Print This PageGlossary of the GSA SmartPay Program Terminology
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: Information used to describe merchant demographics (e.g., small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, or women-owned small business concerns).
1099: Information used for reporting income to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) using a Tax Identification Number (TIN). This could be either a Social Security Number (SSN) or an Employer Identification Number (EIN). Individuals should provide an SSN.
A:
Abuse: Use of a government charge card 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 computer and electronic equipment for a questionable government need.
Ad Hoc Reporting: Ability to generate custom reports based on program and transaction data.
Agency/Organization Program Coordinator (A/OPC): The individual serving as the focal point for management, task order administration, establishing and maintaining accounts, and issuance and destruction of cards. The A/OPC oversees the card program for his or her agency/organization and establishes agency/organization guidelines. The A/OPC helps set-up accounts; serves as liaison between the cardholder and the card Contractor; provides on-going advice; audits card accounts as required; and keeps necessary account information current. Some agencies also use the term Agency Program Coordinator (APC).
Approving Official (AO): In purchase card programs, the individual (typically a supervisor) responsible for ensuring that the purchase card is used properly by the agency/organization. The AO also authorizes cardholder purchases (for official use only) and ensures that the statements are reconciled and submitted to the Designated Billing Office in a timely manner. In travel card programs, 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 make the rules regarding charge card issuance and acceptance.
Authorization: The process of verifying, at the point of sale, that a purchase being made is allowable given the requirements, prohibitions, and controls established by the agency/organization for that card.
Authorization Controls: A set of rule-based mechanisms that are used to enforce policies governing the allowable use of charge cards for the procurement and payment of products and services (e.g., MCC blocks, daily spending limits, transaction limits).
B:
Billing Cycle: A specific recurring time period between the time statements of account/invoices are processed.
Billing Cycle Date: The cut-off date for which charges are processed for the billing cycle.
Billing Date: The cut-off date for which charges are process for the billing cycle. For all other applications, the billing date is the date the invoice is received by the agency/organization Designated Billing Office in accordance with the Prompt Payment Act.
Business Line: A group of charge card activities with common functional characteristics (i.e., Purchase, Travel, Fleet, or Integrated).
C:
Cardholder: An individual to whom a card is issued to buy goods and services in support of official government business travel. This may include a Contractor under a cost-reimbursable contract for purchase card accounts, fleet card accounts, and centrally billed travel card accounts only. The cardholder holds the primary responsibility for the card’s proper use.
Cardless Account: An established account without a physical card.
Centrally Billed Account: A card/account established by the Contractor at the request of the agency/organization. These may be card/cardless accounts. Payments are made directly to the Contractor by the agency/organization. All fleet and purchase cards are centrally billed cards/accounts. Some travel and integrated cards may be centrally billed cards/accounts.
Charge Card: A plastic card, issued to an individual or an entity, with an underlying account that is used for making payments. A charge card is similar to a credit card, except that generally the balance must be paid in full upon receipt of the statement, usually on a monthly basis.
City Pair Program: GSA’s procurement program for air passenger transportation services. The GSA travel card is the only form of card payment accepted by the city pair program.
Closing Date (Applicable to Individually Billed Accounts only): For individually billed accounts, the closing date is the cut-off date for which charges are processed for the billing cycle. May be referred to as the billing date.
Commercial Travel Office (CTO): A Department of Defense (DOD) travel arranger. This office provides a full range of travel services for the DOD traveler. The CTO may be staffed with DOD personnel or may be a commercial travel agency.
Contactless Payment Card: A standard card with the added functionalities of Integrated Circuit Card (ICC) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technologies. The card includes a magnetic stripe, integrated circuit chip capabilities, and contactless transponder technology.
Convenience Check: Contractor-provided check that is written on a card/account within established dollar limits.
Creditworthiness: An assessment used as an internal control to ensure that charge cardholders are financially responsible (OMB Circular A-123 Appendix B).
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.
Debit Card: Contractor-provided product and service that deducts an account/fund within established dollar limits. May be on-line or off-line.
Declined Transaction: Transaction where authorization has been refused by the card Contractor’s transaction authorization system.
Defense Travel System (DTS): A system that the Department of Defense (DOD) uses to manage their travel end-to-end through an automated web-based system.
Delinquency/delinquent account: An undisputed charge card account balance that is unpaid for more than 61 days past the statement date.
Designated Billing Office (DBO): The office or third party entity designated by the ordering agency/organization to receive the official invoice and, in some instances, make payment.
E:
eTravel: See “E-Gov Travel Service”
E-Gov Travel Service (ETS, or eTravel): A federal program that federal travelers use to manage their travel from end-to-end through a common, web-based, government-wide service.
Electronic Access System (EAS): The charge card Contractor’s internet-based system that provides account access and a variety of reports which assist in the effective management of the charge card programs.
Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT): Delivery systems used to transfer payments of funds electronically. These systems transfer funds faster and more securely than transfers authorized by paper check.
