Purchasing Card

The Purdue University Purchasing Card (PCard) provides an efficient, cost-efficient method of purchasing and paying for small-dollar, non-repetitive transactions — within established procurement guidelines — to conduct University business.

The PCard cannot be used to avoid or bypass appropriate procurement or payment procedures, as a travel card, or for personal use.

The University has established four card configurations to support our business use:

1. General Purchasing Cards — General purchasing cards allow for the purchase of general goods that would be appropriate for University business. These cards exclude merchant codes that typically would not appear as an appropriate University purchase such as personal expenditures, entertainment venues, restaurants, alcohol and travel-related services. Business travel-related services should utilize the travel card and be expensed.
2. Hospitality Card — Hospitality cards allow purchases from hospitality merchants, such as restaurants, miscellaneous food stores, hotels (pre-booking and conferences), florists, grocery stores, etc. This card does not allow for alcohol and has excluded the purchase of general goods.
3. Dual Card — The dual card is a combination of the general and hospitality cards. These cards are only issued to staff who can provide business justification for both a general purchase card and a hospitality card.
4. Study Abroad Card — Purchasing cards may be issued specifically for study abroad, and used internationally for group expenses.