A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
1057: Form used to describe merchant demographics (e.g., small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZone) small business, small disadvantaged business, or women-owned small business concerns).
1099: Form used for reporting income to the Internal Revenue Service using a tax identification number. This could be either a Social Security Number (SSN) or an Employer Identification Number (EIN). For individuals who operate as merchants, reporting income should provide a SSN. A sole proprietor may provide either, but is not required to provide both. All others should provide an EIN.
508 Conformance: Standards set by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 — Public Law (P.L.) 105-220 dated August 7, 1998 — that require software and websites are accessible to people with disabilities.
A:
Abuse: Use of a government payment solution to buy authorized items, but at terms (e.g., price, quantity) that are excessive, for a questionable government need, or both. Examples of such transactions would include purchase of items such as a day planner costing $300 rather than one costing $45, allowable refreshments at an excessive cost, and year-end or other bulk purchases of supplies or services for a questionable government need.
Account: An arrangement by which the Contractor accepts a customer agency’s/organization’s financial assets and holds them on behalf of the card/account holder at the agency’s/organization’s discretion.
Account Holder: Any individual issued an account at the request of an agency/organization component. This may also include any vehicle/equipment (e.g. Fleet applications), designated portions of an agency/organization, or Contractors under a cost reimbursable contract for Purchase accounts, Fleet accounts, and Travel CBA only. Account holders include both individuals with carded (e.g. cardholders) and non-carded accounts. See “Cardholders”.
Account Holder Agreement: A written agreement between the Contractor and account holder designating both the account holder's and Contractor's responsibilities. By signing the application form and activating, signing, or using the account, a card or account holder agrees to be bound by the terms and conditions of the agreement. This also includes agreements between the Contractor and a cardholder. See “Account Holder”.
Account Holder Application: An application designed by the Contractor and used by the account holder to apply for CBAs or IBAs. This includes applications used by cardholders. See “Account Holder”.
Account Setup Information: Specific information required for each account so that an active account can be established. This information is supplied by each ordering agency/organization to the Contractor.
Ad Hoc Reporting: Provides the ability for GSA and the agency/organization community to access all data elements of the AO, account holder, and transaction records at any time to by allowing GSA and/or agencies/organizations to create reports in html, Excel, text (ASCII) formats, and/or others as defined by the agency/organization.
Adjustment: Purchases made through a GSA SmartPay payment solution are returned at a later date. While this purchase is initially included in net charge volume, it is deducted from net charge volume if the item purchase is returned. Any transaction that reduces the amount due to the agency/organization or account holder. See “Credit”.
Agency Location Code (ALC): A 3-, 4-, or 8-digit unique identifier similar to a bank account number. An 8-digit numerical ALC is used by agencies/organizations that use Treasury for disbursement of funds. The first two digits refer to the Agency, the next two digits refer to the Bureau, and the last four digits refer to the particular agency accounting station. A 4-digit numerical code is used for agencies/organizations that have their own disbursing authority, (e.g., Department of Defense (DOD)). A 3-digit ALC is used to identify Treasury Financial Centers and should comply with Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (DATA Act), P.L. 113-101.
Agency/Organization: The entity authorized to manage and utilize the card/account (e.g., Administration, Agency, Board, Commission, Corporation, Department, Tribes and Tribal Organizations, Institute, Component). Agencies/organizations may be further designated by one or more in sub-elements (e.g., bureau, service, activity, division, office). Note: An agency/organization may also be referred to as a “customer” or “customer agency/organization”.
Agency/Organization Accounts: An account issued in the agency/organization name that is centrally billed and paid directly by the agency/organization. A physical card may or may not be issued.
Agency/Organization Gross Refund: The calculated amount of the agency/organization refund inclusive of the GSA CAF.
Agency/Organization Identifying Number: Provided in NIST Special Publication 800-87, Revision 1, Codes for Identification of Federal and Federally-Assisted Organizations. This standard provides a fourcharacter identifier for each agency/organization. The set of identifiers defines a standard data element. The two leftmost characters form a component data element which is identical with the two-digit numerical code used in the Federal budgetary process to identify major Federal organizations. Agency/Organization Identifying Numbers may be downloaded from the internet at: http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/PubsSPs.html.
Agency/Organization Level: Any hierarchy level established by the agency/organization.
Agency/Organization Net Refund: The calculated amount of the agency/organization gross refund reflected in dollars, less the GSA CAF in dollars and other applicable adjustments.
Agency/Organization Program Coordinator (A/OPC): The individual serving as the focal point for management, establishing and maintaining accounts, government-wide reporting and issuance and destruction of cards within each customer agency/organization. The A/OPC oversees the business line for his or her agency/organization and establishes agency/organization guidelines. The A/OPC directs the Contractor to establish accounts, serves as liaison between the account holder and the Contractor, provides on-going program guidance, audits card accounts as required, and keeps necessary account information current for the agency/organization.
