Currently we accept the following cards:

Visa

MasterCard

Note: Although other cards may work we do not support any that are not on the list above. Prepaid Cards are not supported.

The fee to make a deposit can vary by facility. When sending money the fee will be displayed after searching for the resident you are making the deposit to and you will be asked to confirm the total amount before the transaction is processed.

How-To Make A Deposit

1. Sign In
2. Select Send Money Now
3. Select the appropriate state and facility
4. Enter at least 3 characters of the resident’s last name or their ID
5. Enter your payment information and amount of the deposit, click the check box after reading the terms and conditions and hit OK.
6. Review the payment details and click Send Money

Note: If successful, you’ll be brought to a receipt screen where you can either print the receipt or return to the home screen.

In order for JailATM.com to remain compliant with the Anti-Money Laundering Act, as well as prevent other forms of fraud, we limit any one resident a maximum of $300.00 a week. This means, any combination of deposits from 1 or more JailATM.com users cannot exceed $300.00 between the calendar week of Sunday to Saturday.

Note: This deposit limit may vary by facility.

When an inmate is transferred to another facility, the money in his or her commissary account is generally transferred with them. This will depend on the policies of the facility where the gift card deposit was made to. If more information is required you will need to contact the facility for details on their policy.

We do not have access to the resident's account other than depositing the funds. We can not transfer funds from one facility to another.

Most deposits arrive within 24-48 hours of processing. If the deposit is missing after this, please contact the facility immediately to initiate an investigation.

Note: If the facility is unable to resolve the issue after 72 business hours we will investigate the missing deposit.

In the event that your deposit was applied to the wrong resident, immediately call the facility the deposit was made to. Ask the officer to transfer the funds to the correct resident. If the facility is unable to complete your request ask if they can place the deposit on hold and refund it. Lastly, if neither request can be met please select "Contact Us" and fill out the form below. We will reply within 72 business hours.

Note: If the deposit was spent prior to calling the facility it cant be transferred or refunded.

There are a several reasons a transaction may have failed, here are a few of the most common ones:

Cash Advance Transactions: All deposits on our site are processed as a cash advance transaction. Unfortunately this is something we cannot change and most prepaid cards will not accept this type of transaction. Please call the number on the back of the card you’re attempting to use to determine if the card supports the cash advance transaction type.

Invalid Card: Please select the drop down Accepted Payment Methods for a list of all card types we accept.

Bank Declined: Contact your financial Institution to determine the cause of the failure.

Payer Authentication

If you receive the error code "Payer Authentication has failed" when you attempt to complete a transaction, your transaction was declined due to a failed login of your Verified by Visa/MasterCard SecureCode account.

This is a web feature that is provided by Visa and MasterCard that helps verify that the user of the card is the proper owner of the card.

Note: When making your transaction, your browser can be redirected to that site, you will need to login to your account to continue. For assistance with logging into your account, you will either need to your card issuer and ask to speak with the Verified by Visa/MasterCard SecureCode department.

For more information about the services, please visit the pages below:

For Visa cards - https://deposits.jailatm.com/WebDeposits/vbv_learn_more.html

For MasterCards - https://deposits.jailatm.com/WebDeposits/mcs_learn_more.html

If you receive the error code "Payer Authentication was unable to complete" when you attempt to complete a transaction, your card provider is requiring that the security page be filled out, but their page is not providing the security page for you to access it and fill it out.

Please contact your card issuer and ask to speak with the Verified by Visa/MasterCard SecureCode department to inquire about the issue with the security page.

In the event that your deposit was applied twice, immediately call the facility the deposit was made to. Ask the officer to place the deposit on hold and refund it. If the facility is unable to complete your request please select "Contact Us" and fill out the form below and we will reply within 72 business hours.

Note: If the deposit was spent prior to calling the facility it can not be refunded.

All sales are final. Please see another topic for specific instructions on your deposit issue.

Due to privacy issues, we are unable to disclose any account activity of residents. For balance inquiries, please contact the facility.

Note: The facility reserves the right to withold this information for the resident's protection.

Your 'Deposit/Charge History' is a list of transactions you have made for the resident. This includes deposits into their commissary account and commissary orders.

1. Sign in
2. Select My Account
3. Select Deposit/Charge History

When searching for a resident within JailATM.com please use four or more letters of their last name before clicking Search. If you are still unable to find the resident please contact the facility for their resident ID. For any other issues the facility will contact Tech Friends directly to work on any technical difficulties with the website.

