CBP Reduces Daily Limit for Credit Card Transactions
CBP said in a June 26 CSMS message new total daily dollar-value limit for credit card transactions using a single credit card will be lowered to $49,999.99 from $99,999.99, effective June 30. The max amount for debit card transaction will also be eliminated, said CBP.
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The new credit card daily limit applies to the total of all transactions conducted with any U.S. Government entities on a single day using a single credit card, said CBP. This includes online transactions conducted via Pay.gov, transactions conducted via other channels, and direct over-the-counter transactions made at a government facility, the agency said
Any individual credit card transactions over $49.999.99 will be declined by Financial Management Service’s (FMS) Card Acquiring Service, CBP said. For customers conducting multiple credit card transactions using the same card on the same day, any of the individual transactions that cause the total dollar value of all the credit card transactions to exceed the $49,999.99 daily limit will be declined by the card acquiring service.
Individual credit card transactions larger than the $49,999.99 limit may not be split into multiple transactions using the same credit card, whether or not the split transactions are assigned to multiple days. Splitting a transaction violates card network and FMS rules. However, credit card transactions exceeding the daily limit may be split between two or more different credit cards.
Credit Card Transaction Examples:
- A customer conducts an online credit card transaction with an Agency through Pay.gov for $50,000.00. The transaction will be declined by the card acquiring service because it exceeds the daily credit card dollar-value limit.
- A customer uses the same credit card on the same day to conduct three transactions with US Government entities. The first credit card transaction is conducted with an agency online via Pay.gov and totals $20,000.00. The second credit card transaction is conducted with another agency via a different online channel and totals $25,000.00. The third credit card transaction is an over-the-counter purchase at the US Mint for a total of $12,000.00. The combined total of all three transactions conducted on that same day is $57,000.00.
- The third transaction will be declined by the card acquiring service because it causes the total of the transactions charged to the credit card on that day to exceed the total daily dollar-value limit of $49,999.99.
- A customer conducts two online credit card transactions with an Agency via Pay.gov on a single day. Two different credit cards are used. The first credit card is used to pay $45,000.00. The second credit card is used to pay $39,000.00. Both transactions will be processed by the card acquiring service.
- A customer conducts a single transaction with an agency via Pay.gov. The total dollar amount of the transaction is $51,000.00. The amount of the transaction is split evenly between two separate credit cards. The card acquiring service will process both charges.
Debit Card
Also effective as of June 30, 2012, the maximum dollar-value limit for debit card transactions will be eliminated. All debit card transactions conducted on any single day with one or more US Government entities will be processed by FMS’s card acquiring service.
Agencies should note that only Visa and MasterCard branded debit cards are accepted by Pay.gov.