New Purchasing Cards Coming

NMU has selected J.P. Morgan as its new purchasing card provider. Employees will be notified when the new cards become available next month.

The university made the switch after the previous provider, G.E., sold its purchasing card program to American Express. Fueled by concerns about how widely American Express is accepted, especially for international travel, Northern officials decided to explore other options.

“Because we were going to be re-carding and changing programs no matter what, we went through the bidding process to see what else was out there,” said Kaylie Anthos (Purchasing). “The platform will remain Mastercard. J.P. Morgan serves the largest percentage of educational institutions, including about a half-dozen other Michigan schools. They offer a very comprehensive program and numerous online capabilities, which we had come to enjoy on the G.E. program. We basically wanted to give customers the same level of service.”

Anthos said the new cards are expected to arrive the week of March 23.