Payments: Card Management
Overview
Participant Payments allow participants to select either reloaded debit card, direct deposit (ACH) or checks to receive their stipends or travel reimbursement payments for related to research. The following instructions apply to management of those debit cards between the SMPH Dean's Finance Office, UW - Madison departments, and research groups.
Debit Card Considerations
Reloaded Prepaid Card
The prepaid debit cards are VISA and can be used at any retailers or ATM. Each card has a three-year expiration date based on the date originally requested from the vendor: Advarra. When participants select this option, the card ICN number will need be entered in Participant Payments and the participant should be provided the Prepaid Card Information handout for instructions on the prepaid card.
It is recommended to distribute the debit card directly to the participant. However, the debit cards can be mailed to participants if that is more consistent with how the study team is interacting with participants.
Centralized Management
The SMPH Dean's Finance Office will be responsible for the centralized management of the debit cards from Advarra. This will include bulk debit card orders and distribution of the cards to departments. The SMPH Dean's Finance Office will incur the initial per card cost of $1.50 and upon distribution to the department(s) for a specific study or project that amount will be invoiced to the provided fund account. Any unused debit cards should be returned to the SMPH Dean's Finance Office for a refund.
Initial Request for Debit Cards
The initial request for debit cards is included in the Intake Form to request to use Participant Payments. The requester should estimate how many cards they may need for the accrued participants in the study or project. Please note: Additional cards can be requested from the SMPH Dean's Finance Office.
The requested debit cards will then be provided to a departmental custodian and should be handled as one would cash. It is recommended that an inventory is maintained and cards are stored in a locked manner. The study teams should monitor their study or project enrollment to ensure there is sufficient cards to distribute to participants as needed.
Additional Request for Debit Cards
Additional request for debit cards is available through a Card Request Form.
Return Debit Cards
Unused debit cards that are no longer needed or are approaching the expiry date should be returned to the SMPH Dean's Finance Office: 4174 Health Sciences Learning Center (HSLC).
Card Management Workflow
