GSA solicits ideas for improving purchase card program

The General Services Administration wants new ideas for administering its purchase card program.

The contracts that support the governmentwide credit card plan SmartPay, which is used by agencies to purchase more than $24 billion in goods and services, expire Nov. 29, 2008, and GSA wants advice on where the program should go.

A request for proposals for SmartPay will be issued in fiscal 2006; contracts will be awarded in fiscal 2007.

GSA contracts with five banks for the program and says it saved the government more than $3.4 billion in fiscal 2004 in administrative and transaction expenses. In 2004, SmartPay was used by 350 federal agencies, groups and Native American tribes, according to GSA; 90 million purchase, travel and fleet transactions were processed.

The agency is asking for responses to a request for information about the program by July 26. The responses can be submitted to FedBizOpps.gov.

Neal Fox, the outgoing GSA assistant commissioner for commercial acquisition and manager of the agency's schedules contracts, said in a statement that a key GSA goal is to improve the collection of charge card purchase data and evaluations.

If the changes are successful in improving SmartPay, Fox said that it "will provide customer agencies additional options for safeguarding the government purchasing process, while also providing additional options for buying smarter,"

"The future program will emphasize customer service, using new technology to fulfill unique government purchasing and funds management requirements more effectively and efficiently," Fox said.

Some lawmakers have pushed for legislation to stem purchase card abuse by requiring credit checks and asking agency inspector generals to audit purchase card programs on a regular basis.

SmartPay was established to allow agencies to easily buy routine items - under a $2,500 limit - but reports of fraud and abuse have drawn the ire of lawmakers and taxpayers.

Other lawmakers insist that abuse is inevitable and that placing restrictions on SmartPay would hurt its original intent to save money by eliminating administrative burdens.