Appropriate Purchase: A purchase that complies with federal and agency regulations and policies.
Approving Official (AO): The individual (typically a supervisor) responsible for ensuring an account is used properly by the agency/organization. The AO also authorizes account holder purchases (for official use only) and ensures that the statements are reconciled and submitted to the Designated Billing Office (DBO) in a timely manner. In the Travel business line, the individual (also, typically a supervisor) who is responsible for signing the traveler’s voucher, indicating approval for payment and for its content.
Associations: Organizations that are comprised of banks and financial institutions that make the rules for acceptance of payment solutions, including interchange fees.
Authorization: The process of verifying, at the point-of-sale, that a transaction being made is allowable given requirements, prohibitions, and controls established by an agency/organization for that account.
Automated Clearing House (ACH): Central distribution point for transferring funds electronically for participating depository financial institutions. Transactions are accumulated and sorted by destination for transmission during a predetermined period.
Automated Teller Machine (ATM) Services: Contractor provided ATM services which allow cash withdrawals within dollar limits established in the relevant task orders from participating ATMs to be charged to a Contractor-issued card/account.
Automated Testing: Testing software applications by the creation of a test harness to control the execution of tests, verification of outcomes with predicted outcomes, and repeat-ability of test results.
B:
Background Investigation: The act of reviewing both confidential and public information to investigate a person or entity's history of reliability and trustworthiness for purposes of accessing personal and sensitive GSA SmartPay customer and cardholder information.
Bank Identification Number (BIN): The first four to six numbers that appear on a charge card. The BIN uniquely identifies the financial institution issuing the card. The BIN is key in the process of matching transactions to the issuer of the charge card.
Basis Point (bp): One hundredth of one percent.
Billing Cycle: A specific recurring time period between when statements of account/invoices are processed.
Billing Cycle Date: The cut-off date for which charges are processed for the billing cycle.
Billing Cycle Office Limit: A monetary limit established by the A/OPC for budget control purposes. The limits may be established on single, reoccurring, or otherwise noted basis.
Billing Date: The billing date is the date of the official invoice sent to the agency/organization Designated Billing Office (DBO) in accordance with the Prompt Payment Act.
Brand: A financial institution that dictates where payments can be processed and facilitates the payment process between account holders, cardholders, merchants, and issuing financial institutions.
Business Day: Days that the Federal Government is open for operation (excludes weekends and Federal holidays).
Business Line: A group of payment solutions or payment activities with common functional characteristics (i.e., Purchase, Travel, Fleet, or Integrated).
Buyer-Initiated Payments: A type of transaction that requires no action by the supplier, no point-of-sale terminals or other hardware/software required to receive payment
C:
Calendar Day: Any day of the week, including days falling on a weekend or Federal holiday.
Cancelled Account: An account that is canceled due to an undisputed balance remaining unpaid for the prescribed number of calendar days after the date of the statement of account on which the charge first appeared. An account may also be canceled for numerous suspensions.
Card Account Number: An external means of identifying a specific customer unit or specific card. This is embossed/encoded/encrypted on the card itself.
Card Identifier: Unique identification for each card or other payment solution issued to an account (e.g., customer unit).
Cardholder: Any approved individual or agency/organization component issued a physical charge card at the request of the agency/organization.
Cardholder Agreement: See “Account holder Agreement”.
Cardholder Application: See “Account holder Application”.
Cardholder Verification Method (CVM): The mechanism used to identify a card or account holder (e.g. PIN, signature).
Card-Not-Present: A transaction conducted without a physical card.
Case Management System: A system that provides the interface to the user that allows for the review and documentation of at-risk transactions.
Cash Advances: The withdrawal of cash from an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) or financial institution, up to a certain limit.
Category Management: GSA purchasing approach where spend is organized into common categories and managed strategically. Uses expertise from industry and government to group product or service and provide Government buyers a strategic view of market places.
Centrally Billed Account (CBA): An account established by the Contractor at the request of the agency/organization to pay for official government purchases, for which the customer agency/organization is directly billed (billing account) and liable for making the payment. All Purchase and Fleet accounts are centrally billed. Travel accounts used for airfare and other travel related transactions may also be centrally billed. Agencies/organizations will specify, at the task order level, which Travel cards will be centrally billed accounts.
Centrally Billed Transaction: Transactions made by a card/account holder (transacting account) that are billed directly (billing account) to the Federal Government to be paid by the Federal Government. Includes all Purchase and Fleet transactions and may include other transactions, such as airfare.
Change Fee: Charge levied upon making a material change in a concluded arrangement such as an already purchased airfare ticket.
