1. ARMY TRAVEL CARD PROGRAM
FRANK RAGO
ARMY PROGRAM MANAGER
OFFICE, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE ARMY
(FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT & COMPTROLLER)

2. CONTRACT & TASK ORDER: CONTRACT STRUCTURE:
GSA MASTER CONTRACT FOR ALL FEDERAL AGENCIES
DOD TASK ORDER WITH CITI EFFECTIVE NOV 30, 2008
PERIOD COVERED:
FOUR YEAR CONTRACT (NOV 2008 – NOV 2012)
THREE TWO YEAR OPTIONS (DEC 2012 – NOV 2018)
INCLUDES SERVICES FOR:
INDIVIDUALLY BILLED ACCOUNTS (IBA)
CENTRALLY BILLED ACCOUNTS (CBA)

3. PROGRAM FEATURES: VISA CARD W/ WIDE ACCEPTANCE
ON-LINE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
CONTROLS: CREDIT CHECKS, MERCHANT CODES, CARD TYPES W/ CHARGE LIMITS:
STANDARD CARD: $665 ATM CASH/$7500 TOTAL
RESTRICTED CARD: $365 ATM CASH/$4000 TOTAL
FEES:
ATM CASH FEE OF 2% (REIMBURSABLE)
RETURNED CHECK FEE OF $29, LATE FEE OF $29
BANK REBATES: BASED ON CHARGE VOLUME AND SPEED OF PAY FOR IBA and CBA
Regarding rebates, you should know that -- at this point -- rebates to the Army are a thing of the past. This is due to:
Our high delinquency rate -- enough said.
A change to the basic contract that the Bank negotiated with GSA:
Rebates are based on our total charge volume, adjusted for the amount of debt the Bank has to write-off at 210 days past due
Before, our write-offs were deducted from our charge volume and then the rebate was calculated
Now, a portion of our write-off (over 30 basis points) is deducted directly from our rebate on a dollar-for-dollar basis. This is like the Bank getting a tax credit rather than just a reduction in its taxable income.

4. TRAVEL & TRANSPORTATION REFORM ACT:
EMPLOYEE MUST USE TRAVEL CARD FOR OFFICIAL TRAVEL EXPENSES
AGENCY CAN EXEMPT TYPES OF PERSONNEL OR EXPENSE
AGENCY MUST REIMBURSE TRAVEL EXPENSES W/IN 30 DAYS AFTER CLAIM
AGENCY MAY COLLECT DELINQUENCY FROM PAY
UNDISPUTED AMOUNTS ONLY
AFTER NOTIFICATION/DUE PROCESS
COLLECTION NTE 15% OF DISPOSABLE PAY
For us, the TTRA came out of no-where. It was hard to find someone’s finger-prints on it, but it’s clear that the card industry was involved. Of course, because no one TALKED to the folks who had to execute this, there were some problems:
Mandate to use the card for official travel: Sounds good, but DOD isn’t your typical Federal agency -- young troops, TDY vs. deployments, PCS. We took full advantage of provision for exemptions.
Irony: Later, the Bank told us they wanted to reduce the number of accounts, as those infrequently used were costing them money (fixed expense to maintain, but with minimal charges, there wasn’t enough revenue)
Reimburse within 30 days of claim or pay interest: Sounds good, but few settlements take more than 30 days & those that do rarely generate more than $1.00 in interest -- and payments under a dollar, we write off.
Collecting delinquency from pay: THIS is what TTRA was really all about! Initially, DOD choose not to exercise the authority in TTRA to collect from pay. Later, as we were negotiating with the Bank to modify our DOD Task Order, we agreed to re-look this and eventually agreed to implement it.
I have some concerns, however, about how this feature is perceived by some commanders -- more on this later.
Note: disposable pay is the amount after taxes, retirement and insurance

5. PROGRAM GUIDANCE DODFMR VOLUME 9 CHAPTER 3 ARMY POLICY GUIDANCE
OVERALL PROGRAM GUIDANCE
DOD POLICY
RESPONSIBILITY
IBA AND CBA REQUIREMENTS
EXEMPTIONS
ARMY POLICY GUIDANCE
AUGMENTS DOD GUIDANCE
ASA (FM&C) POLICY MEMORANDUM

6. POLICY GUIDANCE ASA (FM&C) MEMORANDUM REQUIRES
ADEQUATELY RESOURCED APC FUNCTION
MONTHLY REVIEW OF TRANSACTIONS
APC/CARDHOLDER TRAINING
CLOSING OF INACTIVE ACCOUNTS
DISCIPLINARY ACTION FOR ABUSE, MISUSE
DISCOURAGE USE FOR DEPLOYMENT TRAVEL
SECURITY CLEARANCE REVIEW
NON SUFFICIENT (NSF) CHECK REPORTING

7. CARDHOLDER RESPONSIBILITIES
USE TRAVEL CARD FOR ALL OFFICIAL TRAVEL
EXPENSES
EXPENSES ARE LIMITED TO THOSE NORMALLY
REIMBURSED AT TRAVEL SETTLEMENT
CARDHOLDER ONLY EXPENSES
LIMIT CASH USAGE. USE TRAVEL CARD
WHENEVER POSSIBLE

8. CARDHOLDER RESPONSIBILITIES
RETAIN ALL RECEIPTS
SUBMIT TRAVEL VOUCHER WITHIN 5 DAYS OF
RETURN OR EVERY 30 DAYS IF TDY IS OVER 45
DAYS DURATION
USE SPLIT DISBURSEMENT OPTION TO PAY CONTRACTOR.
PAY BALANCE IN FULL AND ON TIME.

