Frequently Asked Questions | ePAY
Find answers to common questions about ePAY, including enrollment, payment processing, settlement accounts, PCI compliance, reporting, fees, and funding options for Illinois public agencies.
Getting Started with ePAY
Government entities in Illinois that want to join ePAY should submit a request for more information via the “Open an Account” ePAY form above.
ePAY procures payment services based on its ~$2 billion in transaction volume, enabling state and local governments to take advantage of multiple pricing and settlement bank options that can lower processing fees. Participants also have the option of paying with credit card processing fees or passing them on to their constituents.
Government entities can elect to pass the processing fee to their constituents or to pay (absorb) the fee themselves. ePAY also offers the option to bundle equipment costs with processing fees and lower fees by electing to fund the Illinois Funds. For a complete list of pricing options, please visit our New ePAY Participants page above.
ePAY, through its processing vendor, does not charge a fee for direct integration with third-party software applications. However, third-party software vendors may require a fee to build integration. We provide a list of existing software partnerships on the New ePAY Participants page.
Once the ePAY Agreement and Global Payments Merchant Application and Agreement are electronically signed in the ePAY Portal, the enrollment process generally takes 6 weeks before a new participant is processed through ePAY. The 6-week timeframe does include participant testing and training. The 6-week timeframe does not include any customized integration development that may be required. Please note that if a Participant elects to fund to the Treasurer’s settlement bank, Illinois National Bank (INB), the enrollment process will take an additional 3-5 business days to complete.
ePAY Features and Tools
The ePAY Portal is an online enrollment solution that allows you to sign your agreements and provides access to set-up information. Following your onboarding, the ePAY Service Portal is also a robust customer support solution. Administrators can open support tickets to request a new payment type, additional POS terminals, or report an issue with any of your ePAY Services.
The ePAY Dashboard is a permission-based online portal that enables users to access the Global Payments system. User permissions are customizable by Participants, enabling more-or-less functionality by user role. Participants can access multiple features in the ePAY Dashboard, including the payment reporting suite (with ad hoc queries), the ability to process payments, voids, or credits, and a function to look up receipts. The ePAY Dashboard is also the online interface for the end users (cardholders) to make a one-time payment. End users can also create a user account to view payment history and save preferred payment methods.
StatusCast is the main communication platform ePAY uses to share updates with participants. You will need to have correct permissions to view this site. You can contact ePAY at 855-226-7337 to gain access or open a support ticket.
If you are an administrator for your organization, you can contact ePAY at 855-226-7337 or submit a support ticket through the ePAY Portal to request access. Communications are sent according to the user roles you assign.
Please contact ePAY at 855-226-7337 or go to the ePAY Portal to submit a support ticket.
StatusCast may send updates about system maintenance, product enhancements, industry news, outages, and funding delays. Messages are sent based on the user roles your organization assigns.
ePAY Security and PCI Compliance
Every government participating in ePAY has its own dedicated database on our processing platform. All Personally Identifiable Information (PII) provided by your customer during the payment process is encrypted while at rest in the database and while in transit. Customers who set up an account can tokenize their payment information (credit cards, debit cards, or bank information), enabling future payments using a token—a security best practice—to occur without your customer re-entering their payment information.
PCI is the nickname given to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). The PCI DSS was created by a payment card industry standards organization to “encourage and enhance cardholder data security and facilitate the broad adoption of consistent data security measures globally.” The standard establishes goals and requirements to ensure secure payment card processing by all entities involved, regardless of size, type, or method of acceptance.
If you accept credit or debit card payments for your goods or services, even if you never physically touch a credit card, then yes. PCI applies to all entities involved in payment card processing, including merchants, their processors, and their service providers.
To begin the PCI compliance process, the Primary Contact on file for your entity should use the SecureTrust registration email. If you did not receive that email, contact ePAY at 855-226-7337 to request a resend. After registering and logging in to SecureTrust PCI Manager, you will complete the self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ) that matches your payment setup and complete the Attestation of Compliance (AOC) as part of the validation process.
Once enrolled in ePAY, the Primary Contact on file should receive an email from SecureTrust with registration instructions. To help prevent delays, add SecureTrust to your safe sender’s list and check your spam or junk folder if you do not see the email. If you have already registered, you can sign in through the SecureTrust PCI Manager login page. contact SecureTrust at 800-363-1621 or info@securetrust.com if you have questions.