Charge Card (or “Card”): A card, issued to an individual or an entity that is associated with an underlying account that is used for making payments. A charge card is similar to a credit card, except that there is no line of credit established and the balance owed is due and payable in full upon receipt of the statement for each billing cycle.
Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act Agencies: The list of agencies identified in the Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act of 1990.
Chip Card: A card product with a microprocessor chip embedded into the card to provide increased payment security. The chip creates a unique one-time code known as a “cryptogram” with each transaction.
Closing Date: The closing date is the cut-off date for which charges are processed for the billing cycle. See “Billing Cycle”.
Computer Platform: A computer platform is a system that consists of a hardware device and an operating system that an application, program or process runs upon.
Contract Access Fee (CAF or “GSA CAF”): A fee, previously called the Industrial Funding Fee (IFF) that equals a set number of basis points as established by the Center for Charge Card Management (CCCM) 5, to be remitted by the Contractor to GSA, from the gross refunds. The CAF is intended to cover GSA’s cost of operating the GSA SmartPay Program.
Contract Period: The total period of performance for the GSA SmartPay Master Contract is broken into contract periods. Under the GSA SmartPay 3 Master Contract there is a base period and three option periods that comprise the total period of performance. See “Period of Performance”.
Contract Line Item Number (CLIN): The contract identifies business line product and service offerings as separately identified contract line items. Contract line items allow for pricing of products and services by individual unit prices or lump sum prices, as identified for each business line.
Continuity of Operations: Actions taken by the Contractor in the event of a catastrophe that may disrupt operations domestically or internationally.
Contracting Officer (CO): A person with the authority to enter into, administer, and/or terminate contracts and make related determinations and findings. The term includes certain authorized representatives of the contracting officer acting within the limits of their authority as delegated by the contracting officer. A single contracting officer may be responsible for duties in any or all areas of the procurement cycle. The Contracting Officer for the Master Contract is the GSA Contracting Officer, and referred to as such. The Contracting Officer at the task order level may be referred to as the Agency/Organization Contracting Officer or Ordering Officer.
Contracting Officer Representative (COR): An individual designated and authorized in writing by the contracting officer to perform specific technical or administrative functions. The COR for the Master Contract is the GSA COR and will be appointed in writing at the time of contract award. The GSA COR is referred to as such in the Master Contract. The COR at the task order level will be designated in writing by the Agency/Organization Contracting Officer or Ordering Officer, at their discretion.
Convenience Check: Contractor-provided instrument that is written, dated and signed against a card/account within established dollar limits.
Core Requirements: Minimum government-wide requirements. All Contractors shall offer core requirements. Core requirements are referred to as “Tier 1.”
Corrective Refunds: Payments from the Contractor to the agency/organization to correct improper or erroneous refund payments, or an invoice adjustment.
Credit: Any transaction that reduces the amount due to the agency/organization or account holder. See “Adjustment”.
Credit Loss Rate: The rate used to offset against agency/organization individually billed refunds when net credit losses on Travel IBA accounts during the reporting period are greater than or equal to 30 basis points of net charge volume for Travel IBA accounts.
Creditworthiness Assessment: An assessment used as an internal control to ensure that account holders are financially responsible (See P.L. 112-194 and OMB Circular A-123 Appendix B).
Customer: See definition for “Agency/Organization.” Customer Account: A Contractor’s internal means of identifying a specific customer unit. This identification may be separate from the card account number, may appear on invoices or reports, and may be required by the Contractor to properly post payments received.
Customer Agency/Organization: See definition for “Agency/Organization.”
Customer Unit: The smallest unit of reporting and invoicing. Each Customer Unit is a distinct account. More than one card may be assigned to each Customer Unit.
Customization: The standard commercial practice of creating reports, invoices, and services to meet unique needs of a specific customer at no cost or at a mutually agreeable fee, when applicable.
D:
Data Mining: An automated process used to scan databases to detect patterns, trends, and/or anomalies for use in risk management, spend patterns, and other areas of analysis.
Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number: A unique identifier available to organizations by registering with Dun & Bradstreet.
Data Warehouse: See “GSA SmartPay Data Warehouse”
Declined Transaction: Transaction where authorization has been refused by the Contractor's transaction authorization system.
Declining Balance Card: The Contractor shall provide declining balance cards at no additional cost. Declining balance cards function similarly to a traditional charge cards, however limits do not refresh each month. These cards can be applied for a specific purpose for a specific period of time, as identified by the agency/organization. Credit limits can either be set as needed or the card becomes inactive once the balance is used.
Defect Management Plan: The documentation of methodology that shows the lifecycle of a defect from how to identify, log, triage, fix, test, and deploy defect fixes, verification and closeout.
Defense Travel System (DTS): A system that the Department of Defense uses to manage end-to-end travel through a seamlessly automated web based system.
