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By Alexander Ip, Settlement Services Division

The Card Acquiring Service has had a continuous flow of new Federal Program Agencies (FPAs) applying to the program since the conversion to Fifth Third Bank as its sole card processing agent, completed in September 2008. In addition to new FPAs enrolling in the program, FPAs that have existing Card Acquiring accounts have also been steadily adding new processing locations. As a result, a combination of over 200 new accounts and locations have already been opened in the 2009 fiscal year. 

The processing of new applications is a joint effort between the Settlement Services Division and the General Revenue Collection (GRC) Division. FPAs that are interested in joining the program begin by submitting the Card Acquiring Service Application, which was revised in July 2009 to help FPAs more easily complete the form. GRC receives all applications that are submitted, and approves FPAs based on a set of criteria.  Approved applications are then sent to Fifth Third Bank for setup of their Merchant identification numbers.

Additionally, GRC directly interacts with Card Acquiring Service applicants to set the FPA up on Pay.gov when it has been selected as the card processing option. Pay.gov traffic will continue to grow as a consequence of the Card Acquiring Service discontinuing use of third party processors in preparation for the upcoming new Card Gateway. The Card Gateway will support FMS’s Collections and Cash Management Modernization (CCMM) initiative, a multi-year plan to simplify and modernize FMS’s and Treasury’s collections and cash management programs. The majority of those FPAs affected will move to the Pay.gov government-wide Internet collection portal. Representing 30 percent of total sales volume for the program in the 2008 fiscal year, Pay.gov is one of the more popular channels for card acceptance among FPAs today.

For more information about the Card Acquiring Service, contact Dena Corson, Program Manager at 202-874-0807. For information about Pay.gov, contact JoDee DeVillier, Financial Program Specialist at 202-874-6920.

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