Social Security Number Requirement

A Social Security Number is required on the account in order to make a deposit to a resident. This is for compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act / Anti-Money Laundering Act.

A 'Messaging Subscription' is required in order to fund your account to send messages or to open a 'collect message'. When you enable your Messaging Subscription, $5.00 worth of credits will be applied to your account. Each message sent will deduct from your messaging credits. When you no longer have enough credits to send a message, JailATM.com will prompt you to purchase more credits using the card you previously selected for the Messaging Subscription. You will need to select the amount ($5, $10 or $20) that you would like to apply towards messaging.

Note: All sales are final. Credit applied to messaging will not be refunded.

How-To Setup Messaging Subscription

1. Sign In
2. Click My Account
3. Click Messaging
4. Click Messaging Subscription
5. Click "Yes Turn on Messaging"

If you have not already entered your payment information, you will be prompted to do so after step 5.

You will be returned to the My Account page if successfully completed.

How-To Refill Your Messaging Subscription

If you attempt to send a message or open a collect message and do not have enough credit on your account to fund the action, you will be prompted to fund your account.

When prompted:

1. Select the amount of credit that you would like to apply to your account.


2. Select the payment method that you would like charged to pay for the credit.


3. Click Purchase

You may be required to fill out a security/added protection form. If the form appears, it must be filled out correctly and approved by the card issuer before the transaction can be successfully completed.

Note: You will only be able to refill your messaging subscription when it has been entirely depleted.

How-To Disable Messaging Subscription

1. Sign In
2. Click My Account
3. Click Messaging
4. Click Messaging Subscription
5. Click No, I Do Not Want Messaging

You will be returned to the My Account page if completed successfully.

How-To Change The Card Funding Your Messaging Subscription

1. Sign In
2. Click My Account
3. Click Messaging
4. Click Messaging Subscription
5. Click the drop box under Current Payment Method
6. Select the card that you would like to use to fund your messaging subscription
7. Click Save

You will be returned to the My Account page if completed successfully.

How-To send a message:

1. Sign in
2. Click My Account
3. Click Messaging
4. Click Send Message
5. Choose the State and Facility and enter the Last Name or ID of the recipient.Only facilities and states that support this feature will have this option.
6. Click Search
7. Click the recipient from the list provided
8. Type or paste the message that you would like to send
9. Click Send

Note: Your message may be subject to review before the recipient is allowed to receive it. Please see "Email is Pending Review" for more information.

How-To send an image:

1. Sign in
2. Click My Account
3. Click Messaging
4. Click Send Image
5. Choose the State and Facility and enter the Last Name or ID of the recipient.Only facilities and states that support this feature will have this option.
6. Click Search
7. Click the recipient from the list provided
8. Click Browse and Click the image from your computer that you would like to send.
9. Click Send

Note: Your image may be subject to review before the recipient is allowed to receive it. Please see "Email is Pending Review" for more information.

The following rules are programmatically enforced when uploading images:

1. File Types Accepted: BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, and TIFF.
2. Maximum File Size: 5120 KB

Each facility may have it's own rules for allowed images. Refunds are not available for images rejected by the facility.

If you received this reference code while trying to send an email, please create a support ticket at your earliest convenience. The following instructions will help you get a quick response to this ticket.

1. Enter the following Issue Summary: "Reference Code: XYZZY"
2. In the "Details about your problem:" include the time this issue occured.

If the facility has opted to approve all messages before they can be delivered to the resident, your message will have a 'Pending Review' status until it is reviewed by an officer and approved for delivery.

Note: Pending Review can also be a result of drafted emails, please make sure that you remove the words 'Pending Review' from the subject line before you send it.

When searching for a resident within JailATM.com please use four or more letters of their last name before clicking Search. If you are unable to find the resident please contact the facility for their Resident ID. For any other issues the facility will contact Tech Friends directly to work on any technical difficulties with the website.

Like most websites that handle financial information, our website operates on a timeout to protect your sensitive information. If a new page is not loaded within 10 minutes, the website will initiate a log out on your account. If you are typing a long message and this occurs, when you click save or send, your account will be logged out and the message will not save or send. When writing a lengthy email, we recommend writing your message in a word processor such as Notepad. Once the message is complete you can log in to the website, open a new message, and copy/paste from Notepad to the website.