Delinquency: An undisputed account balance that is unpaid for the prescribed number of calendar days or more past the statement date.
Designated Billing Office (DBO): The office or third party entity designated by the customer agency/organization to receive the official invoices and, in some instances, make payments.
Dispute: A situation in which a customer agency/organization or account holder questions the validity of a transaction that was registered to an agency/organization account.
DLA Energy: Formerly known as Defense Energy Support Center, the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Energy, works with customers and suppliers to procure and distribute military specification petroleum products.
Dollar Basis to Determine Refund: Net charge volume less gross credit losses and convenience check spend. Dollar basis to determine refund is calculated and remitted quarterly.
Dollars withheld for Credit Loss: Refund eligible net charge volume times the credit loss rate. Dollars withheld by the Contractor for Credit Loss determines an offset to net refunds paid to agencies/organizations for a reporting period (see “Net Credit Losses”).
Domestic: Locations existing in all 50 states of the United States of America, the District of Columbia, U.S. Territories, and U.S. Possessions.
Duplicate Transaction: A transaction that has been processed twice for the same purchase.
E:
Electronic Access System (EAS): The Contractor’s internet-based system that provides account access and a variety of reports to assist in the effective management of the Contractor’s payment solution programs.
Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT): Delivery systems used to transfer payments of funds electronically.
Electronic Signature: A paperless method or process to electronically sign a document which is verified or authenticated.
Enhanced Data: Additional data provided beyond Level 3 data.
Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV): The standard for cards equipped with computer chips and the technology used to authenticate chip-card transactions.
Exception Reports: Reports that identify high risk transactions, as identified by the agency/organization.
External Fraudulent Activity: See “Fraud” definition.
E-Gov Travel Service (ETS): A Federal Government program that civilian agency/organization Federal employee travelers use to manage end-to-end travel through a common, web based, government-wide contracted service.
ePayables: A solution that augments or replaces the accounts payables process such that electronic transactions take place directly between the Government and the supplier. EPayables solutions are typically used with merchants who are traditionally paid by check or EFT or merchants who do not accept charge card payments (e.g., utility companies). Examples include straight-through processing, buyerinitiated payments, supplier-initiated payments, procure to pay, and other card not present solutions. EPayables do not include virtual cards, single use accounts, or other products/services presently defined under business lines.
F:
Fees: Charges over and above the cost of a transaction required by banks to recover necessary costs (e.g. ATM Fee, Convenience Check Fee, Foreign Transaction Fee).
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR): The set of regulations mandated for use by the majority of Federal executive agencies for acquisition of supplies and services with appropriated funds, as set forth in 48 CFR § 1-52. Some agencies/organizations may have additional deviations to the FAR and other supplemental acquisition regulations (e.g., Department of Defense FAR Supplement, or DFARS).
Federal Government: Refers to GSA and customer agencies/organizations.
Federal Holidays: Authorized holidays recognized by the US Government when most Federal offices are closed. Federal holidays will generally be celebrated in recognition of, but may not be limited to, New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, President’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA): Legislation that defines a comprehensive framework to protect government information, operations and assets against threats.
File Transfer Protocol (FTP): A commonly used protocol for exchanging files over any network that supports the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) (such as the internet or an intranet). There are two computers involved in an FTP transfer: a server and a client. The FTP server, running FTP server software, listens on the network for connection requests from other computers. The client computer, running FTP client software, initiates a connection to the server. Once connected, the client and/or server can perform file manipulation operations such as uploading files, downloading files, and renaming or deleting files.
Financial Institution: An establishment (e.g. bank) that offers financial services and focuses on dealing with financial transactions, such deposits, checking accounts, loans or various investment services.
Fiscal Year (FY): October 1 through September 30. Fiscal Year (FY) Month: One twelfth or one month of the federal FY. Fiscal Year (FY) Quarter: One fourth (or three months) of the Federal FY (e.g., first quarter, October 1 through December 31; second quarter, January 1 through March 31; third quarter, April 1 through June 30; and fourth quarter, July 1 through September 30).
Foreign Currency Conversion Fees: A fee associated with purchases made in a foreign currency (i.e., non-U.S. dollars).
Fraud: Any act of corruption or attempt to cheat the Federal Government or corrupt the Government’s agents, including but not limited to, the use of government payment solutions to transact business that is not sanctioned, not authorized, not in one’s official government capacity, not for the purpose for which the card was issued, or not as part of official government business.
Fraudulent Activity: The use of government payment solutions to transact business that is not sanctioned, not authorized, not in one’s official government capacity, not for the purpose for which the card was issued, or not as part of official government business.
G:
Ghost Card: A charge card number that is specific to an agency/organization or an entity within an agency/organization. Purchases made are then charged back to the agency/organization or the entirety within the agency/organization to which the charge card number was issued.
