Info on Refpay and 3-person JV crews
 

Worked a JV game with a partner last night that told me that he heard officials in the greater Cleveland area are going to get paid, beginning next year, with an app/site called "Refpay." Sounds sort of like a Paypal type of site.

Anyone use this and can comment about...anything...good or bad?

Also, he told me that after talking to one of the more prominent assignors in the area that he (the assignor) is planning to go 3-person crews on boys JV next year. Any of you working 3-person JV?

Where I work most of our nights are double headers with a lot of them being JV/VG or JV/VB. It the school uses 3 man for their V games then we do the JV games 3 man.

It's part of Arbiter.

Some like it, some don't. I prefer getting a check at the game or mailed to me from each school. ymmv.

I like RefPay, all it takes on my end is to sign in and transfer the funds to my back account.

Cleveland CYO uses RefPay to pay their officials. Through RefPay, I believe you can either request a check, prepaid card, or do an electronic transfer to your bank account. If I remember correctly, requesting a paper check has a fee, performing the electronic transfer does not have a fee, and I am not sure about the prepaid card if it has a fee or not.

Around here, we get paid once or twice a season instead of after games, and we get paid by associations or leagues rather than schools, so RefPay vs check vs direct deposit (one of our groups) makes little difference to me.

My biggest concern about RefPay is that I've heard Arbiter stores passwords in plaintext. That seems like a scary thing when related to anything to do with banking or money.

I prefer getting paid this way - don't tell the IRS
 

Cash Is A Dinosaur, Extinct ...
 

Four, of the seventy, high schools that we service have gone to RefPay. I'm sure that more will follow. I didn't bother me too much to give them my Social Security number, I've been doing that on W-9's (often left at the scorer's table, or on a desk in the coach's office) for years, but it did cause me to pause when they asked for my checking account number. Our assignment commissioner has allowed us to block out these four schools, but as more schools go to RefPay, I'm not sure that he'll be able to continue to allow us to do that.

RefPay is really quite easy and more convenient for me. No need to make trip to the bank to deposit a check and as long as I do the manual transfer online it's free. No muss, no fuss, no waiting for the check in the mail.

3-person JV games are great for providing a training ground for 3-man officials needed on the varsity level. Without it many officials' first 3-person games are real contests, which isn't always the best. One conference around here formerly had 3-man F/JV DH's, which really helped to seed the next generation of varsity officials with needed experience before they were drawn up to the varsity level. Superintendents -- apart from the advice of the AD's and coaches to the contrary -- abandoned that setup as a cost-savings measure. Bad decision. Once 3-person is abandoned, it's very difficult to get back. Some are working on it now, but look's like it'll be a while...

Years ago I would work double header assignments that involved working a JV game as 3 person. That was also before I moved to the Chicago area. I think that still goes on from time to time at many small rural area schools but did not take place at the bigger schools.

I also did know of a few conferences in more central Illinois that were using 3 Person Crews for lower level games. But not sure it was common.

Peace

That's How I Pay My Monthly Official Forum Dues ...
 

Much scarier is MarkPadgettPay®.

All but the smallest schools in my southeast Ohio are 3-man JV. Most schools in the area have the same crew do both the JV and V girls games, boys is always a different crew unless someone didnt show up.

It's now called ArbiterPay
 

That's not true. It's no different than logging into the Arbiter. That password appears as ....... except for the last character keyed, visible for a few seconds.

It's pretty difficult to transfer your game fees to your bank account without having your account number. Giving them your account number is no different than making a purchase or paying a bill online.

But if you prefer, they will mail you a check or credit it to a ArbiterPay debit card, both for a fee.

________________________

3 man JV games - We've had 3 man crews in several leagues for around 15 years. The problem with most associations that are still working 2 man is they don't want to reduce their game fees at all in order to incorporate a 3rd official. That's what it's going to take in most areas to get 3 man added.

That isn't what he's talking about. He's referring to how passwords are stored in the system's database. There are good ways to do it with varying levels of security but storing them in plaintext is the absolute worst way.

I can't say for sure how they actually do it, but if a system can email you your password when you forget, then they might not be storing it in plaintext but are definitely not doing it the best way.

I sent an e-mail to them expressing my displeasure about the password thing. They replied with a link to a forum on their site discussing the matter. Their tech posted in that forum that they do not store the password in plain text in their database. It is encrypted, along with the social security numbers and taxpayer ID numbers, in a manner that allows it to be decrypted, which is how they are able to e-mail it to you when requested.

He claimed they are working on a one-way hash method for passwords so that it cannot be decrypted, but the SSN and TINs must remain in the encrypted format so they can be used in reports, etc.

