E-Commerce | News

Blackboard and PE Systems Team Up to Reduce Card Processing Fees

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 11/18/10

In a new partnership arrangement, Blackboard's campus commerce consultants will be promoting the services of PE Systems and vice versa in helping institutional customers remove costs from their credit and debit card processing. PE uses analytics software it has developed internally to identify overages in payment processing fees for its clients. The partnership will focus specifically on clients using or considering the Blackboard Payment Gateway, a processing system that provides payment processing and fraud management services to colleges and universities.

"PE Systems has vast expertise in the payments processing industry and brings tremendous value to our clients in higher education who are looking to identify cost savings with their payment card processing operations," said Mark Gunter, vice president at Blackboard Transact.

PE Systems claims a 96 percent success rate in identifying savings opportunities among its client base. The institutions were able gain savings without switching their current payment processing providers or banking relationships.

"PE Systems does all the work for us," said Elizabeth Brock, assistant vice president and controller at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. "They're the ones unraveling the complexities of our merchant statements. My existing credit card processing relationships are as solid as ever. The only difference is we've put thousands of dollars back into George Mason University's bottom line."