Government System: A government system is defined as a government owned or contracted safeguarded system that contains and/or processes government data, specifically Personally Identifiable Information (PII).
Government-to-Government Transactions: Payments between different agencies (inter-governmental) or within the same agency (intra-governmental). In most instances, these transactions are classified under Merchant Category Code 9399, Miscellaneous Government Services. See Treasury Financial Manual Announcement A-2014-04, Limitations on Credit Card Collection Transactions and Policy for Splitting Transactions.
Government Travel Regulations: Regulations governing the travel and relocation allowances and entitlement of Federal employees performing official temporary duty travel or relocating for the Federal Government. For Federal civilian employees, see FTR (41 CFR Chapters 301-304). For the Department of Defense, see DoD Instructions 5154.31 and the Joint Travel Regulations (JTR).
Gross Basis Points: The total of (1) the basis points used to calculate agency/organization refund payment and (2) the GSA CAF. See “Basis Points (bp)”. Gross Credit Loss: Balances on IBAs that reach the prescribed number of calendar days past the closing date on the statement of account in which the charges appeared for the reporting period, without adjustments, as stated at the task order level. Gross Refunds: The amount comprised of the GSA CAF and the refund amount paid to the agency/organization. The refund amount before the deduction of the GSA CAF.
GSA City Pair Program: GSA’s procurement program for air passenger transportation services. The GSA SmartPay Travel Card is the only form of payment accepted by the GSA City Pair Program.
GSA City Pair Program Identifier: A code that identifies a mandatory user of the GSA City Pair Program.
GSA Contracting Officer (CO): A person with the authority to enter into, administer, and/or terminate contracts and make related determinations and findings. The term includes certain authorized representatives of the contracting officer acting within the limits of their authority as delegated by the contracting officer. A single contracting officer may be responsible for duties in any or all areas of the procurement cycle.
GSA Contracting Officer Representative (COR): An individual designated and authorized in writing by the contracting officer to perform specific technical or administrative functions.
GSA Contract Access Fee (CAF): See “Contract Access Fee (CAF)”
GSA SmartPay Data Warehouse: The electronic platform in which data is directly imported, aggregated and normalized from Contractor systems in order to allow analysis of GSA SmartPay spend and transactional data. Note: Also referred to as “Data Warehouse.”
GSA Systems Manager: An individual within GSA who institutes measures to safeguard sensitive information within a computer network.
H:
Hierarchy: The organizational structure of the agency/organization which may be composed of multiple levels from the account holder to the top level of the agency/organization.
I:
Inappropriate Purchase: A purchase that does not comply with federal and agency regulations and policies.
Individually Billed Account (IBA): A Contractor-issued account used by authorized individuals to pay for official travel and travel-related expenses for which the Contractor bills the account holder, and for which the individual is liable to pay. Individually Billed Accounts may only be issued to Federal employees or employees of Tribes or Tribal Organizations.
Individually Billed Transaction: Transactions through Contractor-issued charge card/account used by authorized individuals to pay for official travel and transportation-related expenses for which the Contractor bills the cardholder, and for which the individual is liable to pay.
Information System Security Officer (ISSO): An individual whose job it is to create and institute measures to safeguard sensitive information within a computer network.
Integrated Card: Purchase, Travel and Fleet transactions, whose processes are integrated on the frontend (e.g., at a minimum, account set-up, account maintenance, customer service) or back-end (e.g., reconciliation, reporting, and invoicing), or both. An Integrated card may be a single card or a single payment solution.
Interchange Fee: A fee paid by the merchant’s financial institutions to the card issuing bank for processing its customer merchant payment transaction. In most instances, the interchange fee is a percentage of the total transaction amount, and is passed on to the merchant through the merchant financial institution’s fees.
Inter/Intra-Governmental Service: Payments made between two federal government entities. This service is used for inter/intra-agency operations and payments supporting Purchase, Travel, Fleet, and Integrated transactions. Inter/Intra-Governmental transactions may or may not generate interchange.
International: Worldwide locations that are not within the definition of “domestic”.
Intranet: A privately maintained computer network that can be accessed only by authorized persons, especially members or employees of the organization that owns it.
Invoice: A written document requesting payment to the Contractor. A proper invoice as defined by FAR containing the data required by, and formatted in accordance with, contract and task order specifications.
Issuing Financial Institution: A financial institution that offers card association branded payment cards and/or payment solutions to consumers. See “Financial Institution”.
K:
Knowledge Sharing: Systematic and continuous capture of know-how from relevant experience so that information can be transferred and made re-usable to another party.
L:
Large Ticket Transaction: Transactions exceeding a certain “high dollar” threshold as processed by the merchant (merchant dependent), for which the brands set a lower interchange rate than for standard transactions.
