Building a Better Charge Card

THE DAILY FED

Building a Better Charge Card

The draft proposal is available for download at the GSA web site. After reviewing the proposal, interested parties can send comments on it via electronic mail to rebecca.koses@gsa.gov.

The proposal calls for integrating the purchase of travel, supplies, and fleet services with charge cards. There are over 1.6 million cards currently in use under those three business lines. Total federal card purchases added up to more than $6 billion last year.

"Our goal is to create a migration path for the progression from paper-based to electronic systems," says David Barram, acting GSA Administrator.

GSA estimates that its purchase card program has saved the government $700 million since its inception in 1989, because it reduces the administrative costs of official small purchases of goods and services by up to 14 percent.