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Most conferences accept major credit cards for registration and other conference fees. All conferences sponsored by IEEE must comply with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards, international guidelines to prevent credit card fraud.
Credit card processing requires:
- merchant account;
- payment gateway provider;
- conference bank account (optional).
Merchant accounts
A merchant account is a type of bank account that allows businesses to accept payments by debit or credit cards. A payment gateway provider is a service that authorizes payments for businesses and encrypts sensitive information. It is usually set up with the merchant account.
Conferences can either use IEEE or a third-party vendor to set up a merchant account and sign up with a gateway provider.
- Conferences may use the IEEE merchant account, under certain conditions. Contact IEEE Meeting and Conference Management (MCM) for more information.
- Third-party vendors may use their own merchant account or the IEEE merchant account, if qualified.
- The third-party vendor must prove they are PCI compliant and meet certain criteria.
- IEEE or the third-party vendor must also contract with a gateway provider to process credit cards.
IEEE Meeting and Conference Management (MCM) and third-party registration services can help you set up credit card payment processing that is PCI compliant. Contact IEEE MCM for more information.
Conference banking information
All conferences must open a bank account to hold all conference funds and provide IEEE Conference Finance Services with access to it.
Conference Finance Services recommends an IEEE Concentration Banking Account for all US- or Canadian-based conferences.
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IEEE now offers free set-up of credit card processing to all conferences that use IEEE Concentration Banking. These accounts are only available in US or Canadian dollars.
Fee processing with third-party vendors
IEEE will screen vendors and check for PCI compliance during contract review and ensure that there are no pass-through fees in the contracts. You can provide IEEE with:
- a copy of the company's compliance certificate;
- the names of all entities involved in handling and/or holding the conference credit card money;
- the compliance certificate with the contract.
PCI compliance
Conference volunteers must follow PCI compliance regulations when processing credit cards.
Acceptable:
- Access to the last four digits of credit card numbers
- Manual processing of credit cards
Not acceptable:
- Online access to credit card data, other than the scenario listed above
- Hiring non-compliant third parties that electronically collect or store credit card information
- Opening your own merchant account. See IEEE's Merchant Lending Program for alternatives
Who do you talk to at IEEE?
IEEE is ready to help. If you have questions about setting up credit card processing, please contact IEEE Meeting and Conference Management (MCM).
Do you have other questions about organizing a conference? Please see IEEE Conference Organizer Contacts.
Do you have feedback on the information on this page?
- Is there missing or incorrect information?
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Please send your feedback to Conference Services.
Contact Information
IEEE Meetings, Conferences and Events Customer Relationship Management is available to assist you with all of your conference needs.
E-mail with questions or concerns
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