Credit Card Payments FAQ

Online Credit Card Fee Payment FAQs 

The University of Toronto has partnered with Moneris (service provider) to provide students with an online credit card fee payment option.

The online Mastercard and Visa Canadian Dollar fee payment service is only available on ACORN and  includes a separate and non-refundable convenience fee collected directly by Moneris.

More information about the service and how to make the fee payment by credit card can be viewed at Making a Fee Payment.

Frequently Asked Questions

1.    Can you pay your academic or residence deposit payment by online credit card?
2.    Which credit cards are accepted for fee payments?
3.    What is the convenience fee?
4.    Is the convenience fee refundable?
5.    What if you have a non-Canadian dollar denominated credit card?
6.    Are credit card refunds available?
7.    How long does it take for the University to receive/record the credit card fee payment?
8.    When can I make my next credit card payment?
9.    Can you pre-pay your ACORN/ROSI fees by credit card?
10.    Your credit card payment has been declined and you don’t know why?
11.    Will I get a receipt showing proof of payment?
12.    Logging into ACORN for the first time to make credit card payment?

1.    Can you pay your academic or residence deposit payment by online credit card? 

No, not at this time.  The online credit card fee payment service is currently only available for students to make a fee payment for the fees that have been billed on the ACORN invoice. Any payments received via the online credit card fee payment option will be applied to outstanding fees.

Academic deposit payments are made by money order or bank draft only, and residence deposit payments are made on StarRez.  For more instructions, please refer to your letter of offer.

2.    Which credit cards are accepted for fee payments?

Mastercard and Visa credit card only.  Visa debit card is not an accepted payment option.  The use of

non-Canadian dollar denominated credit cards for fee payments is not recommended.  See FAQ # 5.

3.    What is the convenience fee?

The credit card convenience fee is the cost of making an online credit card fee payment.  This fee is billed at a rate of 1.75% of the fee payment and is paid directly to the service provider, Moneris, and not to the University of Toronto.  The convenience fee will be displayed as a separate charge on the online credit card payment receipt, and the card holder’s credit card statement.  The credit card statement description will be displayed as “STUD ACCTS – CONVENIENCE FEE”.

There are fee payment options that do not include a convenience fee and these can be viewed on the Making a Fee Payment page.

4.    Is the convenience fee refundable?

No, as this fee is billed and collected directly by Moneris and is not remitted to the University of Toronto, the convenience fee is non-refundable even if the student cancels course enrolment and registration. 

5.    What if you have a non-Canadian dollar denominated credit card?

Non-Canadian dollar denominated credit card fee payments will be subject to foreign exchange rates and fees as determined by your credit card company and these fees will not be displayed on the online credit card payment service. 

Students who have a non-Canadian dollar denominated credit card are advised to make Canadian dollar fee payments by using the WU GlobalPay for Students service (refer to Making a Fee Payment Outside of Canada). This service offers competitive exchange rates with NO transaction charges from WU GlobalPay.

6.    Are credit card refunds available?

Refunds posted back onto the credit card are not currently available. 
NO interest or foreign exchange differences will accrue on payments that are eventually refunded, either in part or in full. 
If there is a credit balance that may be eligible for a refund payment, the refund will be made to the student even if someone else made the fee payment, refer to Making a Refund Request and Refund FAQs.

7.    How long does it take for the University to receive/record the credit card fee payment?

The online credit card fee payment will be displayed on the ACORN payment history report as ‘Credit Card Payment-Awaiting Final Confirmation’ when the Moneris fee payment transaction has been completed.  It typically takes 2-3 business days to confirm the credit card payment and record the fee payment against your ACORN account.

The credit card fee payment is not considered to have been received by the University of Toronto until confirmed and recorded on the ACORN payment history report and the student invoice as a ‘Payment-ACORN Credit Card’.  At this point, if the student registration status is “Invited to Register”, ROSI will change the registration status to “Registered”.

8.    When can I make my next credit card payment?

Only one credit card fee payment can be processed at a time.  You will not be able to make a credit card fee payment while another credit card payment is awaiting final confirmation.  This typically takes 2-3 business days and in the meantime, you will see a notification banner at the top of your ACORN financial screens.

9.    Can you pre-pay your ACORN fees by credit card?

Credit card payment option is not available to pay for fees that have not yet been billed, please refer to Making a Fee Payment for the other fee payment options that will allow you to make a fee payment for anticipated tuition fees.

If you must pay tuition fees before fall-winter session fees are billed (starting in mid-July) as part of the student visa application process, you can e-mail the Student Accounts Office at info.studentaccount@utoronto.ca to request an estimate of the fees payable (these will be based on the previous year’s fees).   The fee payment can be held until tuition fees for the session are billed, and a receipt can be issued to the you to use as proof that tuition fees have been paid.

10.    Your credit card payment has been declined and you don’t know why?

If you have viewed the Declined Transaction receipt and are still unsure about why the payment has been declined, contact your credit card provider for an explanation.

11.    Will I get a receipt showing proof of payment?

Yes, the online credit card payment option has been designed so that you can download a copy of the receipt which can then be saved and/or printed.  The receipt will be available for all credit card transactions, both approved and declined.

12.    Logging into ACORN for the first time to make credit card fee payment?

Students who have a UTORid can log into ACORN.  Newly admitted students can access ACORN once they’ve enabled their JoinID. For more information about this, view ACORN Student Help UTORid and Password Reset Q & As at http://help.acorn.utoronto.ca/student-qa

Please note that graduated students (alumni) with an UTORID can continue to access ACORN.  However, there is a process that eventually deactivates unused UTORids, at which time, access to ACORN will not be possible.

Alumni who do not have a UTORid can continue to log into SWS/ROSI using the ROSI pin number and should select an alternate payment option.

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