“Global Payments Payment Solutions” is the currently contracted vendor for the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office ePAY product. When selecting in your questionnaire, you will choose Global Payments Corporation. They process all ePAY payment card transactions.
Your primary service provider is Global Payments: Payment Solutions and Software, which processes card payments for ePAY. This provider is PCI Compliant. You can check their status, as well as that of many other service providers, on the VISA Service Provider Registry.
You may also need to list other vendors involved in your payment setup if they affect payment security. This could include companies that manage your website, firewall, network, online store, cashiering system, or kiosk. You may need to work with those vendors during PCI compliance. Unfortunately, ePAY staff cannot do that part for you.
You will need to search for Global Pay’s Secured P2PE (Point-to-Point Encryption)
Generally, no. Payment card data from transactions made through the ePAY product is processed by Global Payments Payment Solutions. However, internal systems or third-party vendors that handle credit card transactions may change this answer. Please consult with the owners of those systems and your service providers to understand how they handle sensitive credit card data.
Depending on your acceptance channels (such as internet, IVR, or POS) and your service implementation, you may be required to complete quarterly external network scans. As part of ePAY’s PCI compliance process, SecureTrust may provide scan support based on your merchant setup. If you are being asked for scan results and do not believe scans should apply, contact SecureTrust at 800-363-1621 or info@securetrust.com for help reviewing your account.
Although the initial statement during the registration/questionnaire process lists fees and asks if you agree to payment, the basic fees are covered under the ePAY contract in place with SecureTrust. If additional services, such as security scans, penetration testing, or onsite assessments, are utilized, then you would be liable for those services at a discounted rate through the ePAY/SecureTrust partnership.
Contact SecureTrust at 800-363-1621 or by email at support@securetrust.com for assistance with PCI compliance and SAQs. When calling, be prepared to provide your Merchant ID Number. If you do not have it available, press # (pound) or explain that you need help locating your account. If requested, note that your account may be listed under the State of Illinois sponsor account.
“DBA” stands for “Doing Business As”. Most governmental entities would have a DBA, such as Village of ABC, ABC Park District, Example County School District #2, etc. The DBA name is typically the legal name of the entity as listed on the W-9. To view your DBA on file with ePAY, go to the ePAY Portal. If you do not have access to the ePAY Portal, call ePAY at 855-226-7337 for access.
Settlement and Funding Options
As an ePAY participant, you can choose to deposit funds into The Illinois Funds, the Illinois State Treasurer’s AAA-m-rated Local Government Investment Pool, which may also reduce your payment processing fees. The Illinois Funds allows government agencies to invest public money safely while benefiting from the scale of a pooled investment portfolio of more than $19 billion. For more information, visit The Illinois Funds.
Processing Cut-Off Times:
Credit Cards – Transactions cut-off at midnight CST (12:00 am)
E-Checks – Transactions cut-off at midnight CST (12:00 am)
Credit Card and E-Check Funding:
Credit card transactions processed on a Monday will settle on Tuesday and appear in your account on Wednesday.
ACH transactions processed on a Monday will settle on Tuesday and appear in your account on Wednesday.
If during your enrollment you elect to fund an Illinois Funds account, Illinois National Bank (INB), the Treasurer’s settlement bank, will automatically transfer any funds over your target balance to your Illinois Funds account(s) at 8:30 am daily.
Yes. During enrollment, your agency may choose to have funds settled to a bank account of its choice instead of The Illinois Funds through ePAY’s Settlement Bank.
Yes, but only to a limited extent. ePAY staff cannot directly access information about your outside settlement bank account. The account holder must provide the necessary account information to assist ePAY staff with troubleshooting. Once that information is provided, ePAY staff may be able to assist with reconciliation and funding issues.
Yes. If your agency passes the service fee to the cardholder, an additional 5 basis points will apply. If your agency absorbs the processing fees, the cost is $15 per month for each outside settlement account.
INB Settlement Account Management
You can view your ePAY settlement account activity through the INB online banking system, including transaction history, fund transfers, and monthly bank statements.
The INB target balance is the amount your agency chooses to keep in its ePAY settlement account, ranging from $1,000 to $250,000. The minimum balance of $1,000 helps cover possible chargebacks or payment reversals, while the maximum balance of $250,000 reflects the amount up to which INB does not need to pledge collateral for the account. There is no fee if your account balance falls below your selected target amount.
