Definitions

Definitions A. Electronic payments: Consumer and business initiated payments, whether made through the Internet or in person, for various services and fees using any of the following payment instruments: credit cards, bank cards, charge cards, debit cards, electronic checks, or direct debits via electronic funds transfer. B. ACH: Automated Clearing House. Affiliated with the U. S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve System and used as the conduit for electronic payments and collections. The ACH is the settlement vehicle for electronic payments. The ACH is also used to transport direct debit and credit transactions to consumer bank accounts. C. Application Service Provider (ASP): An application service provider (ASP) provides computer-based services to customers over a network. The most limited definition is that of providing access to a particular application program (such as license renewals, registrations, etc.) using a standard protocol such as HTTP. ASP applications for purposes of this rule are those which accept electronic payments either through a browser-based application, or other revenue input sources. D. DFA: Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration. E. E-Government Transaction Fee: E-government Transaction Fee is the mark-up above any regulatory fee plus the cost of sales as agreed to in an agency specific Statement of Work (SOW). A description of the E-Government Transaction fee shall be included in the SOW. E-Government Transaction fees are disbursed by the State to the vendor on a daily basis. Additional/Supplemental fees above the E- Government Transaction fees must be described and itemized in the agency specific SOW. F. EOC FEE: Electronic Government Oversight Committee (EOC) Fee. This fee is used to offset the costs associated with providing electronic services and operating the electronic portal (www.mississippi.00v) at ITS. §25-53-151 (2) of the Mississippi Code defines the EOC.The original twenty-eight portal applications still collect this fee. On occasion, ITS has granted a written exemption of this fee for a specific Agency to absorb and directly remit the EOC fees associated with transactions for a specific application to DFA payable to the DFA – MS – Gov Portal Fees Fund. Henceforth, with new applications, the State collects 2% of the net operating profit each month through E-Government Transaction Fees. Those monies are deposited to the DFA – MS – Gov Portal Fees Fund on a monthly basis. The portal vendor is sent their portion of the fees on a daily basis. G. Consumer: Consumer, for purposes of these rules, may be any individual person or business representative who initiates a transaction involving electronic payment. H. Processing Fee is approved by the Department of Finance and Administration (DFA). All transactions must include a unless DFA has granted express written approval for the Agency to absorb the payment processing costs associated with the transactions for a specific application and for the agency to remit those fees to DFA payable to the DFA – MS – Gov Portal Fees Fund. I. ITS: Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services. J. Point of Sale: Point of Sale (POS). Payments made "over the counter" for fees for services. For the purposes of electronic payments in Mississippi, agencies desiring to accept "over the counter" electronic payments must have a POS application. POS applications may be: A web-based system where all payment information is keyed into the application by the client or a "card swipe" application similar to those found in commercial enterprises. POS applications must be certified to meet PCI Compliance Standards. K. PPI: Portal Payment Interface: The PPI defines and creates the accounting entries used to record all electronic payment transactions in the State’s accounting system. L. Record Keeping: An agency must establish and maintain financial records and keep them available for the purposes of audit. The record keeping procedures must include the capture of the details of the electronic payments, associated fees, and supporting reconciliation documentation. M. Payment Card Industry — Data Security Standards: PCI-DSS is the result of collaboration between the major credit card brands to develop a single approach to safeguarding sensitive data. PCI-DSS defines a series of requirements for handling, transmitting, and storing sensitive data. The PCI- DSS standards can be found at https://wvvw.pcisecuritystandards.org/ . N. Revenue Input Source: Electronic transactions from Web-based, Point of Sale (POS), Interactive Voice Response (IVR), Over the Counter Sales, etc. §27-104-33. Payment by credit card, charge card, debit card, or other form of electronic payment amounts owed to state agencies. The State Department of Finance and Administration shall establish policies that allow the payment of various fees and other accounts receivable to state agencies by credit cards, charge cards, debit cards and other forms of electronic payment in the discretion of the department. Any fees or charges associated with the use of such electronic payments shall be assessed to the user of the electronic payment as an additional charge for processing the electronic payment. Agencies with the approval of the Department of Finance and Administration may bear the full cost of processing such electronic payment if the agency can demonstrate to the department's satisfaction that they are able to assume these costs and provide the related service for the same or lesser cost. O. TPE – Transaction Processing Engine: TPE is a secure electronic payment solution built specifically for state and local government that provides complete transaction management services from payment to disbursement. P. Payment Processor: The company that settles approved payment transactions with the acquiring banks that issued the customer’s credit/debit card or maintains the customer’s bank account. The State’s payment processor is Mississippi Interactive LLC (MSI) and they are the merchant of record with the credit card companies for maintaining the State’s PCI compliance.