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JP Morgan Travel Card

The Office of The State Comptroller, in seeking to streamline the State's travel rules, has advised the State agencies of changes to their travel reimbursement policies. Effective immediately the following revisions are in effect.

Effective January 29, 2024, all state employees should* apply for a state travel card when they will be traveling for work related events.

Allowable use of the Travel Card includes costs for:
  • Hotel Stays – Room and Tax Only (Tax Exempt with NYS) - receipt required
  • Economy class airfare, must be booked through Direct Travel – receipt required
  • Baggage fees - receipt required
  • Car Rentals – Enterprise Car Rental must be used, please ensure the SUNY Upstate discount codes are used, justification and receipt required
  • Gas for the rental car – receipt required
  • Train Tickets – receipt required
  • Parking – receipt required.
  • Registrations – any registrations up to $2000 may be placed on the state travel card- receipt required.
The Travel Card should not be used for:
  • A colleague's travel expenses
  • Fuel for personal vehicle
  • Food expenses
  • Personal use of any kind
  • Alcoholic beverages
  • Incidentals on hotel bill (gym/spa charges, laundry, and movie rentals)

* Should you choose to pay your travel expenses with your personal credit card you assume liability for all charges; any charges without receipts will not be reimbursed. Reimbursements can take up to 30 days from the time the travel office receives ALL required back up.

When using a state travel card to pay for travel expenses, it is the responsibility of the employee whose name is embossed on the card to retain receipts for the reconciliation process. All receipts are required as documentation for auditing purposes for the JP Morgan Travel Card Statement and due by the time the statement is paid each month. Please review “Reconciling a Travel Card” below.

Employees will also need to send in all receipts when they submit a reimbursement, regardless of if they paid with the state travel card or personal card. Reimbursements are considered a separate process from payment of the travel card statement and due to this, the employee will be required submit receipts twice, once for reconciliation and once for the reimbursement.

Travel Card Policies and Guidelines

1. Purpose

The purpose of this guideline is to define the appropriate use of the NYS Travel Card.

2. Scope

This Travel Card Program is intended to reduce the amount of employee out-of-pocket expenses when traveling on behalf of the State. The Travel Card program is a privilege. You are being entrusted with a valuable tool – the Travel Card – which is to be used for business travel expenses only when you are in “Travel Status.”  Because you will be making a financial commitment on behalf of the State University, you must strive to obtain best value for the University by following established travel policies and guidelines as appropriate.

  • Advantages to using the card include:
    • Charges are billed directly to the State.
    • Costs in processing vouchers will be reduced.
    • The agency and State will be able to capture a true picture of travel expenses to the State.
    • Travelers using the card will not need to carry large amounts of cash.

3. Procedure

Obtaining a Travel Card

  • State employee will complete a Travel Card Application form New Travel ‘Corporate Card’ Application
  • Employee use is in accordance with the following policies and guidelines:
    • OSC Bulletin G-236 Appropriate Use of the New York State JP Morgan Chase Travel Card
    • Travel Card Agreement and Acknowledgement Form

Travel Card Use

  • Reference the OCS Travel Manual and Travel Guidelines and Policies
  • You must submit a Travel Authorization in Self-Serve for every trip you take. The Travel Authorization must be approved by your supervisor and should be submitted at least 4 weeks prior to the trip.  A Travel Authorization is required for every trip, even if it is for “Insurance Purposes Only.”
  • You may use the corporate travel card to pay for travel expenses when you are in “Travel Status” on official State University business only.  You may not use this credit card for personal charges. The State University and the Office of the State Comptroller may audit the use of your card and take appropriate action on any discrepancies or unauthorized charges. Any evidence that your card has been used fraudulently will require an investigation, after which disciplinary action may result.  Fraudulent use may also result in criminal prosecution. The State Travel credit card is only for the traveler whose name is embossed on the card. A traveler may not use this card to pay for anyone else’s expenses. 
Allowable use of the Travel Card includes costs for:
  • Hotel Stays – Room and Tax Only (Tax Exempt with NYS) - receipt required
  • Economy class airfare, must be booked through Direct Travel – receipt required
  • Baggage fees
  • Car Rentals – Enterprise Car Rental must be used, please ensure the SUNY Upstate discount codes are used, justification and receipt required
  • Gas for the rental car – receipt required
  • Train Tickets – receipt required
  • Parking – receipt required.
  • Registrations – any registrations up to $2000 may be placed on the state travel card- receipt required.
The Travel Card should not be used for:
  • A colleague's travel expenses
  • Fuel for personal vehicle
  • Food expenses
  • Personal use of any kind
  • Alcoholic beverages
  • Incidentals on hotel bill (gym/spa charges, laundry, and movie rentals)

Misuse or Abuse of the State Travel Card

The term “misuse or abuse” means the use of the State Travel Card outside the employee’s authorized parameters (e.g., charges more than the permitted limit; purchases of items of a type other than those allowed). Depending on the severity of the violation, the following action may be taken: 

1st Offense: Both the cardholder and the cardholder’s supervisor will be notified of the infraction. The cardholder will be advised to use the card for official purposes only, and within the parameters established by NYS and JP Morgan Visa. The cardholder will be personally responsible for reimbursing the state for unauthorized purchases.  

