e-Bill Terms and Conditions

PDF version of e-Bill Terms of Use

Terms of Use (Rev. 12/04)

These Terms of Use state the terms and conditions that govern the functionality provided through e-Bill, e-Check and the One Time Payment Gateway. This document outlines important conditions that apply to your use of these services. The internet bill presentment and payment service is provided by our vendor, Sallie Mae Solutions, Inc. through its Net.Pay or One Time Payment Gateway products and by various third party vendors. When you establish, access and use your e-Bill/e-Check or One Time Payment Gateway account with us or any third-party vendor acting on our behalf, you and any person you authorize to perform functions on your account agree to these terms and conditions.

  1. Services Offered. CARS billing statements are provided to you via e-Bill. You may view the most recent statement and previous statements for a limited time. You may choose to remit payment via e-Check as a debit from a checking or savings account. When available, you may select a payment option to indicate your election in the Deferred Payment Plan. The student or billing account holder may authorize a third-party to view the billing statements and to remit payments or otherwise transact on his/her behalf. Students will access the service via BearFacts passphrase authentication. Third-party (i.e., Other Payers) will create individual access profiles with a Login ID and Password of their choosing. Online payments to CARS accounts may be submitted through e-Check or the One Time Payment Gateway services. You agree to not disclose or otherwise make available to anyone your Login/Student ID and or password/passphrase to these systems.
  2. System requirements. In order to utilize e-Bill, e-Check and the One Time Payment Gateway services, your system must meet the following requirements:
    • IBM or Macintosh compatible computer
    • Internet access
    • An Internet browser
      • Netscape Navigator 4.08/Netscape Communicator 4.7 or later version
      • Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 or later versions (4.5 for Mac users)
  3. Invalid Instructions. If the University of California, Berkeley e-Check or One Time Payment Gateway service receives payment instructions authorized by you and the instructions are erroneous or insufficient in any way, we shall have no obligation or liability for the error.
  4. Transaction Limitations. Certain types of bank accounts have limits on the numbers of transfers or withdrawals that may be made per month. Your bank may refuse debits which exceed such limits. Your bank may also refuse debits that exceed the amount of funds available. If we are not able to debit the amount required to cover an authorized payment and any fees from your account, we will not be able to make the payment you have authorized and will not be held liable for any costs, damages, etc. as a result of a failed transaction. We have no obligation to try to debit an account for a specific payment more than once. The minimum payment amount you may authorize via e-Check or the One Time Payment Gateway is $1.00. There is no limit to the number of e-Check or One Time Payment Gateway transactions that you may authorize.
  5. Cutoff Hours. If we receive payment authorizations from you on or before 5:00 p.m. Pacific time on a business day, we will attempt to debit the funds from your bank account as early as that same day. Payments authorized after 5:00 p.m. Pacific time will be processed with the next business day’s activity.
  6. Business Days. Business days for bank account debits are Monday through Friday, excluding banking holidays. Business days for crediting payment to your CARS account are Sunday through Saturday. Our business days for customer service are Monday through Friday, excluding University recognized holidays.
  7. Authorized Users. You must access the services with the appropriate passphrase/password. You agree not to disclose or otherwise make your passphrase/password available to anyone. Only the student may release the Net.Pay PIN to third-party users. Upon release of the PIN, the student is authorizing the third-party to have access to any and all information provided on the CARS billing statement and to act on his/her behalf regarding the services available through e-Bill/e-Check. You may only authorize e-Check or One Time Payment Gateway payments from bank accounts on which you are a signer. Any signer is authorized to make e-Check or One Time Payment Gateway payments, even if your bank account otherwise requires two or more signatures for withdrawals.
  8. Confidentiality. We will never sell any personally identifiable information to a third party without your consent. We will only disclose information to third parties about your account or the payments you make when it is:
    • Necessary for opening or maintaining your account or for completing transfers or payments,
    • Lawfully required or,
    • Requested or authorized by you.
  9. Fees. We will charge a convenience fee of $0.50 for each payment made using the e-Check or One Time Payment Gateway services. This fee is nonrefundable. The fee amount is subject to change. You will be given the opportunity to confirm the fee amount before final authorization of the payment. If your payment is rejected by your bank for incorrect information, a $5.00 rejected item fee will be assessed. Payments that are returned by your bank for other reasons will be assessed a $25.00 processing fee.
  10. Stop Payments. Once you have given final authorization, the payment may not be canceled through our system. Contact your bank for assistance.
  11. Your Liability. You agree to regularly and promptly review and verify all transactions on BearFacts and through your bank’s account statement or online activity reporting tools. Tell us at once if you believe your BearFacts passphrase or Sallie Mae Net.Pay PIN has been lost, stolen or compromised. If your bank statement shows transactions by us that you did not authorize, contact your bank.
  12. Our Liability. If we do not complete an e-Check or One Time Payment Gateway payment in a timely manner in accordance with these terms and conditions, we will waive any CARS late fees you may incur. However, there are some exceptions. We will NOT be liable, for example, when:
    • Your bank account does not contain sufficient available funds for us to debit the account in the amount of the payment authorized.
    • The funds in your bank account are subject to an uncollected funds holds, legal process or any other encumbrance or claim restricting transfers at the time we attempt to debit your account for an authorized payment.
    • The information you or your Other Payers have supplied to us is incorrect, incomplete or not timely.
    • The web sites or other systems are not working properly.
    • Circumstances beyond our control (such as fire, flood, computer breakdown or problems with telephone line, etc.) prevent or impede the transaction, despite reasonable precautions we have taken.
    • There may be other exceptions as well.
  13. In Case of Error or Questions About e-Check and One Time Payment Gateway Payments to Your CARS Account.

