ACI-Colleague Payment Plan Connector:

Connects with Colleague Ethos/SaaS APIs,
Works with Colleague On-Premise, Hosted and SaaS

by IData | In Partnership with ACI -

Certified Ellucian Partner - Integrating ACI since 2013

When a student enrolls in a payment plan through ACI, your office should not have to lift a finger to get that data into Ellucian Colleague. The ACI-Colleague Payment Plan Connector by IData Inc. automates the entire flow, from balance lookup at enrollment, through plan registration, all the way to posting each scheduled installment as a cash receipt in Colleague. Everything stays in sync, automatically.

The integration connects with Ellucian Colleague Ethos/SaaS APIs and works with Ellucian Colleague On-Premise, Hosted and SaaS. This connector is by IData Inc. working in partnership with ACI Worldwide and is available to all institutions using Ellucian Colleague. IData is a certified Ellucian Partner and has provided integration solutions to ACI since 2013.

The Story of a Student Payment

When a student visits the ACI portal to set up a payment plan, the IData Connector immediately pulls their current term balance and anticipated financial aid directly from Colleague, so ACI always shows the correct net amount owed. Once the student confirms their plan, Colleague is updated in real time, registration fees are posted, and the student's plan status is recorded (via a configurable person restriction code) so your team can run reports or enforce registration rules based on plan enrollment.

When scheduled installment payments process, the Connector posts each payment to Colleague as a cash receipt and applies it according to your existing payment application rules. Non-AR fees, including application, service, late, and NSF fees, are handled automatically, as are refunds. Each transaction stores the ACI reference number as a safeguard against duplicate postings.

Key Benefits for Finance and Bursar Offices

Payments post automatically. Scheduled installments, partial payments, fees, and refunds flow directly into Ellucian Colleague, no manual posting required.
Balances are always current. Every time ACI Payment Plan validates a student, it pulls a live balance from Colleague, including anticipated financial aid, so students see accurate amounts when setting up their plan.
Configurable to fit your policies. The IData Connector is built to align with the institution's business rules, from how fees are categorized to how plan enrollment is recorded in Colleague.
Duplicate payments are prevented. ACI transaction reference numbers are stored with each cash receipt, and the Connector checks for them before posting.
Notification if anything goes wrong. Built-in error handling, email alerts, and transaction monitoring keeps your team informed. All activity is logged in the IDataHub integration portal for easy review and auditing.
Rapid and affordable to implement. Pre-built Connectors leverage the business logic already in Colleague, so there is no need to build from scratch, getting you live quickly and cost-effectively.

Demo Video and Slide Deck

ACI Payment Plan to Colleague SaaS IData Integration Connector Demo Video

ACI Payment Plan to Colleague SaaS IData Integration Connector Demo Slide Deck

How It Works for Your Office - Connector Data Transaction Flow

Validates the student identity and payment plan eligibility
Gets the AR balance and anticipated financial aid for the selected term student (in order to set up the payment plan with accurate and up to date information)
Updates Colleague with the students payment plan status (PERC Codes or Custom Alternate)
Posts payments to the students AR and Non AR fees
Keeps Colleague student balances up to date with automated refresh requests from ACI

A Trusted, Long-Term Partner

IData has been integrating ACI Payment Plan with higher education student information systems since 2013. The solution is fully supported and continuously maintained, proactively updated to keep pace with changes in ACI, Colleague, and Ellucian's cloud platform. You're not buying a one-time integration; you're gaining an ongoing partnership with a team that knows your systems deeply.