With the semester winding down, Sacramento State students are busy registering for classes. But they are finding out VISA is no longer the most widely accepted credit card in the world.

“They should take down the VISA signs in the cashier’s office if they no longer accept VISA,” student Ray Ragsdale saud. “In a way, it’s false advertising.”

Ragsdale ended up withdrawing money from a local ATM in order to pay his fees. What most students do not realize is that this policy has been in effect since June 14.

In an effort to inform the students about the no VISA rule, there are signs on campus, like the ones outside the cashier’s office, aiming to communicate why this is happening.

But the message on the signs only tells half the story. What students do not realize is that Sac State is not alone. This VISA conflict exists on campuses across the nation.

“VISA has changed (its) policy from charging a percentage, to a flat rate,” said Gina Feliciano, supervisor of the student financial services counter. “What this means is that students may be charged a flat rate of $50 to register, but then they also pay that same fee for parking, or even ordering a simple transcript.”

Some schools, such as California State University Los Angeles, have even gone so far as to eliminate all credit and debit card transactions including Master Card and Discovery.

The signs around campus state the university was spending more than $500,000 on credit card transaction fees. This is true, but only part of the reason.

This money was coming from Sac State’s general fund, which pays for computers, student programs, and anything else President Alexander Gonzalez designates.

“Because of the convenience of paying and registering online, there was a 25 percent increase in the transaction fees Sac State was being charged from 2003 to 2004, and there were no signs of it stopping,” said Feliciano.

As a result, Sac State hired an outside company, CASHNet SmartPay, to be responsible for credit card transactions coming from the general fund.

However, soon after SmartPay was adapted, VISA changed its policy from transaction fees being a percentage to a flat rate.

As a result, SmartPay presented the university with the option to either change all other credit card transaction fees to a flat rate, or drop VISA altogether.

“It was a very tough decision for the university to make, because this is an area that relies heavily on VISA,” Feliciano said. “Despite both options having their drawbacks, we made a decision based on which one had fewer drawbacks for student, and that’s what we tried to communicate to students.”

But not all students got this message before registration.

“I had to go out and get a Master Card, just so I could register for my classes,” student Tara Giguere said.

Giguere said it was not until after she tried registering that she noticed the signs. But even then she said there was still not enough information explaining the policy change.

Feliciano said that Sac State hopes to incorporate a new online registering system that combines the convenience of the internet without the transaction fees.

This system is called the Automated Clearing House, which incorporates filling out an online check, or e-check, rather than using a credit card. This plan is still in the developmental stage, and students should not expect to see it anytime soon.

In the past, the university was getting charged 1.73 to 2.14 percent per transaction by credit card companies. SmartPay takes on this expense, but simultaneously charges students 3.1 percent to cover the transaction fee and pay for their online services.

Representatives from VISA were unable to be reached for comment.