EPA Oversight of Travel Cards Needs to Improve

Background

The EPA does not check travel card bank rebates for accuracy. As a result, the agency does not know whether travel card rebates received from the bank are accurate.

Recommendations

The OIG recommended that the EPA’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO):

• Institute a process to verify the accuracy of travel card rebates and establish and implement policies and procedures to correctly distribute travel card rebates.
• Establish and implement policies and procedures to correctly return travel card rebates to the original appropriations, or directly to the U.S. Treasury for better use.
• Develop controls and a timeline for addressing late vouchers, revise the travel card policy to institute stronger controls and modify Concur so that lodging and rental car expenses can only result in a bank card payment.
• Revise travel card policy to institute stronger controls for timely travel card payments, adverse actions for late payments, and the requirement to use the travel card for all travel expenses.
• Strengthen internal controls in Concur so that lodging and rental car expenses on vouchers can only result in a bank card payment.
• Require each travel cardholder (before any future travel is approved) to complete training that covers the importance of split payments; timely payments; and the consequences of failure to comply, so that disciplinary action can be taken against late-paying cardholders.