Account maintenance options 1 and 2 include one online banking user. Additional users cost $5 per month each. Only authorized signers may grant access to individual users. To enroll, visit the INB online banking system and select “Sign Up.” For step-by-step instructions, please refer to the INB enrollment guide.
Yes. If you are the authorized signer on the account, please contact ePAY at 855-226-7337 or submit a support ticket through the ePAY Portal.
Target balances will be met through ePAY processing and build up from $0 on day 1 (there is no penalty for a $0 balance on your ePAY account).
Monies can be deposited or withdrawn by the ePAY processor or U.S. Bank Fund Services. ePAY settlement accounts at INB are exclusive to the ePAY product and cannot be used by a transactional account therefore no other third party entity can initiate any transactions. ePAY settlement accounts do not have check writing, ACH origination or wire origination capabilities. Any non-ePAY related ACH debit activity should be redirected to a local banking account of your choosing. Debits from third party integrators will be allowed as long as they are linked to an ePAY payment service. The fee for this allowance is an additional $10/month per account. For this you will need to contact INB at INBtreasuryservices@illinoisnationalbank.com and they will provide you a form to submit for review and approval.
Yes. The Illinois Funds allows agencies to consolidate multiple ePAY services into a single settlement account at INB and a single Illinois Funds investment account at U.S. Bank Fund Services (USBFS). To make this change, your agency must submit a change of information application.
INB, which serves as the Treasurer’s custodian for ePAY settlement accounts, automatically transfers funds above your target balance to your Illinois Funds account at U.S. Bank Fund Services (USBFS) each day at 8:30 a.m. There is no additional fee for this automatic transfer.
Your agency may also move funds from its ePAY settlement account to its Illinois Funds account at any time by initiating an ACH transfer or wire transfer through USBFS to the ePAY account at INB. Please note that wire transfers must be at least $100, and incoming wires to your ePAY settlement account at INB are subject to an $8 fee. In addition, credits posted to your ePAY account are subject to a $0.10 fee per transaction.
No. INB cannot link a single ePAY account to multiple Illinois Funds investment accounts at USBFS. If needed, your agency may instead consolidate multiple ePAY accounts under one Illinois Funds investment account and close any unnecessary USBFS investment accounts.
No. INB’s online system only provides access to view activity but you are not able to perform any transactions using that system.
ePAY authorized users can export data from INB online banking system to the following accounting software: CSV, QuickBooks, Quicken.
ePAY Fees and Charges
INB charges a monthly maintenance fee for each ePAY settlement account. The fee is $10 per month with direct debit or $12 per month with invoicing. Participants also receive a $10 monthly statement credit from Global Payments to help offset these bank fees. Other standard fees include:
$0.10 per deposit item
$30 per non-sufficient funds (NSF) item
$2 per ACH return
$8 per incoming wire transfer
one free online banking user, plus $5 per month for each additional user
INB also applies an earnings credit rate of 0.17%. Monthly account maintenance and per-credit-item fees are charged on the ninth business day of the month for the previous month’s activity.
If you absorb processing fees associated with your ePAY services, your settlement account is debited the first week of the month for the previous month’s payment processing by the ePAY processor. You should take this debit amount into consideration when setting your account target balance.
Yes. INB charges the monthly maintenance fee for all ePAY settlement accounts, including inactive accounts.
Chargebacks or payment reversals may cause your ePAY settlement account to become overdrawn, which would result in a $30 NSF fee. To reduce this risk, you may transfer funds from your Illinois Funds investment account into your ePAY settlement account through the U.S. Bank Fund Services online portal at any time, as long as your INB settlement account is already on file with USBFS. There is no transfer fee for this transaction, but INB charges $0.10 for each credit posted to the settlement account.
No. Funding into your ePAY account is handled under a batch process which means your ePAY transactions can be aggregated by ePAY’s processor. Depending on how your ePAY services are set up, you may receive one or multiple deposits into your ePAY account.
Reporting and Reconciliation
Illinois National Bank
C/O Financial Confirmation Request
322 E. Capitol Ave.
Springfield, IL 62701
Please contact ePAY at 855-226-7337 or go to the ePAY Portal to submit a support ticket.