNet Marketplace uPay to accept payments. Additionally, partners may integrate with TouchNet PayPath to enable service fees on credit and debit card payments.

Can payments from TouchNet Ready Partners post to our general ledger?

If your institution’s instance of Marketplace is integrated with your ERP finance system, payment transactions for integrated TouchNet Ready Partners may automatically post to the general ledger. TouchNet currently offers general ledger integrations to Ellucian Banner and Colleague, Peoplesoft, and Workday Finance.

What payment methods are available with TouchNet Ready Partners?

All payment methods available in Marketplace uPay are available to TouchNet Ready Partners including ACH, debit/credit cards (card present and card not present), and Apple Pay; and can be configured to the needs of your institution.

Where do I manage payments coming through TouchNet Ready Partners?

Payments for campus vendors that are accepted through TouchNet Marketplace are reported through U.Commerce. In Marketplace, you have access to reporting and dashboards to monitor and analyze the payment transactions that are coming through TouchNet Ready Partners.

How do I connect a new TouchNet Ready Partner to my instance of TouchNet?

To connect an existing TouchNet Ready Partner to your institution’s Marketplace, contact your Client Success Manager to implement the new connection. They can guide you through ensuring the partner is connected and configured to your needs.

What are the requirements to integrate a TouchNet Ready Partner for payments to our campus systems?

Connecting a TouchNet Ready Partner requires that your institution uses Marketplace uPay. If you are unsure if your current license includes the necessary solution, please contact your Client Success Manager to review your account.

How do TouchNet Ready Partners impact my PCI compliance needs?

Working with TouchNet Ready Partners can reduce the scope of your PCI compliance requirements. Payments processed through TouchNet Marketplace are compliant with the current PCI standards. However, TouchNet is not responsible for the PCI status of individual TouchNet Ready Partners. For a full understanding of a TouchNet Ready Partner’s compliance status, we recommend contacting them directly.

Can we accept online and in-person payments with TouchNet Ready Partners?

The standard connection to a TouchNet Ready Partner is set up to accept online payments. For in-person payments, Marketplace uPay POS (Point of Sale) is needed. If you are unsure if you have Marketplace uPay POS or have questions, contact your Client Success Manager for assistance.

Is it possible to use PayPath when accepting payments for TouchNet Ready Partners?

Yes. The TouchNet Ready Partner must complete an additional validation with our PayPath solution. Once that is completed, PayPath can be configured to the needs of your institution with that vendor.

We have a third-party vendor that is not a TouchNet Ready Partner. Can we get them integrated to TouchNet?

With third-party vendors that are TouchNet Ready Partners, you get the benefit of an existing, turnkey integration that simply needs to be enabled in your TouchNet environment. As a Ready Partner, all transactions automatically funnel through your existing Payment Gateway with TouchNet. No development work is required. Connecting vendors who are not a certified TouchNet partner likely requires development work on the part of the vendor and/or your institution, and may flow through an additional payment gateway.

However, you can recommend new partners to the TouchNet Partner Network. We will review the recommendation and, if they qualify, we will connect with the campus vendor on next steps to become a TouchNet Ready Partner. Please note, the campus vendor is required to complete a partner agreement with TouchNet and requisite development work before the integration is available.

How do I recommend a new partner?

If you would like to recommend a campus vendor to become a TouchNet Ready Partner, you can submit their information for us to review here. Please note, the campus vendor is required to complete a partner agreement with TouchNet and requisite development work before the integration is available.

Where can I find a list of TouchNet Ready Partners?

With more than 300 certified partners, the TouchNet Partner Network offers connections to best-in-class vendors for every area of campus operations. Browse our Partner Directory to view all our TouchNet Ready Partners and filter by functional categories.