Procurement Card (PCard) Program
The Procurement Card (PCard) provides PIs and other designated staff with an effective tool to purchase and pay for routine, low dollar cost products and services normally dealt with by the processing of low value purchase orders, requests for miscellaneous expense reimbursements, and petty cash transactions. Spending limits are preset on all PCard accounts and are generally set up with a single transaction spending limit of $1,000 and a monthly limit of $4,999. Please note that the PCard Program is not available for travel and hosting related expenses for project cardholders.
The use of the PCard is one of three acceptable methods for the procurement of goods and services. Refer to Purchasing section for purchases using the purchase requisition process and section Miscellaneous Expense Reimbursement for purchases using personal funds or credit cards.
The PCard is a MasterCard Corporate Purchasing Card, issued by JPMorgan Chase Bank (JPMC). Though it resembles and works like a personal bank card, there are significant differences: a) it is a “charge” or corporate “purchasing” card rather than a “credit” card, b) SDSURF remits payment to JPMC on behalf of the cardholders and then charges the cardholder’s designated funds for all transactions, and c) it is assigned by JPMC to the employee, but is issued in the name of and on behalf of SDSU Research Foundation.
The PCard program is meant to be a supplement to purchasing methods already in place, and is not intended as an overall replacement or as a means to circumvent purchasing guidelines and requirements.
General PCard information is available at the Procurement Card Program website. Policies, procedures and a list of prohibited PCard purchases can be found in the Procurement Card Program, Policy and Procedure Manual. (PDF Format, 364 KB)* If, after reviewing this information, you believe the PCard provides a benefit to your project, department, or grant/contract, contact your SR administrator to determine your eligibility.
All cardholder forms and packets containing the purchasing documentation is scanned into Nolijweb in accordance to the policies, procedures and controls established for this program.
* Note: Documents in Portable Document Format (PDF) require Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 or higher to view. Download Adobe Acrobat Reader.