Leg-by-Leg Itinerary: Each segment of the trip shown separately on the air/rail carrier's ticket.
Legacy System: An existing computer system or application program.
Level 1 Data: Standard commercial transaction data that includes but is not limited to the total purchase amount, the date of purchase, the merchant category code, merchant’s name, city/state, date charge/credit was processed by the Contractor, Contractor processing/transaction reference number for each charge/credit, and other data elements as defined by the Associations, the brands, or similar entities.
Level 2 Data: In addition to Level 1 data, Level 2 data includes but is not limited to sales tax amount, company information, and other data elements as defined by the Associations, the brands or similar entities.
Level 3 Data: In addition to the transaction data in Levels 1 and 2, Level 3 data includes but is not limited to: unit cost, quantities, unit of measure, product codes, product descriptions, ship to/from zip codes, freight amount, duty amount, order date, discount amount, order number, and other data elements as defined by the Associations, the brands or similar entities.
Local Travel: Travel that is within the vicinity of an employee’s regular duty station where an official government travel authorization is not provided or necessary. Examples of local travel may include, but are not limited to public transportation passes/tokens, taxi fares, car services and ferry tickets.
M:
Managing Account: An account managed by a card manager (e.g. A/OPC, AO) who oversees the activity on a group of card/account holders. The managing account summarizes activity across card/account holders.
Mandatory User: Individuals identified in C.2.1.3.1.1 Mandatory Users of the GSA City Pair Program.
Manual Functional Testing: Manual testing that is based on specifications, repeatable processes, and tests what a system does as part of a software quality assurance program for a system under development and in the system development life cycle.
Master File: File maintained by the Contractor that contains all essential account information described herein (see C.7.2.2.1 Master File).
Media: A broad spectrum of methods used to provide a permanent record of communications (e.g., paper, email, mobile, data interchange, computer to computer communications via modem, networks, facsimile, or any other acceptable methods of available communication).
Merchant: The entity accepting payment from an agency/organization in exchange for supplies or services. The merchant may be a required source inside or outside the Federal Government, another government agency, or a private sector merchant of supplies or services.
Merchant Category Code (MCC): A four-digit code used to identify the type of business a merchant conducts (e.g., gas stations, restaurants, airlines). The merchant selects its MCC with their bank. The code controls what purchases are allowable.
Merchant Credit: A transaction completed with a merchant that reduces the amount due to the agency/organization.
Minimum Refund: The lowest amount of basis points required at the master contract level. Misuse: Use of a Federal payment solution by an authorized user for other than the official government purpose(s) for which it is intended.
Micro-purchase: An acquisition of supplies or services, the aggregate amount of which does not exceed the threshold as defined in FAR Part 2.101 Definitions. Note: Micro-purchase threshold may vary within and between agencies.
Mobile Application: The ability to access EAS, pay invoices, receive text/email alerts, and view statement and payment information over a mobile device.
Mobile Payments: The ability to make payments via mobile device at the point-of-sale.
N:
Net Billing: The process of ensuring that merchant discounts or refunds offered are deducted at the point-of-sale and guaranteeing such discount arrangements.
Net Charge Volume: The sum of all purchases, including convenience checks, ATM, cash advances, and other fee-generating products/services less merchant credits.
Net Credit Losses: Balances in IBAs that reach the prescribed number of calendar days past the closing date on the statement of account in which the charges appeared for the reporting period, less adjustments, and as stated at the task order level.
Net Refund: Payments from the Contractor to the agency/organization based on the dollar or “spend” volume during each reporting period.
Networks: See definition for "Brands".
Non-Mandatory User: Individuals identified in C.2.1.3.1.2 Non-Mandatory Users of the GSA City Pair Program.
Non-Intercahnge Based Transactions: Transactions that occur through nontraditional payment channels that do not generate interchange (e.g. some Government-to-Government).
Not Separately Priced ("NSP"): Unit or lump sum pricing that considers and includes the cost of all identified contract requirements under a contract line item.
O:
Official Invoice: See "Invoice".
Official Notification: Written or electronic notification to the Contractor by either the GSA Contracting Officer regarding contractual issues, or by an agency/organization Contracting Officer, A/OPC, or account holder regarding their cards/accounts or reports, as appropriate.
Official Purchase: Supplies or services procured at the direction of an agency/organization under official purchase authorization. For Fleet, this would include fuel and maintenance services..
Official Travel: Travel performed at the direction of a Federal agency under an official travel authorization, either oral or written. Account holders traveling locally and not under an official travel authorization may use their GSA SmartPay Travel Card for local travel expenses only when expressly authorized by agency/organization-level policy.
