The Expense Card program provides individuals and departments with a MasterCard credit card to make timely and efficient acquisitions of small dollar purchases. 
The card is for business use only and has spending limits and restrictions. All charges are billed directly to the University. 

The card can be used for most any small dollar purchases including but not limited to:
       •  Supplies and equipment
       •   Periodical subscriptions
       •  Snacks for meetings
       •   Printing
       •   Promotional supplies

You can get as many cards for your department or program area as you need, subject to the approval of your dean or appointing officer.

Download and complete the Expense Card Application (PDF)

Have your Supervisor and Appointing Officer sign and approve the application. Forward the application to [email protected] or intercampus mail to 2015 JHZ Attention: Tonya Valencia.

The card will arrive in 7 to 10 days. Procurement will notify you when it arrives and schedule a delivery time or you may pick up at the 2015 JHZ front desk.

Learn more about the Expense Card program

The Expense Card is for business use ONLY. 

Restricted items include but are not limited to the following:

• Ammunition and Firearms  
• Animals                                 
• Automobiles and other road-vehicles (purchase or leased)
• Business Cards (unauthorized)                   
• Cash advances, traveler checks, wire transfers, money orders
• Catering/Food on campus for non-GVSU employees
• Cell phones, smart phones, PDA pagers, two-way radios
• Computers, laptops, network-connected devices, local or cloud-based storage.
• Tablets, peripherals, phones, printers, copiers, and software that consumes/transmits/stores GVSU data.

• Copier Machines (networked)
• Employment and temporary staffing services
• Furniture
• Gift Cards and Gift Certificates
• Letterhead stationery and envelopes
• Motorcoach Charter Bus
• Services performed by an individual, partnership, or limited liability company

Learn more about Expense Card restrictions

Contact one of the following immediately so a hold can be put on your card. You do not need to know the card number. They can look it up by the card name. 
 • Fifth Third Bank Fraud Dept 855-634-1295
 • Mastercard 800-MC-ASSIST (800-622-7747)
 • Mastercard International In-Country Toll Free Customer Service Phone Numbers
 • Procurement Services 616/331-2257, 616/331-3211, 616/331-3436 [email protected]

Note: If you have a card that is in a department or program name and not in a person's name, the bank will not be able to assist you because they cannot verify that you are the cardholder. They may be willing to temporarily put a courtesy hold on the card. Email Procurement Services [email protected] and a Program Administrator will contact the bank on your behalf. 

Fifth Third or MasterCard might ask you for you for your company address or an address to send the card to. This is the same as the billing address for your card. If you do not know the billing address, email Procurement Services at [email protected].

Fifth Third or MasterCard will usually close and reissue the card. It takes 7 to 10 days for the replacement card to arrive. It can be expressed mailed (2-day) for free if the loss was not our fault; or for $25 if it was our fault. Notify the Expense Card administrator at [email protected] that your card was closed and reissued. The replacement card will come to the Program Administrator first and they will reach out to you for delivery or pick up of the card. 

• Sometimes the GVSU Mail Room delivers the card to the cardholder instead of to Procurement Services. If you receive a new card and have not received a card activation email from Procurement Services, contact Procurement Services 616-331-2257 to report that you received the card. 

If invalid transactions posted to your card account, Fifth Third will be mailing you a Declaration of Fraud Activity form for you to sign that legally states it is not a valid charge. Be sure to complete and send the form to the bank promptly or you will lose dispute rights. The form usually arrives within a month.

If you have any recurring charges with merchants, contact them to provide the new card information. 

All fraud transactions must be reported within 60 days of the transaction date to receive a credit.

Contact the Fifth Third Bank Fraud Department at 855-634-1295. The bank will close and reissue the card. The bank will ask you to verify if any other recent transactions are valid. 

Note: If you have a card that is in a department or program name and not in a person's name, the bank might not be able to assist you because they cannot verify that you are the cardholder. Email or call Procurement Services and they will contact the bank on your behalf. [email protected] or 616-331-2257

Fifth Third or MasterCard will usually close and reissue the card. It takes 7 to 10 days for the replacement card to arrive. It can be expressed mailed (2-day) for free if the loss was not our fault; or for $25 if it was our fault. Notify the Expense Card administrator that your card was closed and reissued. [email protected] or 616-331-2257. The replacement card will come to the Program Administrator first and they will contact you for delivery or pick up of the card. 

• Sometimes the GVSU Mail Room delivers the card to the cardholder instead of to Procurement Services. If you receive a new card and have not received a card activation email from Procurement Services, contact Procurement Services 616-331-2257 to report that you received the card. 

If invalid transactions posted to your card account, Fifth Third will be mailing you a Declaration of Fraud Activity form for you to sign that legally states it is not a valid charge. Be sure to complete and send the form to the bank promptly or you will lose dispute rights. The form usually arrives within a month.

If you have any recurring charges with merchants, contact them to provide the new card information. 

Check your cardholder portal to see why the transaction was declined.

Common reasons for declines include:

• Card is not activated
• Transaction exceeds your spending limits  (Standard Limits: Per transaction $4,999, Monthly $10,000Transactions/day 10)
• Incorrect PIN entered
• Bank placed a hold on your card to verify if recent transactions are valid
• Merchant is restricted by GVSU
• Incorrect CV code (3-digit number on the back of the card) entered
• First and Last Name of the cardholder are not entered correctly (particularly for cards that are in a department or program name
• Problem with the merchant's online card portal or processor
• Incorrect billing address entered (contact Procurement Services [email protected] for address)

You could:
Try having the merchant run the card manually
Try processing the card at a different cash register
Try using a different Expense Card

You can contact Fifth Third Bank at 800-855-634-1295 or 800-488-6773. The bank can tell you the reason for the decline but cannot make changes to allow the transaction to proceed without Procurement Services authorization.    

