The University has entered into an agreement with TruCentive to establish a centralized platform for distributing payments to research participants. This platform supports various disbursement methods, including direct deposit, check, electronic and physical gift and debit cards, Venmo and PayPal.

By offering multiple payment options, the platform aims to streamline the payment process for Principal Investigators (PIs) and project coordinators while enhancing the experience for study participants.

• TruCentive Account Admin and Project Guide – Includes information on setting up a project in TruCentive, designing the participant communication, and requesting a TruCentive invoice.
• Create a Payment Request for a TruCentive Project – Walks through the steps to request the funds in Oracle for the TruCentive Project.

Account Administration

The TruCentive platform follows a three-tier administrative hierarchy which defines user roles across three levels of access:

• Enterprise Account Administrator: Has full access to all accounts, projects, and users on the platform.
• Account Administrator: Manages all projects and users within their assigned account(s). Individuals may hold administrative roles in multiple accounts.
• Project Administrator: The study team that oversees all components of a single project but does not have access to account-level data. An individual may serve as a Project Administrator in multiple projects.

The University will designate one individual from Treasury and one from the Biological Sciences Division (BSD) to serve as Enterprise Administrators. The BSD Enterprise Administrator is responsible for creating and assigning Account Administrators for departments within BSD. Conversely, the Treasury Enterprise Administrator oversees departments outside of BSD and manages the creation of Account Administrators for those areas. The Treasury designee will not be responsible for the assignment or creation of administrators for BSD departments.

BSD departments may structure their Account Administrator levels in a way that best supports efficient project-level management and disbursement. In non-BSD departments, managed by Treasury, the Account Administrator role will be established at the entity level. All requests to create new Account Administrator levels must be directed to the relevant Enterprise Administrator. Within BSD, the BSD Enterprise Administrator maintains the authority to approve or deny such requests.

Account Administrators are authorized to approve new projects within their department and are responsible for the initial configuration of those projects on the platform. See Setting Up Projects for more details.

All users, including Account Administrators and PIs (or their designees) must sign a [Participant Agreement] outlining their agreement to manage all aspects of the account administration. If the Account Administrator or PI does not comply with the terms of the Participant Agreement, use of the platform may be suspended until they are back in compliance. 

To initiate a project, the Study Team or PI must provide the Account Administrator with IRB approval that includes a detailed breakdown of the approved payment types and expected amounts. The approval must also clearly state that the TruCentive platform may be used to issue participant payments. In addition, participant consent forms must include language permitting the University to share necessary payee information with the platform. Necessary payee information may include participant name, email address, and phone number.

Once the IRB and consent documentation have been submitted and reviewed, the Account Administrator will create the project in the platform using the project number and name listed in Oracle. During this process, the administrator will configure allowable payment types and maximum disbursement amounts based on the project parameters. The project will also be assigned an end date that matches the official end date listed in Oracle.

Please reference the UChicago TruCentive Account Admin and Project Guide.

Funding must be assigned at the project level; no funds may be held or transferred at the Account Administrator or Enterprise Administrator levels. Funding should only cover the amount necessary to support the upcoming round of participant payments, along with any associated fees.

If an Account Administrator continually funds at the account level rather than the project level, the Treasury Enterprise Administrator reserves the right to deactivate the responsible Account Administrator and all their associated projects until compliance is achieved.

All project funding must be requested via Oracle Payment Request using Procurement Category TruCentive Funding – Reimbursement (73974) or TruCentive Funding – Research Payment (76600). Each payment request must reference an active project, and all disbursements are processed via ACH with immediate payment terms. When submitting the request in Oracle, the Account Admin or CTFG Financial Manager must include the TruCentive project ID in the description field. This ensures the funds are deposited into the correct project account and not routed to the account or enterprise level. Refer to the Create a Payment Request guide for complete steps.

Should funds be allocated incorrectly, the Study Team or PI must immediately notify the appropriate Account Administrator, who will then reassign the funds to the proper project. The Study Team or PI is responsible for ensuring that sufficient funds are available to cover all upcoming participant payments and related transaction fees.

NOTE: The TruCentive platform is not a bank account. The Study Team and/or PIs are not allowed to maintain ongoing balances in their project accounts. Funds should be transferred on an as needed basis to fund immediate participant payments. Projects that maintain significant ongoing balances may be suspended.

The platform’s annual fee of $10,500 will be distributed among units proportionally, based on each unit’s percentage of total annual payment volume.

All other transaction-based fees must be paid by individual units directly through the payment request used to fund the corresponding project. These costs are calculated per transaction and are charged automatically upon each disbursement.

The only shared cost not assessed at the project level is the platform’s $10,500 annual fee.

Units utilizing the TruCentive platform are accountable for effective financial stewardship and compliance with University policies. Account Administrators and the Study Team or PIs within each unit must:

• Prevent the accumulation of unused balances within project accounts.
• Return unneeded funds promptly. This includes both surplus funds that exceed project needs and payments that were issued but not claimed by participants; both should be credited back to the project account
  • Once funds are received, the unit will be required to complete a report of money received: Electronic Report of Money Received (ROMR).
• Confirm the accuracy and completeness of participant information necessary to issue payments.
• Ensure full compliance with relevant University financial policies, including but not limited to:
  • Human Subject Payments – University Policy 1218
  • Unallowable Costs – University Policy 1013
  • Gifts to Employees or Employees’ Immediate Family – University Policy 1211
  • Gifts to Non-Employees – University Policy 1212
  • Managing University Records – University Policy 2708

Units may solely use the TruCentive platform for issuing payments to research participants. Use of the platform for other types of payments is not permitted under this policy.

Enterprise Administrators play a critical role in overseeing the health and compliance of the platform across all units. Their responsibilities include:

• Ensuring that all Account Administrators maintain active and appropriate access privileges within the platform.
• Monitoring usage to identify and deactivate inactive units or accounts that are no longer in operation.
• Compiling and reporting aggregate usage data as needed to support accounting functions and internal or external audit processes.

Key Reminders

• Contact your CTFG Financial Manager to request TruCentive access.
• When planning for payments to go out, consider all the approval steps required. They are:
  • TruCentive project approval
• TruCentive invoice request completed by the TruCentive team
  • Payment Request approval in Oracle
• Follow the designated naming and description convention when creating a TruCentive project.
  • Project Name: PI Name_IRB Number_Sponsor_Protocol Number/Study Nickname
  • Project Description: Oracle Project Number, Oracle Project Manager, Oracle Project Start and End Dates
• Use the TruCentive calculator to determine how much is needed to fund the TruCentive project.
  • This will include both the amount participants will receive and funds to cover transaction fees.
• Attach the TruCentive invoice to the Oracle Payment Request.
• TruCentive is not a bank and the amount of money in a TruCentive project should reflect what is needed to fulfill obligations to the participants.
  • Additional funds can be requested and sent to the TruCentive project if more payouts are required.