Online: The state of internet connectivity controlled by or connected to a computer, computer network, or mobile device.
Organization: Individuals or entities that are not Federal Government agencies but are authorized to use GSA sources of supply, as specified by the GSA Contracting Officer.
P:
Payment: The action of paying for purchases made on or charged to the account.
Penetration Testing: The testing of vulnerabilities in a computer system, network or Web application to identify areas an external attacker could exploit.
Personal Identification Number (PIN): A unique code assigned to the account that must be used by the card/account holder for verification of identity when using the card issued for the account
Point-of-Sale (POS): A purchase at the “point” where a transaction is finalized or the moment where a customer tenders payment in exchange for goods and services.
Pool: A partnership between two or more agencies/organizations that work together to define requirements and choose a Contractor for their combined requirements under a single task order.
Primary Agency/Organization: An agency/organization that defines the requirements and chooses the Contractor for a task order under which other agencies/organizations tag-along.
Product Number/Code: A unique identifier assigned to specific product (e.g., fuel, non-fuel, general merchandise, oil and fluids, parts and service, quicklube, roadside).
Procure-to-Pay: An integrated system that fully automates the goods and services purchasing process for a business, beginning with requisitioning, through to actual procurement and ending with payment.
Pseudonym Name: A fictitious name assigned to a card/account used to conceal the identity of the accountholder.
Purchases: A product or service acquired by an account holder for official government use.
Q:
Quality Assurance: A systematic process to verify that a product and/or service meets the specified requirements.
Quarter: One fourth (or 3 months) of a year. See “Fiscal Year Quarter”.
R:
Recovery Fees: The amount paid to a third party that assists a Contractor in recovering net credit losses.
Reinstatement Fees: A fee that is charged when a cancelled account is reactivated.
Refunds: A monetary payment provided by the Contractor to agencies, based on the dollar or “spend” volume during a specified time period. This also may include additional payments from the Contractor to the agency/organization to correct improper or erroneous refund payments or make an invoice adjustment. Refund Eligible Net Charge Volume: The sum of purchases with eligible transaction codes included to calculate refunds, ATM, cash advances, and other fee-generating products/services less merchant credits. For a list of transactions that are included in net charge volume for the purposes of this contract (see J.1 Attachment 1: Transaction Codes and Descriptions).
Reporting Period: The time period over which a Contract remits agency/organization refunds and GSA CAF. Required Additional Product and Service Offerings: A set of selected products and services available to agencies/organizations from the Contractor, which are not separately priced, unless otherwise specified in this statement of work. Required additional product and service offerings are mandatory requirements of this Master Contract and are included in “Tier 1” pricing.
Restricted Card: A Travel card issued to an applicant with a low creditworthiness score or an applicant who refuses a credit check, and contains more stringent controls.
Risk Rating: A rating assigned by the Contractor, in accordance with Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), assessing security vulnerabilities within systems.
Roll-Up Section: Aggregated reporting/access to program and transaction data at the level specified by the agency/organization.
Rules-Based: An approach to changing data that uses rules (e.g. “if-this, do that”) to perform actions. This approach allows flexibility and enables tasks and data to be easily changed by replacing one or more rules.
S:
Salary Offset: The collection of an undisputed, delinquent amount via a direct deduction from an employee’s payroll disbursement or retirement annuity on behalf of the Contractor.
Section 508: Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. 794d), as amended by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-220), August 7, 1998): Section 508 is a U.S. law that was enacted to eliminate barriers in information technology, to make available new opportunities for people with disabilities, and to encourage development of technologies that will help achieve these goals. It identifies specific standards for internet and web accessibility, which are often used as a basis for evaluating whether or not websites meet accessibility requirements.
Security Incident: An observable incident in the operations of a system or information technology service, indicating that a security policy may have been violated or a security safeguard may have failed.
Separately Priced: Pricing subdivided or stratified by CLINs and sub-CLINs (as applicable) for specified product(s) and service(s) for the purposes of depicting separate and detailed pricing.
Service Providers: An external entity to the Contractor that accepts, processes, stores, or transmits any data, including PII data, under this contract or related task orders.
Shared Services Model: The provision of a service by one part of an organization or group where that service had previously been found in more than one part of the organization or group.
Signature: Discrete, verifiable symbol of an individual affixed to a document, with the knowledge and consent of the individual, including wet or electronic signatures.
Single-Use Account: An electronic, charge card-based payment solution that leverages a single 16-digit virtual account number for each payment. The limit on each account is set to the specific payment amount.
Software Quality Assurance: Repeatable processes that are in place to monitor the software engineering processes to ensure quality, verify conformance to standards, design, coding, and testing into measurable and verifiable results
Split Disbursement: The process of dividing a travel voucher reimbursement between the Contractor and traveler. The balance designated to go to each is sent directly to the appropriate party.
