From Ideas to Rollout: Designing Innovative Solutions to Meet Agency Needs

At the start of SmartPay^® 2, agencies were focused on making a smooth transition and successfully launching their charge card programs. In the second year, they approached Citi seeking solutions that would improve travel, travel management, cash management and reconciliation. Agencies requested enhanced functionality and wanted to employ best practices to improve efficiencies, generate more rebates and ensure compliance while increasing transparency and accountability.

Now, instead of a card-centric solution for a specific need, the best solution will often go “beyond plastic” or combine a card with new technology that adds innovative features and capabilities, such as the Controlled Spend Account (CSA). The CSA was created in a two-year, collaborative effort by the Department of Defense, DTMO and Citi. Unlike the Government Travel Card, the CSA holds no value until travel orders are authorized, which greatly reduces the potential for loss, theft and misuse. The card’s credit limits are based on the travel order, ensuring the traveler’s needs are met and the mission is fully supported.

The Controlled Spend Account is now being rolled out in the Air Force, with a full formal conversion scheduled for completion by summer of 2011. With its built-in controls, the CSA can be distributed to all DoD travelers and does not require a credit check. Because of the card’s enhanced security, it allows more merchant category codes and can be used for a broader range of travel needs, capturing more spend and increasing the potential for rebates. The CSA also automates processes to reduce the time and resources required for program management. Converting from the Government Travel Card to the CSA will allow the Air Force to reduce the number of APCs needed to under 500, enabling over 16,500 APCs to return to their primary duties.

The Controlled Spend Account is just one example of a product that leverages innovation and technology to meet specific agency needs. By working in partnership with clients, Citi designs custom solutions that employ best practices and new technologies to achieve program goals and optimize program impact.

From the launch of SmartPay^® 2, Citi partnered with the Social Security Administration (SSA) to develop a real-time, Web-based reallocation tool, enabling the SSA to make daily payments and maximize rebates. This tool provides real-time confirmation of accounting reallocation, which is enabled via a link between Citi’s CitiDirect Card Management System (CCMS) and the SSA’s financial accounting system.

This new capability improves efficiency in reallocation and reporting tasks, providing the Social Security Administration with robust reporting capabilities for its internal customers, and real-time validation of transactions before they are posted to the SSA's accounting system. Users are now able to view transactions in the system once the sweep of the staging table has occurred every hour–a significant improvement over the two days it used to take to view transactions in the system, allowing approving officials to obtain critical information much more quickly.

The reallocation tool has helped save time and achieve cost savings from the reduction of accounting errors. The data is verified and validated before it is sent to the Social Security Administration, eliminating the need for time-consuming manual intervention and correction. Additional savings are achieved in the elimination of the daily download of batch reallocation files.

The SSA has realized substantial increases in efficiency, accuracy and cost savings with the real-time reallocation tool. SmartPay^® 2 offers many similar opportunities to leverage technology and innovative solutions that go beyond plastic to achieve program and financial goals. Citi welcomes the opportunity to partner with agencies and organizations to create solutions tailored to specific needs.