Contact Procurement Services at [email protected] to speak with a Program Administrator.  We can determine the reason for the decline and assist with getting the issue resolved to allow the transaction to go through. 

Call the number on the back of your card to dispute transactions that you have legitimately made but where you are having an issue with the merchant.

For example:

• You were due a credit but the merchant has never issued the credit.
• The merchant never delivered your goods.
• The merchant is not returning your calls.
• Your merchant went out of business before delivering your goods or services

You must first try to get the problem resolved with the merchant.

If you are having any issues where the merchant owes you product/service or a credit and is not performing, and it is approaching 60 days from the original transaction date, it is highly recommended that you submit a dispute to Fifth Third Bank to assure you can receive the credit. You must do this within 60 days of the original transaction date. After 60 days, the bank cannot require the merchant to issue the credit and you will lose dispute rights.

The bank might mail you a letter requesting additional information. Be prompt in responding to the request or you could lose dispute rights. The bank should mail you a letter notifying you of their decision. If the bank rules in your favor, a credit will be issued to your card.

To contact the Fifth Third Dispute department, call 888-701-3878.  The Dispute department does not have an e-mail address.

• Business Purpose Quick Guide (PDF)
• Dispute/Resolution Claim (PDF)
• Purchasing Card Application (PDF)
• Sign In/Out Log (Excel)
• Split Transactions Guide (PDF)
• What Every Expense Card User Must Know (PDF)

Contact Procurement Services at [email protected] or 616-331-2257 for the address. For security purposes, it is not available online.  

Contact Procurement Services at [email protected] with the name on your card and last 4 of the card number and they can let you know your spending limits.

Requests for a temporary increase to your card can be made by e-mail to [email protected]. You must cc your unit head on your request email. 

Call 866-475-0729.  Wait until the voicemail recording says, “Welcome to Fifth Third Commercial Support” then press 4, press 1, press 4. 

After you set or change your PIN, the first time a physical merchant asks for your PIN, your PIN might not be accepted on the first attempt; re-insert the card and re-enter the PIN; you may need to do it up to four times. Be sure you are selecting “credit” if asked whether the card is credit or debit.

Don't confuse your PIN with your card activation number. They have different functions.  The PIN is only used at a merchant when making a transaction.

If you are unable to get a receipt copy from the merchant after the fact, you must complete a Missing Receipt Affidavit and attach to the transaction in Workday.

Yes, see What Every Expense Card User Must Know

If you have a card in a department or program name (not in a person's name), you must use the Sign In/Out Log to track who has the card at any given time.
If you have a card in a person's name, you are not required to use the Sign In/Out Log. 

All products must be shipped to a GVSU address. Requests for exceptions can be made to the GVSU card Program Administrator [email protected]. Include what is being purchased, why it needs to be shipped to a non-GVSU address, who it’s being sent to and their address. Copy your unit head on the request email.

Mastercard has toll free in-country customer service phone numbers for many foreign countries.

It is recommended that you call Fifth Third Bank 855-634-1295 a few days in advance of leaving to put a travel note on file with the bank stating the dates and locations you will be outside of the United States. However, this does not guarantee that your card will not be suspended by the bank if there is suspicious activity on it while outside the United States.

We also suggest signing up for the two-way fraud alert to avoid any declines on your card while traveling.

No, but you should still log into Workday and view your expenses to ensure there was no fraudulent transactions during periods of inactivity.

Workday will electronically store all your receipts and reports for you for the required 7 fiscal years. You no longer need to keep any paper statements or receipts on file as long as it’s in the Workday system.

Anything prior to December 7^th, 2023, that was not entered into Workday must be kept on file for 7 fiscal years – through the end of the fiscal year that the statement was created plus 6 more fiscal years. As of January 2021, you may purge statements and receipts that are June 2014 and older

Please visit Financial and Tax Exemption Information page and click Tax Exemption. You can view a list of current merchants that GVSU has specific tax documentation for.

Please visit the Financial and Tax Exemption Information page and click Tax Exemption. You can view a list of current tax exemptions and download the required documentation.

Contact Procurement Services at 616-331-2280 with any questions.

No, GVSU must be the direct payer to qualify for Michigan sales tax exemption.This applies to sales tax exemption in other states also. 

Your card is good through the month of expiration. Procurement Services will automatically send you a new replacement card  approximately a month before it expires.  

If you have not used your card in the past nine to twelve months, the bank might not automatically re-issue your replacement card. If you have not used your card for an extended period of time, contact Procurement Services at [email protected] and we will make sure your new card gets issued. 

Contact the card program administrator [email protected] to notify when you want the card closed.  Your card will be closed and you will receive an e-mail confirming that it has been closed.

To dispose of the card, return it to the card program administrator at 2015 JHZ.

The Bank is collecting cardholders’ birthdates as part of our risk-based compliance program to comply with requirements set forth by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). This information allows the Bank to better identify and mitigate potential risks associated with conducting business with sanctioned individuals or entities.

The requirement to collect a cardholder’s date of birth (DOB) is consistent with regulatory expectations and bank screening practices.

A date of birth is a unique identifier that helps to distinguish an individual from others with the same or similar names. An accurate date of birth helps to protect cardholders from possible misidentification as an individual on the OFAC sanctions list. Such misidentification could potentially lead to an individual’s card being blocked.

No, such identifiers cannot be cross-referenced against the OFAC sanctions list which include identifiers such as birthdates, passport numbers, and social security numbers.