2nd Offense: All State Travel Card privileges will be suspended for a period of three months. The cardholder’s supervisor and the Associate Vice President for Finance and Administer/Comptroller will be notified of this violation and subsequent suspension of privileges. At the end of the three-month period, the cardholder’s supervisor may elect to reinstate the cardholder’s privileges, with the approval of the Travel Card Administrator. The cardholder will be personally responsible for reimbursing the state for any unauthorized purchase. 

3rd Offense: Use of the State Travel Card will be suspended permanently. The cardholder will be personally responsible for reimbursing the state for any unauthorized purchases. 

Note: Departments may implement further departmental disciplinary action. 

Fraudulent Use of the State Travel Card

The term “fraudulent use” means the use of the State Travel Card with a deliberately planned purpose and intent to deceive and thereby gain a wrongful advantage for oneself or anyone else other than the State of New York. 

The following action will be taken in the event of fraud: 

  • Immediate suspension of card privileges.
  • Removal of cardholder’s purchasing authority.
  • Mandate employee reimbursement to the state. 

Note: Departments may implement further departmental disciplinary action. 

Reconciling a Travel Card

  • ALL charges on the Travel Card must be supported by a Travel Authorization.
  • The travel card billing period ends on the 20th of each month.
    • The original receipts for all items charged on the State travel card need to be submitted, with a corresponding Travel Card Reconciliation Statement Form and the JP Morgan statement form for the individual cardholder for each trip, to the Travel Office within 10 days after the email is sent out. (Example: all February's charges need to be turned in by March 2nd.)  The Travel Card Statement is reconciled separately from the travel reimbursement voucher submissions.
    • If you are unable to obtain a receipt, please complete the missing receipt documentation form. 
      • This form is required for any card transaction that does NOT have documentation from the merchant. Repeated use of this form as substitute documentation could result in revocation of your card privileges. Documentation from the merchant is required for every card transaction. An itemized receipt is required for each transaction placed on a SUNY UPSTATE owned card.
    • Timely submission of all documentation will make this reconciliation process successful. Travelers must submit all documents by the 1st of every month to ensure no late fees will be charged.
    • This process helps to ensure there is no duplicate payment of expenses and that all expenses related to one trip are accounted for.
  • As part of the monthly reconciliation, any charges that are unable to be offset against allowable costs/expenses per SUNY guidelines must be paid back via a check or money order.
  • The check/money order will be made payable to “SUNY Upstate Medical University” and sent to the Travel Office.
    • Any incident of the unallowable cost/expense will be sent to the Department Director/Super and the Direct/Supervisor of Accounts Payable for review and action.
    • Per the State-wide Financial System (SFS), the monthly statement must be submitted in one monthly payment. Any late submissions may result in a late fee being charged to the campus. Should a late reconciliation create a late fee charge, the late fee will be charged to the department late in reconciling.
  • Average monthly credit limit on the Travel Card will be $2,500 depending on department needs. Failure to submit monthly documentation will result in an immediate credit limit reduction to $1 until such time the breach is corrected.

Lost or Stolen Card

  • If your corporate travel card is lost or stolen, you must notify JP Morgan Chase (800-316-6056) and the Travel Office (315-464-4982) immediately.

Travel Card Inactivity

  • If there is no activity on a card for 18 months or more, the cardholder’s credit limit will be reduced to $1.00. This limits the institution’s liability but avoids premature cancellation of card.
    • The cardholder will be notified via e-mail of credit limit reduction.
  • Cardholder must notify Travel Office when card usage is anticipated to be over the credit limit (so the credit limit can be increased).
  • Any card inactive for 24 months will be canceled.
    • Cardholder will be notified via e-mail to immediately destroy the Travel Card.
  • It is the responsibility of the cardholder and/or their supervisor to promptly notify the Travel Office when there is a change in cardholder information, card is lost or stolen, or when the Travel Card is no longer needed.
  • The State University may change the terms and conditions or policies and procedures concerning use of the corporate travel credit card at any time. Compliance with these changes is required.
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