Merchant Services

 

The primary role of the Banking Service’s Merchant Services Department is to manage the state’s merchant services processes for the acceptance of credit/debit cards and methods of electronic commerce purchases from spending units and political subdivisions.

The State Treasurer’s Office (STO) is primarily and exclusively responsible for managing the merchant services contract for the State of West Virginia. All state spending units are required to utilize this contract to ensure spending units benefit from economies of scale for fees and transaction costs.

Card-Present (in-person)

The Merchant Services Department manages the acceptance of in-person payments at over 400 physical spending unit locations.  Our role is to support state spending units in any and all needs regarding the setup and acceptance of in-person payments. The Merchant Services Department regularly works with state spending units to determine the needs of the spending unit and helps facilitate a setup for the acceptance of in-person credit/debit card transactions.

In-person credit/debit card transactions are accomplished utilizing credit card terminals supplied through the STO’s merchant services contract. Through our contract we have several devices to fit most needs a state spending unit may have. These include stand-alone terminals, virtual terminals, semi-integrated terminals, mobile devices, and the full suite of state-of-the-art Clover devices. Almost all devices supplied through the merchant services contract are certified point-to-point encrypted devices to ensure the security of credit/debit card transactions and supply safety to state spending unit customers. In-person credit/debit card payments may also be accomplished by purchasing terminals through a third-party as long as the transactions can be processed through the STO merchant services contract.

In FY 2024 state spending units processed a total of $141,329,590.24 in in-person credit/debit card payments through the STO’s merchant services contract.

Card-Not-Present

The Merchant Services Department manages the acceptance of card-not-present credit/debit card transactions for state spending units. Card-Not-Present usually refers to online payments accepted through a number of applications used by state spending units. Many state spending units will contract with third-party vendors to supply online systems which accept credit/debit card payments. Merchant Services’ staff will work with these spending units and vendors to ensure the setup meets the needs of the state spending unit and complies with state code concerning the acceptance of payments, including processing through the STO merchant services contract.

In FY2024 state spending units processed a total of $197,128,611.64 in card-not-present credit/debit card payments through the STO’s merchant services contract.

E-Gov

The Merchants Services Department operates the State Treasurer’s Office E-Gov system. The E-Gov system is an in-house built and maintained system, available to all state spending units, to facilitate the acceptance of credit/debit card and ACH payments online. The system was designed as an easy to use and setup online payment system for state spending units to quickly and efficiently move payment acceptance to the online space. E-Gov also interfaces Cash Receipt (CR) documents with wvOASIS so state spending unit staff do not have to make any manual entries into wvOASIS for their payments or refunds through E-Gov.

Merchant Services’ staff work with state spending units to design and build online pages for customers to enter information and make payments. The E-Gov system also has a full API which allows third-party systems to integrate with the E-Gov system for the acceptance of online payments.

Contact Us

If you are interested in accepting credit/debit card payments in any capacity or are interested in utilizing the E-Gov system, please contact us at eGovernmentCM@wvsto.gov. You may also call the State Treasurer’s Office Check Hotline at 304-558-3599 and ask for someone in the Merchant Services Department or eGovernment.

What type of credit card services can you offer?

The Merchant Services Department can offer state spending units the ability to process credit/debit card payments in-person or online through any numbers of devices or systems. We can also offer the E-Gov system to accept credit/debit card or ACH payments online.

Why are you offering these services?

We understand many state spending units do not have the expertise to facilitate a credit/debit card setup or ensure the setup meets all state, card-brand, and security rules. We also want to ensure the state is getting the best transaction pricing possible regarding the costs of credit/debit card payments.

Is your system secure?

The State Treasurer’s Office has gone to great lengths to ensure all offerings through the merchant services contract and E-Gov are as secure as possible and is up to date on all Payment Card Industry – Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS).

How can I see my transaction information?

State spending units are supplied several systems to view and run reports for all transaction activity depending on their setup. Our merchant services vendor supplies access to their gateway and settlement systems to view any activity. If utilizing E-Gov, we will provide you access to our E-Gov and ePay reporting systems to run reports and view activity.

How can these services help my agency? 

Most customers in our world today like to pay with their credit/debit cards. To run any business or government entity, you must be able to accept these forms of payments. Online payment acceptance can increase the ease of payment for customers, which in turn can increase revenue brought in by a government entity. These setups will also reduce the deposit time to get revenue into the State’s bank account and can free up staff due to not having to handle payments manually.

What is the cost?

The costs for the acceptance of credit/debit cards are determined by our merchant services contract, which can be found under the contract section of our website. These costs are billed directly to the spending unit and must be paid to our merchant services vendor. If utilizing E-Gov, the STO charges a 2.25% fee for the acceptance of credit/debit cards, which can be paid by the spending unit itself or charged directly to the customer and collected at the time of payment. The STO also charges a $0.05 fee per ACH processed through the E-Gov system.

How do I get more information?

Please feel free to send us an email at eGovernmentCM@wvsto.com or call the State Treasurer’s Office Check hotline at 304-558-3599 and ask to speak to someone in the Merchant Services Department or e-Government.