    Telephone us at (510) 642-3190 or contact us at:

    University of California , Berkeley
    Billing and Payment Services
    140 University Hall #1111
    Berkeley , CA 94720-1111

    Contact us with your question or concern as soon as you can. If you think there is an error with the payment as posted to CARS, we must hear from you no later than 60 days after we sent the first CARS statement on which the error appeared.

    • Tell us your name and University account number.
    • Describe the error or the transaction you are questioning.
    • Tell us the dollar amount of the suspected error and any other details you may have that related to the transaction.

    If you tell us orally, we may require that you send us your question or concern in writing within 10 business days. We will investigate your complaint within 10 business days and will correct any error promptly.

  14. Change in Terms. It is possible that our terms and conditions may change over time. We will post any changes on our web site and will send you any legally required notice. Prior notice may not be given, however, where an immediate change is necessary for security purposes.
  15. Electronic Disclosures. We are required to provide you with certain disclosures and notices which are mandated by various laws and rules. You agree to receive all such disclosures and notices electronically, which in most cases will be done at our web site or the web site of our vendors. We also provide disclosure and notice information to you via e-mail to your official University of California, Berkeley e-mail address. You are responsible for ensuring that your e-mail address remains accurate and active.
  16. Termination. We reserve the right to terminate your service at any time with or without cause. We may immediately terminate your use of the service if:
    • You or any authorized user of your passphrase/password breach any agreement with us,
    • We have reason to believe there has been or may be unauthorized use of your passphrase/password, your accounts, or our services,
    • Any party associated with your accounts or our service requests that we do so,
    • There are conflicting claims to the funds in your accounts.
    Please note that if you or another party asks us to terminate your service, or your accounts are closed for any reason, you will remain liable for transactions previously authorized.
  17. Copyright and Trademark Notices. The images, text, screens, and web pages appearing on this internet site are owned by us, or others, as indicated and are protected by copyright laws. You agree not to copy, display, distribute, download, license, sub-license, publish, repost, reproduce, reuse, sell, transmit, create derivative work from or otherwise use for public or commercial purposes, the information and materials on this site, without our express written permission. Unless otherwise noted, all other trademarks, service marks, and logos used on our sites are the trademarks, service marks or logos of the University of California, Berkeley or others as indicated.
  18. Limitations. You acknowledge and agree that you are personally responsible for your conduct while using e-Bill/e-Check and One Time Payment Gateway services. You agree that neither we nor any party involved in creating or delivering this web site is liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential or punitive damages arising out of your access to, or use of, this site. We assume no responsibility for and will not be liable for any damages to or any viruses which may affect your computer equipment or other property on account of your access to or use of or downloading from our site.

If we fail to enforce any of our rights under these Terms of Use or applicable laws, it shall not be deemed to constitute a waiver of such right. If any provision of these documents is found by a court to be invalid, then the remaining terms and conditions shall remain in full force and effect.

By accessing and using this site, you agree to the terms and conditions of these Terms of Use without limitation or qualification.

This page last updated on July 12, 2007