Split Payment: The act of splitting (dividing) a single and full amount of payment in two or more simultaneous transactions made by different payment methods.
Standard Transaction: Transactions processed through traditional transaction channels (e.g. traditional carded interchange structure).
Statement of Account: Official document of all transactions (debits and credits) at the account holder level posted during the billing cycle. The statement of account is NOT the official invoice. It can be distributed to the individual account holder for an IBA or to the CBA holder or designated billing office for a CBA.
Straight-through Processing: An automated payment transaction processing service where the purchasing organization sends the payment file directly to the Contractor’s acquiring institution. The networks process the payment automatically on behalf of the Contractor and deposit the funds directly into the Contractor’s bank account.
Strategic Sourcing: The structured and collaborative process of critically analyzing and modifying agency’s/organization’s spending patterns to better leverage its purchasing power, reduce costs and improve overall performance. GSA has a Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative (FSSI) which has implemented many strategic sourcing solutions for the Federal Government that allows agencies to leverage their sourcing power to achieve discounts on commonly purchased goods and services such as office supplies, print management, and express and domestic ground delivery services.
Sub-Accounts: Agencies/organizations may require that sub-accounts be set-up under their account to identify and separate charges for specific components within agencies/organizations or for electronic access, reporting and/or billing.
Supplier-Initiated Payments: The process of electronically connecting suppliers (or other merchants) to the government’s supply chain and back-end payment systems.
Suspension: The process by which an account is deactivated due to delinquency or multiple pre-suspension actions.
T:
Tag-Along: Join another agency/organization’s established task order in order to receive the same services that are provided to the primary agency/organization.
Task Order (TO): An order for services placed against the established GSA SmartPay Master Contract.
Task Order Ombudsman: The GSA designated individual responsible for reviewing Contractor complaints and ensuring that all Contractors receive a fair opportunity to be considered, consistent with the contract procedures, as required under FAR Subpart 16.505(b)(8).
Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN): A unique set of digits used to identify a business or person for the purpose of Federal income tax reporting (e.g., a social security number or employer identification number).
Teletypewriter or Text Telephone (TTY): Stands for Teletypewriter or Text Telephone. A special device that lets people who are deaf, hearing impaired, or speech impaired to use the telephone to communicate, by allowing them to type messages back and forth to one another instead of talking and listening.
Test and Evaluation Master Plan (TEMP): A plan outlining complex systems (e.g. EAS) that must satisfy specification requirements (see C.6.1.1.1 Test and Evaluation Master Plan (TEMP))
Tier 1: Core requirements (see C.3.1.1 Tier 1: Required Product and Service Offerings).
Tier 2: Value-Added Product and Service Offerings (See C.3.1.2 Tier 2: Value-Added Product and Service Offerings).
Tokenization: The use of a secure, unique “token” in place of a 16-digit account number to provide extra security for transactions.
Transaction: An agreement between a buyer and a seller to exchange goods, services or financial instruments.
Transaction Dispute: A disagreement between the card/account holder and the merchant with respect to a transaction.
Transaction Dispute Office (TDO): The office designated by the customer agency/organization to assist in tracking and resolving disputed purchases or transactions. Typical TDO responsibilities are addressed in J.6 Attachment 6: Transaction Dispute Office Responsibilities.
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol TCP/IP: A protocol for communication between computers, used as a standard for transmitting data over networks and as the basis for standard Internet protocols.
Travel Management Center (TMC): A centralized office within an agency/organization that provides a full range of travel services.
U:
Unauthorized Use: The use of a payment solution by a person, other than the account holder, who does not have actual or implied authority for such use, and from which the account holder receives no benefit.
User: An individual who operates a system, computer, tool or machine.
User Friendly: Ease of use geared towards those with a rudimentary or limited knowledge of computer systems and operations. The typical knowledge base includes how to log on and off the system, simple menu-based functions in a graphical/visual user interface environment (e.g., point and click functions such as file, open, close) with simple one-step commands (e.g., search, print, save).
V:
Value-Added Product and Service Offerings: Separately priced products and services that may be offered at the master contract level and are referred to as “Tier 2.”
Value-Added Tax (VAT): A broad-based consumption tax levied on the purchase price of goods and services by some countries outside the United States.
Vendor: See “merchant”.
Virtual Cards: One time use account numbers that may be used during a limited time, for a limited amount and possibly for a specific vendor (e.g. single-use accounts, “ghost” cards).
Vulnerability Scan: The assessment of computers, computer systems, networks or applications for weaknesses.
W:
Waste: Any activity taken with respect to a government payment solution that fosters, or results in, unnecessary costs or other program inefficiencies.
Write-Off: A canceled account with an unpaid balance determined to be uncollectible by the Contractor.