Using the following steps you can block residents, so that they can not send you messages. You may unblock a blocked resident at any time.

1. Sign In
2. Click My Account
3. Click Messaging
4. Click View Contacts
5. Click Click the resident
6. Click Block/Unblock

You will be returned to the My Account page if completed successfully.

All sales are final. Please see another topic for specific instructions on your email issue.

Your 'Email/Video Account History' is a list of transactions you have made to fund your JailATM.com account for messaging or video visitation.

1. Sign in
2. Select My Account
3. Select Email/Video History
4. Choose the date range
5. Select Run Report

Messages expire 14 days after being read and will no longer be available for viewing on your account. Unfortunately, there is not a way to retrieve messages that have expired.

A Commissary Allowance allows you to provide an allowanance to a resident without making a deposit. This allowance can only be used for commissary and will not be added to the resident's commissary account. When the resident orders commissary this allowance is used before the resident's commissary balance.

The resident will not be notified of the available allowance. It is your responsibility to notify the resident of the available allowance.

Note: If the resident uses only some of the allowance, but not all of it, the remaining will be removed from their allowance and only the amount they used will be charged to the card.

How-To Create a Commissary Allowance

1. Click My Account
2. Select the Commissary Allowances option from the Tasks menu. This screen will display any current allowances that you have created for a resident, but have not been used. It will also allow you to create a new allowance.
   1. To Create a New Allowance:
      1. Click the New button.
      2. Select the State and Facility the resident is located in and then enter either the resident's last name or Resident ID number. Only facilities and states that offer Collect Commissary will be available in the drop-down boxes.
      3. Click Search.
      4. A grid with the search results will appear. Click on the resident you want to create an allowance for.
      5. Enter the maximum allowance you'd like to give the resident in the Resident Allowance box. Once the allowance amount has been entered, the Maximum Fee and Maximum Charge will be calculated and displayed.
      6. Select the credit/debit card you'd like to use from the Payment Method drop-down box. If you currently do not have a payment method saved in the system, click the New link located next to the box.
      7. Check the terms agreement box and click Save when you are satisfied with the allowance created.
   2. You can edit or remove an existing allowance by clicking on it in the grid and either updating the fields or by clicking Remove.

How-To View Commissary Allowance Receipts

1. Click the My Account Button.
2. Select the Deposit/Charge History option from the Tasks menu. The screen will display a grid that displays all Collect Commissary purchases and refunds.
3. Click on the "Receipt" link in the "Type" column of the transaction you want to review. A copy of the Receipt will be displayed on the screen.

How-To Make a Commissary Order

1. Click My Account
2. Select the Order Commissary Packs option from the Tasks menu.
3. Select the State and Facility the resident is located in and then enter either the resident's last name or Resident ID number. Only facilities and states that use our web commissary services will be available in the drop-down boxes.
4. Click Search.
5. A grid with the search results will appear. Click on the resident you want to place the order for.
6. Select the items and quantities that you would like and click Add to Cart.
7. Click View to Cart.
8. Select the credit/debit card you'd like to use from the Payment Method drop-down box. If you currently do not have a payment method saved in the system, click the New link located next to the box.
9. Enter your CVC code.
10. Check the terms agreement box and click Check Out.

Note: Some facilities have you pay for the order at the time that it is placed. With orders at these facilities, you will be brought to a receipt screen where you can either print the receipt or return to the home screen.

If the order is charged when the facility's orders are processed, you will not be charged at the time that the order is placed, and you will not receive a receipt at that time. Your order will show as Ready to Process and you will be charged when the facility's orders post. You will be emailed a receipt when the order is processed.

Most facilities post orders once per week.

Your 'Commissary Pack History' is a list of commissary orders that you have placed for the resident.

1. Sign in
2. Click My Account
3. Click Commissary Pack History

Order may have the following statuses:

Ready to Process: Your order has been submitted. It will be processed and paid for the next time that the facility's orders post.
Paid: The order has been submitted and paid for.
Incomplete: The payment method need to be selected for this order. Click the "Change Order" button to edit the order, select the payment method and submit the order.
Cancelled: The order was cancelled by the user.

Note: Only orders showing as "Ready to Process" or "Incomplete" can be changed or cancelled.

