The Incident
Today, an email from my university arrived, with a subject line of “Payments made through PayTM to McGill.” I instantly felt this was bad news.
It was indeed super bad news, and I do not understand the reason behind this ban. In the email, the school states that they do not accept credit cards as a method of payment for our tuition and fees.
However, payment gateway such as PayTM or Plastiq has already (or will be) charged their user for a transaction fee for using credit cards for the payment. It seems that McGill is unpleasant about how many students took this advantage to overpay their student account to get a few extra miles or cash back on their credit card.
In the email, the university also mentioned that if anyone who has overpaid their account, they will be asked to pay a $20 fee, so McGill University can send a cheque to the payment gateway which will then return the money to the original credit card that made the payment.
Bottom Line
I am not sure how this whole transaction would affect school or incur any expenses from the university side. I guess some students may have used stolen credit cards? This assumption only stands if the students are not asking the refund for overpayment. What’s the harm of earning points and miles?I am wondering if any other Canadian universities will follow this unpleasant trend. What is your thought on this matter?