3-person JV is pretty rare here, most schools don't have the money. There is one assignor who requires 3-person JV at the schools he assigns but that's about it.

1099's
 

AKA send you 1099's and report how much they pay you to the gov't. You are not getting paid by the schools/associations. They are funding their RefPay account and RefPay pays you, so if you get paid over $600 in ArbiterPay throughout the year, expect a 1099.

Also, in our area, the individual schools determine if/when they want 3-person, not the association. I have never seen a 3-person JV game.

Part Of The Cost Of Doing Business ...
 

Yeah, that's what I want to do, pay to get paid.

Not Being Sarcastic, I'm Serious ...
 

Isn't it easier to for me to "fix" a "drained" credit (not debit) card than a "drained" bank checking account?

Visa and Mastercard both require banks to offer the same protection to their debit cards as their credit cards when they bear the Visa or Mastercard logo.

That said, it can potentially cause legitimate payments to bounce in the couple of days it should take to straighten things out. If that bothers you, it is as easy as setting up a separate account to receive these payments into so if something bad happens it's not happening to your main bank account.

My bank has been incredibly proactive, shutting access to my refereeing account before a single unauthorized transaction occurred when my card was compromised when Official Sports International got hacked. Likewise when Target got hacked. YMMV.

Don't work much JV...but if you're somehow able to get this over....DO IT. That's the perfect training ground for future varsity/college officials. I would absolutely love working a JV game with 3 officials...if it meant I could help younger officials to work the system!

They Call It "Three Men and a Truck"
 

Maybe it sets a bad precedent when it's done, but I admire the initiative of some officials around here who occasionally join in with a 2-man JV crew to make it a 3-man game, then just split the 2-man fee three ways.
Good cuz it provides effective training for the future. Bad cuz it gives the schools something for free.
Good cuz it shows the schools the kind of quality service they could have if only they loosened the purse strings enough to pay for three officials. Bad cuz why would they pay for it if they're getting it for free now.
Maybe I'm at fault for my ambivalence, but more good seems to be coming out of this than bad.
Though I still don't feel perfectly comfortable with the "giveaway" aspect of it.
I'm torn.

Anybody else remember these days? (This is the lunch lady by day and game tix taker by night, right?)

I'm glad to hear this. It's still not as good as a hash - encryption can be and is compromised, as it more or less depends on keeping the host's internal network (and thus the key) secure - but it's better than plaintext. They still shouldn't be sending people passwords in the open, though. Much better a controlled-and-timed reset link.

Agree...and I've done it that way for years. Flattering to be copied. :D

I got a 1099 from one association when the total was $100. Arbiter will issue 1099 for every cent. Need to keep track of your expenses.

Only downfall is when schools don't pay you right away. Some don't have money in their account. I waited a full month to get paid for one goy/girl double header. Can be difficult to keep track of who pays when your schedule gets hectic mid-season. You have to request transfer but if you want automatic, they deduct a few dollars for each. No thanks, I'll request my own.

A couple of thoughts....

My assignor has been using it for a few years now. And, he's getting more and more high schools to utilize it in the greater urban area where I live.

Most of the outlying schools that are smaller class and use a different assignor(s), still issue checks on game day.

I actually prefer game checks on game day. Done deal. Some of the ADs I talk with prefer checks on game day too because they are done with the whole thing on the spot. Refs are paid and they move on to the next business at hand.

The thing I don't like about the Refpay situation is that schools that used to pay by check on game day now tend to wait a day or two after the game to deposit funds to my Refpay account. Then, it can take up to 2 or 3 days for the EFT to hit my bank account from Refpay. So, it's gone from getting a check on game day to getting funds up to 5 business days later.

Not a huge deal, but definitely something I had to get used to when balancing my officiating book.

And with mobile banking, I can deposit the check at half time by taking a couple pictures with my phone. :D

Halftime? Our crew does it before we even start getting dressed for the game.

I tried that once with my banking app cuz it sounded cool. It worked. But the funds were available like 2 or 3 days later, though, after verification. ho hum.

The best part is that I don't have to ever go to the bank.

Priorities ...
 

What? And not flirt with the hot, single, tellers?

That's definitely a plus. The check deposit feature of today's ATMs are pretty sweet, though. And, funds (certainly the small amounts we get paid as HS refs) are available immediately.

Anywhooooo....that's just me.

If I'm BillyMac or MarkPadgett, I'd probably want to go old school and actually stand in line inside a bank so I could ogle some single college girl.

Reason To Go To The Bank ...
 

Hey. Hot, single, bank tellers come in all ages. And some of them are hot, single, moms, just like we see at our basketball games.