How-To Cancel a Commissary Order

1. Sign In
2. Click My Account
3. Click Commissary Pack History
4. Click the Order You Would Like to Cancel
5. Click Cancel Order
6. Click Yes in the pop up window

If successful, you will be returned to you Commissary Pack History and the status for the order will show as "Cancelled"

Note:Order can only be cancelled if showing as "Ready to Process" or "Incomplete". Orders that show as "Paid" cannot be cancelled or edited.

Commissary Pack shipment timeframes depends on the commissary company. In most cases the company will have your order delivered within a week of your purchase. If the order has not been delivered within a week, please click "Contact Us" and fill out the form. We will reply within 72 business hours.

In the event the resident is no longer at the facility when the order arrives, the facility will decide what to do with the Commissary Pack. We recommend calling the facility as soon as possible to determine what options are available to you.

All sales are final.

When searching for a resident within JailATM.com please use four or more letters of their last name before clicking "Search." If you are still unable to find the resident please contact the facility for their resident ID. For any other issues the facility will contact Tech Friends directly to work on any technical difficulties with the website.

All sales are final. Please see another topic for specific instructions on your commissary issue.

Follow these steps to schedule a call.

• Sign In
  Click Calling
• Click Schedule a Call
• Select the State and Facility and enter the resident's Last Name or ID.
• Click Search
• Click on the resident you wish to schedule a call to.
• Select In Facility to schedule a call that will take place at the facility or select Out of Facility to schedule a call that you will connect to from your computer.
• Select a Date and Time for the scheduled call.
• If your JailATM account has insufficient funds to schedule the call, you will now be prompted to select or enter a payment method. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete this transaction and schedule your call.

Note: 'In Facility' calls do not cost.

How-To Connect to a Scheduled Call

• Log in to your JailATM.com Account within 5 minutes of the call start time
• Click My Account
• Click Calling
• Click My Scheduled Calls
• Click the Connect Button

How-To Make a Direct Dial Call.

1. Logging In To Your Account
2. Click on Calling
3. Click Start Video Visitation
4. Select the State and Facility and enter the resident's Last Name or ID.
5. Click Search
6. Click on the resident you wish to schedule a call to.
7. Click Call Now.

How-To Cancel to a Scheduled Call

• Sign In
• Click My Account
• Click Video Visitation
• Click My Scheduled Calls
• Click the Cancel Button
• Confirm that you want to cancel the call.

Please follow the steps below before your first video visit or if you are having trouble with a visit.

Preparation:

• Download The Latest Version Of Flash
• Connect And Test The Microphone
• Connect And Test The Webcam

Note: Camera and Microphone permissions are required for video visitation. Please grant permission if prompted, or check your browser/Flash settings.

Video Test

1. Click On "My Account"
2. Click On "Calling"
3. Click On "Video Test"
4. Follow The On Screen Directions

Note: If you do not meet the expectations defined in step 4 you may be experiencing an issue with your hardware.

We recommend using a headset with a microphone attached instead of a microphone and speakers. Using a microphone with speakers can cause feedback that may impact sound quality.

Confirm the following for audio Issues:

• The Audio Cables Are Connected And Undamaged
• The Volume Mixer Is Turned Up
• The External Speakers Are On And Turned Up
• The Default Audio Device Is Set To The Appropriate Speakers
• Test The Audio With Another Media System (I.E. Windows Media Player)

Confirm The Following For Microphone Issues:

• Microphone Cables Are Connected And Undamaged
• The Default Microphone Is Set To The Microphone You Are Using
• The Microphone Is Connected To The Correct Input On The PC
• Test The Microphone Works With Any Playback Software (I.E. Sound Menu In Windows)

JailATM.com does not issue credits or refunds for issues originating from the callers end including but not limited to:

• Internet Connectivity Issues
• PC Issues
• Browser issues

For any other refund requests please select "Contact Us" and fill out the form.

Note: All refunds requests are reviewed on a per issue basis within 72 hours of the request. If approved, the refund will be issued as a credit to your account.

JailATM mobile video visitation may not be compatible with all mobile devices or offered at all facilities that use our video visitation services.

For a mobile device to be compatible with video visitation for facilities offering video visitation using mobile devices, the device will need:

• Video taking capabilities
• Chrome Browser v.57 or above
• Android v.5.01 or above

Note:Older versions of Android may work but are not supported. Devices using iOS are not supported.

Video visitation works best when using a home computer or laptop. Please follow the steps provided under the topic "Video Visitation Setup and Troubleshooting" to setup and troubleshoot issues with video visitation.