9. CARDHOLDER RESPONSIBILITIES
UNDISPUTED CHARGES MUST BE PAID BY DUE DATE
DISPUTES ARE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CARDHOLDER
CONTACT MERCHANT IMMEDIATELY OR CONTRACTOR WITHIN 60 DAYS OF STATEMENT DATE ON WHICH CHARGE APPEARS
CHARGES NOT PAID OR DISPUTED WILL BECOME DELINQUENT

10. DELINQUENCY CYCLE 30 DAYS - PAST DUE
60 DAYS - DELINQUENT - CARD SUSPENDED
75 DAYS - $29 LATE FEE CHARGED TO ACCOUNT
90 DAYS - DUE PROCESS LETTER SENT TO CARDHOLDER ADVISING THEY HAVE 30 DAYS TO SETTLE ACCOUNT OR IT WILL BE SENT FOR COLLECTION VIA SALARY OFFSET
120 DAYS - CARD CANCELLED
210 DAYS - ACCOUNT CHARGED OFF/CREDIT BUREAU NOTIFIED

11. TRAINING Cardholder EAS Training:
APC Training:
Electronic Account System (CITIDIRECT)
Classes at SmartPay 2
On-site when requested
CBT training (
Cardholder EAS Training:
CBT or in person by APC
Cardholder initial and refresher training on GTCC use is located at the DoD TCPMO web site (

12. ACCOUNTABILITY PERSONAL FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
VIOLATION OF PUBLIC LAW: PL
CARDHOLDER AGREEMENT OUTLINES CONTRACTOR
REMEDIES (LATE FEES, ETC.)
STATEMENT OF UNDERSTANDING
NEGATIVE CREDIT BUREAU REPORTING
SALARY OFFSET OR INDEPENDENT COLLECTION AGENCY REFERRAL

13. CITI CUSTOMER SERVICE
Dedicated representatives for each Service/Defense Agency at program manager level
Dedicated customer service phone number for APCs
40% of cardholder customer service staff are prior BoA customer service employees

14. PROGRAM OVERSIGHT DOD INITIATIVES DATA MINING
DOD ESTABLISHED INDICATORS
VISA DATAMINING TOOL AVAILABLE SEP 2009
ARMY INTERNAL REVIEW OFFICE/AAA AUDITS
CBA AND IBA DATA
REPORTS TO SERVICE FOR ACTION
EXPANDS ARMY ACCOUNT REVIEW REQUIREMENT
REPORT ON RESULT OF TRANSACTION REVIEW TO INCLUDE ANY ADMINISTRATIVE/DISCIPLINARY ACTION TAKEN

15. PROGRAM OVERSIGHT DOD INITIATIVE (CONT’D) CREDITWORTHINESS
CODIFIED BY FY 04 DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT
DOD WILL DETERMINE CREDITWORTHINESS BEFORE ISSUING CHARGE CARD
S-1744 AND H.R (Two new bills currently pending in this session)
EXPANDS THE PROVISION GOVERNMENT WIDE
DOD POLICY/OMB CIRCULAR 123 PART B
CREDIT CHECK
SELF CERTIFICATION
MINIMUM FICO SCORE
FAILURE TO MEET MINIMUM FICO SCORE OR SATISFACTORILY COMPLETE SELF CERTIFICATION WILL MAKE INDIVIDUAL INELLIGIBLE FOR CARD
TRAVEL ADVANCE, PERSONAL FUNDS, CBA FOR TRANSPORTATION COST
CAN RE-APPLY IN 24 MONTHS

16. PDT PROGRAM
ALL AUTHORIZED RELOCATION EXPENSES EXCEPT HHG AND REAL ESTATE
MUST REGISTER WITH APC PRIOR TO DEPARTURE
ACCOUNT WILL BE PLACED IN MISSION CRITICAL STATUS/PDT WITH START AND END DATE
ACCOUNT WILL NOT AGE OR INCUR LATE FEES WHILE IN STATUS
ACCOUNT AGES CURRENT AT END DATE AND WILL NOT GO DELINQUENT FOR 60 DAYS

17. SUMMARY TRAVEL CARD MAKES TRAVEL CONVENIENT AND EASY.
TRAVEL CARD IS FOR OFFICIAL TRAVEL EXPENSES ONLY.
CARDHOLDER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR USE & PAYMENT.
COMMANDER & SUPERVISORS MUST BE INVOLVED.