CitiBank Travel Card Program

March 2011

CitiBank Travel Card Program

• State of Texas Comptroller has awarded a contract for Procurement and Corporate Travel Charge Card services to Citibank.

• The initial term of contract is through August 31, 2013, with three one-year renewal options.

CitiBank Travel Card Program

• This program provides a convenient means of charging travel-related expenses incurred while conducting official University business.

• Recommended changes have been approved by CMO

CitiBank Travel Card Program

• Travel “Credit” Card Types:– Individual Billed Account (IBA)– Central Bill Account (CBA)– Corporate Liability Individual Billed Account

(CLIBA)

Note: Currently, the UTSA Procurement card (ProCard) program is separate from the Travel card program.

Individual Billed Account (IBA) • Cardholder responsible for protection &

proper use of the card & timely payment.• The employee bears responsibility for

account repayment in full.– Card is issued with the expectation it is used for official

business travel only – Issuance is based on individual’s personal credit history– Not a revolving credit card; any amounts not paid within

60 days are suspended and subject to finance charges

Individual Billed Account (IBA)

• 319 UTSA employees have IBA cards issued from JP Morgan Chase Bank

• Recommendation: that UTSA no longer administer this program– There is limited value-added to UTSA

• Many universities that issue these cards do so because they do not provide travel advances.

Individual Billed Account (IBA)

• We will notify affected employees of the date when the current Chase IBA card will no longer be valid.– After August 31, 2011, all cards will be deactivated

Central Bill Account (CBA)

• Payment is guaranteed by UTSA and issued in the name of a department– Card issuance was done without establishing

explicit responsibilities, e.g. on time payment in full

• A central bill account administered by DTS was also established for departments who did not have a CBA.

Central Bill Account (CBA)• This program has many problems:

– Originally implemented for airfare only; some cards were later opened up for other charges

• Since 2003 when the program began, we have significantly increased the number of cards

– unpaid charges have also increased significantly– Bank considers all CBA’s issued to UTSA

departments to be one account• Reporting is limited• All data is consolidated• Standard reports for monitoring activity such as

‘aging’ or ‘spending history’ are unavailable

Central Bill Account (CBA) • This program has many problems:

– Difficult to reconcile: • Charges are consolidated on one single statement

for the entire university and not tied to authorized travelers

• Memo statements are provided to department with only current charges.

– Doesn’t show total amount outstanding• Manual process• Full payment is frequently late because of

departmental delays for many reasons

Central Bill Account (CBA)

• Recommendation: Discontinue all CBA cards and issue CLIBA cards upon receipt of authorized application packets

Corporate Liability Individual Billed Account (CLIBA)

• Payment is guaranteed by UTSA but issued in the name of an individual, not department

• Credit limit will be based on estimated monthly requirements as approved by Financial Affairs

Corporate Liability Individual Billed Account (CLIBA)

• Department can have one or many CLIBA cards but an individual (typically the department head) will be responsible and required to sign a cardholder agreement:– Individual will agree that each month’s charges will be

paid in full unless formally disputed through vendor established process

– Account on file for the card will be charged for amount due to assure timely payment

Corporate Liability Individual Billed Accounts (CLIBA)

• Benefits:– Individual will receive separate monthly statement

• Allows future opportunity to automate payment process– Similar to CBA, university guarantees payment and

assumes liability– Eliminates reconciliation issues experienced with

CBA– Individual can contact Citibank directly while

traveling• Declined card• Disputed amounts

Currently issues must be resolved through DTS!

Proposed Features of UTSA CLIBA Program

• General CLIBA Card –used for Hotel, Airfare, Transportation, and Conference Registration

CLIBA Implementation Activities• Timeline is in flux

– CitiBank is inundated with other agencies– Have just been learning details – not all are well

understood– State wanted the transition to be completed by

2/28/2011• Due to delays by CitiBank, we have more time to implement.

Extended to 8/31/11 but we will convert before that time.

CLIBA Implementation ActivitiesWe will:• Complete Cardholder agreement form,

internal application, guideline, FAQ documents

• Schedule a launch meeting & begin transitioning from JP Morgan/Chase to Citibank

• Develop a training class on payment requirements & online access to Citibank

Travel Advances• Processing checks is costly and inefficient

– Discussion that the state will mandate ACH and direct deposit for all employee transactions

• It is recommended (CMO approved) that in the future all travel advances be issued only as:– Direct Deposit to the employee’s bank

account, or– CitiBank Travel Advance Debit Card

CitiBank Travel Advance Card

• Features:– Card is activated with credit limit established

from an approved travel advance form– Issued in traveler’s name with a fixed activity

length and appropriate MCC codes – Statement is received, reconciled and paid– Card can be refreshed for additional future

authorized travel for an individual

CitiBank Travel Advance Card

• Benefits:– Traveler will not have to bear out of pocket expense– Alternative to CLIBA Card for employee who does

not frequently travel and or does not want to use his/her own credit card

– Increased efficiency and control

Travel AdvancesRecommendation:

After reasonable notification and direct deposit set-up campaign, we will:1. Transition to Travel Advance Cards as the

preferred method of providing travel advances (when practical)

• Requires guideline, training class and form changes

2. No longer issue checks for travel advances • will allow direct deposit to employee’s bank account

when travel advance card is impractical• Exceptions for hardship or unique circumstances