The Illumia* Payment Gateway project implements the Illumia application for department merchants to process online credit card activity.
Illumia replaces the TouchNet payment gateway application. The UC Davis contract with TouchNet expires on July 31, 2026. Department merchant owners using u.Store or u.Pay, will partner with UC Davis Finance to migrate to Illumia in June and July 2026.
*The system previously referred to as Transact will be launched as Illumia.
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Benefits
The Illumia payment gateway provides several benefits to UC Davis merchants:
- Improved revenue allocation: Illumia functionality enables merchants to allocate revenue at the product level, instead of store level. This simplifies reconciliation and reduces manual journals.
- Comprehensive pre-approved vendor list: Illumia has an extensive pre-approved vendor list with established integrations. Vendors are searchable by industry, simplifying the process to identify and onboard additional vendors for department storefronts.
- Enhanced reporting: Illumia functionality supports automated and scheduled reporting.
Known Issues
As users begin working in the new system, some issues and limitations may be identified. The project team is actively reviewing these items, partnering with the vendor as needed, and will update this page with the latest information, workarounds, and resolutions.
- Dual Administrative Interfaces (Classic and New)
Illumia currently includes both a Classic Admin instance and a New Admin instance. Some functionality available in Classic Admin is not yet available in New Admin. As a result, certain administrative tasks may be best completed in one instance versus the other until full functionality is available in New Admin.
Recommendation: At this time, we recommend merchant owners use Classic Admin with the exception of finding your new store URL. See the How-To Guide: Update Your Illumia Store URL.- Creating New Items - Saving and Character Limits
Merchant owners may encounter two issues when creating a new item:
1. Merchant owners are currently unable to save items when creating new items in the New Admin instance.
Workaround: Please add new items using the Classic Admin instance.
2. Item numbers are limited to 12 characters. When items are created, a system-generated merchant prefix is added to the item number, reducing the number of characters available for merchant use.
Workaround: If the character limit is an issue for you, please reach out to Merchant Support for assistance.- Access to Schedule Reports
At this time, merchant owners will not have access to schedule reports. Granting access to create scheduled reports allows users to view reporting data across all eMarkets, not just their own.
Workaround: Merchant owners who need recurring reports may work with Merchant Support to establish scheduled report delivery. When submitting a request for a scheduled report, please provide the following information:
› Frequency: Daily, Weekly, Monthly, 1x
› Include preferred day of the week or month as applicable
› Preferred time to be run
› Email address of recipient(s)
› Format: Excel, CSV (comma delimited) in Excel, Microsoft Word, PDF
› Recommendation: CSV in Excel for best functionality
› Data Fields: For those collecting information from the customer, which fields need to be included in the report.- Payer (Cardholder) Visibility
- For transactions where one individual pays on behalf of another, Illumia does not collect the payer (cardholder) name. This may impact business processes that rely on identifying who submitted payment for a transaction. Merchant owners will still have access to the payer email address, card brand, last 4 card digits, and expiration date.
Workaround: A workaround is adding a Transaction Level Reference Type called Cardholder Name and making that a required field. This will prompt customers to enter this information before checking out. Transaction Level Reference Types are only available in New Admin. See the How-To Guide: Adding a Cardholder Name Field. - Copy + Paste Functionality
Users have reported issues with copy + paste functionality when attempting to copy information from the Training environment to the Production environment. Copied text, including formatting and hyperlinks, does not paste correctly. This issue appears to be specific to Firefox.
Recommendation: Merchant owners are encouraged to use Chrome.- Task Field Not Available in Production
The Task field associated with GL chart strings is currently not available in the Production environment, although it is present in the Training environment.
Task is an enhancement that Illumia will roll out in Production at a future date. We will follow up with merchant owners when the Task field has been added.- Editable Email Address During Checkout
During checkout, customers may be able to edit the email address used to receive their receipt. In some cases, this could result in a mismatch between the email address entered during checkout and the customer information associated with the transaction.
We don’t anticipate this being a common issue, but it has been recognized as a bug by the Illumia team. A fix for this issue will be released later this year.- Customer Field on Emailed Receipts (TPSP Merchants only)
*Impacts merchants who utilize third-party service providers (TPSP)
The Customer field on emailed receipts is currently blank. This may cause confusion, as the configured Department Name appears immediately below this field.
The Department Name is configured by Merchant Services and can be updated upon request. While the Customer field does not display the purchaser's name, the purchaser's name is included elsewhere on the receipt.
FAQs
- Why is UC Davis changing to Illumia?
The UC Davis contract with TouchNet expires on July 31, 2026. After considering several payment solutions, Illumia Payment Gateway (formerly Transact) was selected because:
- Illumia is currently used by nearly 2,000 colleges and universities. The comprehensive payment platform supports integrated payments, campus ID services, tuition processing, and other campus commerce.
- Illumia was awarded a UC-wide agreement by UCOP, allowing UC Davis to benefit from favorable rates and terms.
- Illumia provides improved functionality for merchants and simplifies processes for merchant support.
- Illumia? Aren't we transitioning to Transact?
- Transact has recently rebranded to llumia.
During this project, you may have heard the new payment gateway referenced as Transact during meetings, project discussions, and prior communications. You may continue to see references to both names - Transact and Illumia - during the transition period, particularly in previously distributed materials or vendor documentation.
Going forward, campus communications will refer to the platform as the Illumia Payment Gateway. - My department uses a third-party service provider (TPSP). Does this change still impact us?
The migration to Illumia includes TPSPs that are integrated with u.Pay merchants.
A list of current TPSPs has been reviewed by Illumia, and they have confirmed existing integrations with:- 2U
- Cloud CME
- Eresources*
- Imodules
- Slate
- STOVA
*Note: Eresources will require a new integration.- How will merchant owners be supported during this transition?
- UC Davis Finance will lead the project and coordinate with merchants throughout the transition. This support includes plans for hands-on Zoom sessions to provide real-time guidance and address questions.
Merchants will also have access to direct support from Illumia subject matter experts (SMEs). - Will there be any impact or change for market customers?
Customers may notice a change in the appearance of the credit card payment screen when checking out; no other changes are expected. To build awareness and avoid confusion, merchant owners have been provided language to use as an ‘Alert’ message on marketplace webpages.
