Adversary Posted June 29, 2007 Report Share Posted June 29, 2007 I just want to alert incoming UBC Medicine students about recent changes to the tuition payment format. I would like to acknowledge that I first heard this from chompers. Below is the information I received recently from my Faculty. This will play a role in your selection of credit cards - I will likely change mine now due to the changes below. Credit Card Savings Directed Toward UBC Teaching and Learning The University of British Columbia - June 20, 2007 - The University of British Columbia is discontinuing the use of credit cards by domestic students for tuition payments. The annual savings of $2.5 million in transaction fees will be used in support of teaching and learning for undergraduate and graduate students. Many other Canadian universities, among them Toronto, McGill, McMaster and Queens, do not accept credit card payments because of the significant transaction costs. There are several online payment methods available, including Electronic Funds Transfer, online banking, direct debit using Interac (available June 27); you can also pay in person by debit card or cheque. Cash and cheque payments can be made at any branch of HSBC. Details on payment methods are available at: * UBC Vancouver Awards, <http://www.students.ubc.ca/finance/fees.cfm> Fees & Finances website * UBC Okanagan <http://www.ubc.ca/okanagan/students/finance/fees.cfm> Awards, Fees & Finances website Any UBC student experiencing significant stresses in financing their university education should contact the UBC Office of Student Financial Assistance and Awards. * UBC Vancouver <http://www.students.ubc.ca/finance/contact.cfm> contact information * UBC <http://www.ubc.ca/okanagan/students/finance/contact.cfm> Okanagan contact information Credit card payments will continue to be accepted for international and Continuing Studies students, and for ancillary fees such as housing and meal plans. In these instances, the service charges are recovered at no cost to the University. All students will also be able to pay their registration deposit by credit card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dumdedum Posted June 29, 2007 Report Share Posted June 29, 2007 thanks for the heads up adversary. This really sucks. So much for trying to earn tickets home through credit card travel rewards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adversary Posted June 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2007 Yeah, I am going to switch cards next year - AVION credit card is not worth the $120 fee per year anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuantum Posted June 29, 2007 Report Share Posted June 29, 2007 hey adversary...can't you just use cheques attached to your credit card so you can still get the points? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adversary Posted June 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2007 Kuantum, I didn't want to answer your question yet because I wanted to ask RBC first. However, I thought that interest is incurred immediately when the cheque is cashed and isn't the interest rate really high? I get a lot of those cheques particularly from MBNA and they always go straight to the shredder. However, I am not sure about the above information. I plan to call RBC tomorrow to find out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuantum Posted June 29, 2007 Report Share Posted June 29, 2007 hmm...i should probably check with scotia as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adversary Posted June 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2007 Kuantum, Another point I just realized - the reason why points/rewards are given to you is because the credit card companies get more than that from the retailers. If you were to get points/rewards from the credit card cheques, the company would need to be able to charge the same fee to the retailer. Hence, there would be no savings from the change in payment format. I don't think UBC would have made these changes otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuantum Posted June 29, 2007 Report Share Posted June 29, 2007 Kuantum, Another point I just realized - the reason why points/rewards are given to you is because the credit card companies get more than that from the retailers. If you were to get points/rewards from the credit card cheques, the company would need to be able to charge the same fee to the retailer. Hence, there would be no savings from the change in payment format. I don't think UBC would have made these changes otherwise. ya but aren't the charges mainly for the use of the "swiper" or the electronic billing part? so, if you don't need to pay for that anymore, you don't need to charge anymore. the credit card essentially functions as any regular chequing account...however, to be sure instead of just guessing...i'll e-mail my LOC person and see what scotiabank says. i'd be bummed too b/c my credit card gives me 10X the reward points Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adversary Posted June 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2007 Hey Kuantum, I may be wrong after all. I was using google (just like I do with PBL ) and came across this: http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=107221 However, notice the messages are 3 years old so RBC may have gotten smarter since then. I will definitely call RBC to inquire about this further. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr nomis Posted June 29, 2007 Report Share Posted June 29, 2007 With regard to this issue, yesterday at their meeting the Alma Mater Society of UBC passed a resolution similar if not identical to the one below (not sure if it was amended): “Whereas the University requires that tuition be paid during the first week of classes in September; and Whereas until the 1988-89 school year, the University did not require the payment of tuition until the end of the third week of classes in September; and Whereas the availability of a credit card payment option for paying tuition, commencing in the 2003-04 school year as the preferred method of paying, enabled students to effectively defer the actual payment of tuition until the end of September; and Whereas the University Administration has recently decided to discontinue the option of paying tuition via credit card; and Whereas the AMS recognizes that it is impractical to rescind the decision to discontinue credit card payment for this year. Therefore, be it resolved that the Alma Mater Society call upon the University to extend the deadline for tuition payment until one month after the commencement of classes in September; and Be it further resolved that the Alma Mater Society call on the University to look into reinstituting credit card payment in future years or look into developing some other policy on tuition payment that would alleviate the financial burden undergone by students at the beginning of September." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adversary Posted June 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2007 Thanks for the information, Dr. Nomis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dentite Posted June 29, 2007 Report Share Posted June 29, 2007 i didn't know that there were universities that didn't accept credit cards for tuition payments...that sucks...one more thing Adversary...if you have an LOC with rbc, you may want to speak with your banker about waving the fee for your avion card; my fee is waved for the four years that i'll be in dent school Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuantum Posted June 29, 2007 Report Share Posted June 29, 2007 Just spoke to my LOC advisor and she said I wouldn't be able to write a cheque to still get points. The only way to get points on the scotia gold card is to actually charge something to it.... I also asked her if she could think of any other of getting around this, and she said not at the moment. However, since I am a scene member with scotia...when I pay for my tuition, i'll get a bunch of points so i can go watch movies...yeaa!! the scotiastar points would have been perferred though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kanayo101 Posted July 1, 2007 Report Share Posted July 1, 2007 ...using my credit card to pay for tuition was something i was actually looking forward to! just my luck, SFU just started taking credit card payments this year and UBC stopped... If credit card companies make $2.5 million per year on transaction charges alone, plus millions more they make when students carry balances with interest they will lose a lot of money come September. I wonder if they would ever think of negotiating a deal with UBC to charge less in transaction fees in exchange for reinstating credit card payments. PS - If you use a cheque, it counts as a credit card cash advance. Instant interest and no points. I even considered paying with money order and paying for that by credit card but that is a no go either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poolboy Posted July 1, 2007 Report Share Posted July 1, 2007 I'm so disappointed - I fought for the Avion card with my LOC with the fee waved the first year just so I could get the points - it looks like after that first year I'll just switch back to a free points card - there goes my vacation after fourth year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adversary Posted July 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2007 I spoke to my account manager and she told me that the credit card cheques are considered cash advances so no points will be given. The link I posted in the earlier part of the thread must be outdated information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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