The General Services Administration (GSA) Center for Charge Card Management (CCCM) is responsible for overall program management and leadership of the GSA SmartPay® program. This government-wide program provides commercial charge card and payment related services to approximately 250 federal government agencies, organizations, and Native American Tribal organizations. In fiscal year (FY) 2023, more than 4.5 million GSA SmartPay 3 card/account holders spent more than $37.5 billion, through 88 million transactions.
The current period of performance for the GSA SmartPay 3 master contract ends November 28, 2031.
CCCM is conducting market research for the development of the next GSA SmartPay master contract. The government is seeking information from interested parties about capabilities and specific feedback for the GSA SmartPay 3 master contract, as it is currently written. Specifically, CCCM is seeking answers to the questions below.
Submission of Information
Submit all responses to the questions below in the attached response template (Attachment 1 - Q&A Template) in an electronically searchable format, preferably Microsoft Word or PDF format. Do not submit answers in the text of an email. Submission of a general statement of capability or company profile is acceptable for informational purposes. However, the Government will only consider information submitted in the template as substantial feedback or explanation of capabilities. All applicable sections must be completed. All responses received in the format prescribed will be marked upon receipt by GSA as Controlled Unclassified Information IAW GSA CIO 2103.1 Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) Policy.
Company Profile
- Name of company
- Type of company (e.g., issuer, network, processor)
- SAM.gov Unique Entity Identification Number
- Relevant NAICS codes
- Relevant government contracts or vehicles
GSA SmartPay and Payments Industry Experience
- Is your company a current or previous GSA SmartPay contractor bank?
- If not, but your company is or was a subcontractor or partner to a GSA SmartPay contractor bank, please indicate so.
- Is your company currently providing similar or relevant payment services to government agencies?
- If yes, but your company is not a current GSA SmartPay 3 contractor bank, please name those agencies.
- If not, but your company has previously provided similar or relevant non-GSA SmartPay 3 payment services to government agencies, please name those agencies.
- Is your company currently providing similar or relevant payment services to commercial entities or private companies?
- If yes, please name those companies, as you are able, or provide a brief description of the entities or companies.
- If not, but your company has previously provided similar or relevant payment services to commercial entities or private companies, please name those companies or provide a brief description of the entities or companies.
General interest
- Has your company been interested in competing for previous versions of the GSA SmartPay master contract?
- If yes, please indicate the reason for the interest.
- If not, please indicate why your company was not interested previously.
- If your company was interested in competing for previous versions of the GSA SmartPay master contract, did your company submit a bid?
- If yes, please indicate if the bid was submitted for GSA SmartPay 1, GSA SmartPay 2, or GSA SmartPay 3.
- If not, please indicate why your company made the decision not to submit a bid.
- How interested is your company in potentially competing as a prime contractor for the next iteration of the GSA SmartPay master contract? Please indicate the following and provide a narrative reason (e.g., not financially feasible, may not be able to meet specific requirements, too risky, organization might not be able to support, burdensome government requirements):
- Very interested
- Moderately interested
- Slightly interested
- Not interested
- Definitely not interested
- Unknown at this time
- If your company is not interested or cannot compete as a prime contractor, please indicate the level of interest in participating in the program as a subcontractor. Please also indicate your company’s potential role and support or services provided.
- Very interested
- Moderately interested
- Slightly interested
- Not interested
- Definitely not interested
- Unknown at this time
- Does your company work with partners who may be interested in participating for the next iteration of the GSA SmartPay master contract?
- If so, please identify the partner as appropriate or you are able to.
- If you are not able to identify the partner company name, please provide a description of the company or companies.
Feedback for the GSA SmartPay 3 Master Contract
- Please provide overall feedback for the GSA SmartPay 3 master contract, as it is currently written. This can include considerations or recommendations for the Government for improving payment services to agencies. This can also include input about requirements that may discourage or prohibit your company from competing.
- What overall changes to the GSA SmartPay 3 master contract would you recommend that would encourage your company to compete?
Pricing (Section B Pricing Requirements)
The GSA SmartPay program provides charge card and payments related services to federal government agencies, Native American Tribal organizations, and other eligible entities at no upfront cost. The master contract requires GSA SmartPay contractor banks to provide refunds – or cash back – on transactions. In FY 2023, the GSA SmartPay program generated approximately $472 million in refunds, based on $37.5 billion in purchase, travel, and fleet spend. Currently, the GSA SmartPay allows for refund pricing for standard transactions and large ticket transactions.
- Please provide a sample of all pricing categories (e.g., standard transactions, large ticket) that your company uses in agreements or contracts with large commercial businesses and state and local governments, as applicable.
- Please provide a range or sample of basis points offered for each category based on commercial agreements.
- What are the risks associated with current pricing requirements and contract line item (CLIN) structure in the GSA SmartPay 3 master contract? (See Attachment 2 - Sample CLIN Structure)
- Would these risks prevent or discourage your company from competing for the next iteration of the GSA SmartPay master contract?
- What are your recommendations for mitigating these risks?
Security (Section C.8 Security Requirements)
- As written, please provide feedback for security requirements within the GSA SmartPay 3 master contract.
- Are there specific requirements that would prevent or discourage your company from competing for the next iteration of the GSA SmartPay master contract?
- If yes, please provide the specific citation in the master contract and describe the issue.
- Can you identify any conflicts between compliance with the security requirements within the GSA SmartPay master contract and compliance with Payment Card Industry (PCI) standards?
- What changes would you recommend that would encourage your company to compete while protecting government information and systems and complying with government security requirements?
Data and Reporting (Section C.7 Data Management, Transaction Support and Reporting)
- As written, please provide feedback for data and reporting requirements within the GSA SmartPay master contract.
- Are there specific requirements that would prevent or discourage your company from competing for the next iteration of the GSA SmartPay master contract?
- If yes, please provide the specific citation in the master contract and describe the issue.
- What changes would you recommend that would encourage your company to compete?
Ordering Procedures (Section H.12 Ordering Procedures)
- As written, please provide feedback for task order ordering procedure requirements within the GSA SmartPay master contract.
- Are there specific requirements that would prevent or discourage your company from competing for the next iteration of the GSA SmartPay master contract?
- If yes, please provide the specific citation in the master contract and describe the issue.
- What changes would you recommend that would encourage your company to compete?
Risks
- Please list any long term risks that your company may identify, in the requirements as currently written in the GSA SmartPay 3 master contract.
- Please provide recommendations for mitigating any identified risks.
- Are there any identified risks that would prevent or discourage your company from competing for the next iteration of the GSA SmartPay master contract that have not been identified in the pricing, security, data, or ordering procedure sections above?
- If yes, please provide the specific citation in the master contract and describe the issue.
- Are there steps the Government can take to help mitigate those risks to encourage competition?
Contract Considerations
- Please provide feedback about the current period of performance of the GSA SmartPay 3 master contract.
- How does this differ from standard commercial or state and local government contracts?
- Would a different period of performance encourage your company to compete? If so, please provide a recommendation for that period of performance and the reasoning.
Other
- Do you have any recommendations for how the Government should structure or design a long term contract to accommodate a rapidly changing payments industry, as well as current and projected economic conditions?
- Are there current or future trends that should be considered for the development of the next GSA SmartPay master contract?
Attachments
- Q&A Template
- Sample CLIN Structure
