sig-is.orgSIGIS | The Special Interest Group for IIAS Standards

Skip to Content Skip to Navigation The Special Interest Group for IIAS Standards About SIGIS Corporate Background & Mission Organizational Structure Board of Directors Staff Careers News & Events Programs TPS Merchant Certification IIAS Merchant Certification Third-Party Servicer (TPS) Certification Network Certification 90% Rule Merchant Attestation IIAS versus 90% Rule Comparison Membership & Services Member Services Merchants POS Vendors Acquirers & Processors Networks Issuers & Plan Administrators Manufacturers Eligible Products Eligible Product List Criteria Private Label Eligibility Criteria Missing Product Form April 2020 Important Notice Card Holders Store Locator Eligible Products News & Information Publications Merchants: Most Frequent Reasons for Card Declines SIGIS Member Networks SIGIS Members POS Solution Providers Join | Renew | FAQ | Contact Us | Store Locator | Member Login Search * About SIGIS Become a Member Merchant Programs Publications Mission Statement The Special Interest Group for IIAS Standards was formed to create a standard industry solution that could be both scaleable and broadly adoptable, while consistent with IRS requirements. Click here to find out more. Membership Benefits Not sure if SIGIS membership is right for you? Click here to find out more about different types of membership and who should become a member. For Merchants SIGIS offers IIAS Certification and 90% Rule programs for merchants to support FSA card transactions. This includes our Eligible Products List. Click here to find out more. More Information SIGIS offers a variety of publications and articles to educate consumers and members about FSA card usage. Click here to find out more. Member Login Username Password Log In Need User Name or Password Help? User Name/Password Request You must be a SIGIS member to request a username or password. Please enter your User Name and click Submit. Your Password will be sent to your active email address within 15-20 minutes. Please make sure you double check your spam box. If you do not know your User Name Click “Submit” and enter your company information on the following form. User Name Submit Store Locator IIAS Merchant PDF 90% Merchant PDF Latest News 3/31/2020 CARES Act - Eligible Product List Changes 1/14/2020 SIGIS Updates Eligible Product List Criteria - January 2020 7/10/2018 SIGIS Informational Letter Request to IRS 5/23/2012 SIGIS Launches Network Certification Process to Support Durbin » More News Featured Publications Merchants: Most Frequent Reasons for Card Declines Eligible Product List: Eligibility Criteria SIGIS Fact Sheet » More Publications Popular Questions Find answers to your questions: Popular "HOW TO" Questions Popular Questions Obtain a password to access the SIGIS Members Area and the Eligible Products List [+] Members must obtain a SIGIS Members Area login to access the information and the SIGIS Eligible Product List. The SIGIS Members Area is accessible from the SIGIS website . This is where Members can find general information regarding Membership and SIGIS programs. Members must log into the Members Area to access the online IIAS Certification and 90% Rule Registration forms. The Eligible Products List can only be viewed and downloaded from the SIGIS Member Area. As noted above the Primary Contact for a SIGIS Member must have registered your name as a contact. To retrieve SIGIS Members Area login information, go to SIGIS Home . Click "LOG IN" located in the Member Login box. Enter your User Name and click Submit. Your Password will be sent to your active email address within 15-20 minutes. Please make sure you double check your spam box. If you do not know your User Name Click “Submit” and enter your company information on the following form. What is the Special Interest Group for IIAS Standards? [+] SIGIS is a not-for-profit organization that was formed in 2007 to establish and manage an industry standard to support requirements published by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for the processing of Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) debit card transactions. The IRS requires merchants that sell prescriptions and/or over-the-counter medical items either: 1) support an “inventory information approval system” (IIAS) or 2) qualify as a “90% Rule” pharmacy or drug store. SIGIS manages voluntary industry standards and services to enable the usage of FSA and HRA debit cards in accordance with IRS requirements. SIGIS is a membership company that has a broad range of participants, including merchants, card issuers, third-party plan administrators (TPAs), merchant acquirers, processors, financial institutions, trade associations groups, software vendors, and payment card networks. What does a merchant need to do to be able to accept FSA and HRA cards? [+] The IRS requires many merchants selling health care eligible products to support an Inventory Information Approval System (IIAS). The IIAS system is a combination of inventory management and point of sale systems that 1) confirm the health care eligibility of items purchased with an FSA or HRA card, 2) generate a payment transaction that contains the required IIAS information, and 3) includes an information archive system that allows the merchant to respond to a IRS audits as required. The components of an IIAS system will typically include: • An Inventory Management system that identifies health care eligible items based on the UPC code and compares them to the item purchased for nationally branded, private label and special promotional packaged branded items. SIGIS provides a list of nationally-branded eligible products to its Members. • A health benefit card identification system capability to identify FSA and HRA cards via BIN ranges of all FSA and HRA cards. The list of required BINS is provided by the merchant's acquirer. • A payment authorization system / POS system that generates an IIAS transaction containing all required IIAS data elements, including an IIAS flag indicating an IIAS system was used, the Health Care Eligible Amount, and if supported, the Rx/Prescription Amount. The Rx/Prescription Amount is a subset of the Health Care Eligible Amount. This system should support partial authorizations to improve the handling and acceptance of FSA and HRA card transactions. • Settlement System that supports the settlement of approved IIAS transactions containing the required IIAS information to a merchant acquirer. • A Transaction Retention capability that supports the storage and retrieval of IIAS transactions to respond to IRS audit requests to confirm the eligibility of items purchased on a FSA or HRA card. In addition to supporting a system capable of handling IIAS transactions, a merchant must also join SIGIS by completing a Membership Agreement, complete a Merchant Self-Assessment / Checklist and complete certification with their Acquirer. These materials can be completed online at the SIGIS website at www.sig-is.org . Alternately, merchants that qualify for 90% rule may enroll in that program. Who is eligible to participate in SIGIS? [+] SIGIS is a membership company open to all participants involved in offering, processing or accepting health care payment cards for FSAs and HRAs. Thus, membership is open to merchants, card issuers, third-party plan administrators, merchant acquirers, processors, financial institutions, trade association groups, and payment card associations. If a merchant implements the SIGIS IIAS standard, is there a guaranteed 100% acceptance of the health care debit cards in the marketplace? [+] While an IIAS system is required for non-health care merchants to accept FSA and HRA cards under the IRS guidelines, a merchant that implements an IIAS solution is not guaranteed 100% acceptance of all FSA/HRA cards. SIGIS Member card issuers/processor and the majority of their third-party plan administrator clients supporting FSA and HRA cards have enabled...