To avoid issues with video calls and scheduling due to time zone differences, please make sure that your time zone is set correctly on your account.

You can check this by:

1. Logging In To Your Account
2. Navigate To The Settings Section
3. Select Account Details
4. Choose The Appropriate Time Zone
5. Click Save

If you need to enable your microphone or camera, Click Here for browser specific assistance.

How-To Setup SMS Notifications

1. Sign In
2. Click My Account
3. Click Messaging
4. Click View Contacts
5. Click Resident's Name
6. Click Configure SMS
7. Click Sign Me Up!
8. Verify your cell phone number is entered correctly. (If your cell phone number is not correct, click "Update Your Settings" to correct your cell phone number)
9. Click Send Verify Code
10. Enter the verification code sent via SMS and click Verify Code

Once the code is verified, you will receive a page stating that the setup is complete. You may then click "Compose Message" or "Return To Menu"

Note: Prior correspondence with the resident is required for the above mentioned method to be available. If you have not had prior correspondence with the resident, you will be prompted to set up SMS when you try to send a message through JailATM.

How-To Disable SMS Notification

1. Sign In
2. Click My Account
3. Click Messaging
4. Click View Contacts/SMS Settings
5. Click the resident's name on the contacts list
6. Under SMS Communications select Disabled
7. Click OK

How-To Change the Phone Number For SMS Notifications

1. Sign In
2. Click My Account
3. Click Settings
4. Click Account Details
5. Enter the number that you would like to use under "Cell Phone (For SMS Notifications)"
6. Click Save

You will be returned to the My Account page if successfully completed.

How-To Read SMS Messages Online

1. Sign In
2. Click My Account
3. Click Messaging
4. Click Read Messages
5. Click "Inbox" or "Sent"
6. Click the message that you would like to read

Note: Messages that are sent or received via SMS can be read online within 14 days of the message being received. Messages expire and can no longer be viewed online 14 days after being received.

SMS Notifications are paid for using a Messaging Subscription. Please view the information under the Email tab for more information on Messaging Subscriptions.

Unlike standard messaging, there is not a way for the resident to pay to send the messages you receive as SMS notifications. You must pay for all messages you send or receive via SMS.

Note: SMS Notifications are charged at the same rate as messages sent through the JailATM website . Pricing may vary by facility.

JailATM is only able to support SMS messages at this time. It is not possible to send picture messages via SMS.

The resident will not be able to see your phone number. The resident will reply to your SMS in the same manner as replying to a message sent through the JailATM website. It is not possible for the resident to enter a phone number as a recipient for messages.

The JailATM SMS notification system works with all major U.S. cell phone providers. However, there may be some SMS capable numbers that may not work with our SMS notification system.

If you are unable to receive the SMS verification code or SMS notifications, please attempt entering a different cell phone number to receive SMS notifications.

Here are some of the key points about how SMS Notifications with JailATM work:

• We use the Verify Code to verify that your cell phone number can send and receive SMS text messages.
• A unique phone number is assigned to the resident for you to send and receive texts.
• Once you setup SMS notifications, all messages sent by the resident will go to your cell phone.
• All text messages are subject to screening, review and approval by the facility. Text messaging privileges can be revoked at any time.
• You can disable SMS notifications at any time.
• You must pay for the applicable per-message fee for each message you send and each message you receive from the resident. The resident will not have the option to pay for them.
• Text messages sent to the resident are delivered as emails; replies are converted back to text messages and sent to your cell phone.
• Regular text messaging rates from your cell provider also apply, in addition to the Messaging Service Fee.
• Character limits may be applied at any time.

Please click Here to read the rules and restrictions for SMS notifications.

SMS Messages through JailATM are limited to 160 characters per messages.

In the event that the message you send or receive is over 160 characters in length, the message will be broken up into 160 character segments and you will be charged for each SMS that is used to send or receive the message.

SMS character limits may change at anytime without notification.

Due to the way iPhone has started sending text messages in iOS 11, when you use a character such as an apostrophe, the iPhone turns your message into something called UNICODE.

UNICODE takes up twice as much space as a normal message.

This can result in messages sent from an iPhone breaking up into multiple short messages.

You will be charged for each message that is sent.

To prevent sending multiple short messages while using an iPhone, please consider turning off the "Smart Punctuation".

On your iPhone:

Go to "Settings"

Select "General"

Select "Keyboards"

Toggle "Smart Punctuation" to off if it is on