F:
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR): The regulation for use by federal executive agencies for acquisition of supplies and services with appropriated funds, as set forth in 48 CFR Chapters 1-52. Some agencies/organizations may have additional FAR supplements specific to their purchases (e.g., Department of Defense’s Defense FAR Supplement (DFARS)).
Fiscal Year: October 1 through September 30.
Fiscal Year Quarter: One fourth (or three months) of the federal fiscal year (i.e., 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).
Fraud: Any act of corruption or attempt to cheat the Government or corrupt the Government’s agents, including but not limited to, the use of government charge cards 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:
Government Travel Regulation: Regulations governing the travel and relocation allowances and entitlement of federal employees performing official temporary duty travel (TDY) or relocating for the government. For federal civilian employees, see the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) (41 CFR Chapters 301-304). For members of the Uniformed Services, see volume 1 of the Joint Federal Travel Regulations (JFTR). For Department of Defense civilian personnel, see volume 2 of the Joint Travel Regulations (JTR). The FTR, JFTR and JTR are available from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington DC 20402. For members of the Foreign Service of the United States, see Chapter 100 of Volume 6 of the Foreign Affairs Manual (6 FAM 100).
I:
Individually Billed Account: A government Contractor-issued charge card 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.
Integrated Card: Two or more business lines whose processes are integrated on the front-end (e.g., at a minimum, account set-up, account maintenance, customer service) or back-end (e.g., reconciliation, reporting, and invoicing), or both. May be a single card or a single platform.
Interchange Fee: A fee withheld by the card issuing back for processing the credit card transaction. This fee is generally a percentage of the total transaction amount, and is passed on to the merchant through the merchant bank’s fees.
Invoice: See “Official Invoice”
L:
Level 1 Data: Standard commercial transaction data that includes the total purchase amount, the date of purchase, the merchant category code, merchants name, city/state, debit/credit indicator, 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 or similar entity.
Level 2 Data: In addition to Level 1 data, includes sales tax amount, company information, and other data elements as defined by the Associations or similar entity.
Level 3 Data: Full line-item detail in addition to the data in Level 1 and Level 2 includes unit cost, quantities, unit of measure, product codes, product descriptions, ship to/from zip cods, freight amount, duty amount, order date, discount amount, order number, and other data elements as defined by the Associations or similar entity.
Local Travel: Travel that is within the vicinity of an employee’s regular duty station where an official government travel authorization is not provided nor necessary. This sort of travel is generally considered an administrative expense, and as such, the travel card is not an appropriate payment mechanism. Examples of local travel may include, but are not limited to public transportation passes/tokens, ferry tickets, etc.
M:
Master File: File maintained by the Contractor that contains all essential account information.
Merchant: The source for agency/organization supplies or services. The merchant may be a required source inside or outside the 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 based on their primary business. The code helps agencies control where purchases are allowable and may determine if the item is centrally or individually billed.
Micropurchase: An acquisition of supplies or services, the aggregate amount of which does not exceed the threshold as defined in FAR 2.101. The threshold is currently $3000 for most purchase types.
Misuse: Use of a federal charge card by an authorized user for other than the official government purpose(s) for which it is intended.
N:
Net Billing: The process of ensuring that merchant discounts or rebates offered are deducted at the point of sale and guaranteeing such discount arrangements.
O:
Official Invoice: A proper invoice, as defined by the FAR, and containing the data required by, and formatted in accordance with, contract and task order specifications requesting payment be made to the Contractor.
Official Travel: Travel performed at the direction of a federal agency under an official travel authorization. A cardholder performing local travel and not in official travel status, is not traveling under an official travel authorization and therefore is prohibited from using the travel card.
P:
Personal Identification Number (PIN): A code assigned by the Contractor that the card/account holder possesses for verification of identity when using a card.
Pre-paid card: A card that is programmed with a monetary value, and has the capability to be reloaded. Systems operate in two ways. One is the “closed–loop” system, which may be used only for limited purposes. The other is the open-loop” system, which offers the ability to utilize the cards for multiple purposes and at multiple points of sale, such as making deposists on the card, withdrawing cash, and/or paying bills. They may be either rechargeable (value can be added to them) or disposable.
Pooling: A partnership between two or more agencies/organizations that work together to define requirements and choose a Contractor for their jointly awarded task order.
Q:
Quarter: See fiscal year quarter.
R:
Rebate: A term used in prior government charge card guidance – is synonymous with a “refund.” Notably, Congress has used the term “refund” and “rebate” interchangeably.
Restricted Card: A travel card issued to applicants with a low credit score that contains more stringent restrictions defined by the agency/organization, which may require the Contractor to:
- Reduce the overall dollar limit for the card;
- Reduce the limit on individual transaction amounts;
- Limit the types of transactions allowed;
- Issue a pre-paid card that automatically restricts dollar amount and transaction types;
- Limit the dollar amount of transactions that can be applied to the card within a particular time period;
- Limit the length of time a card remains active, such as for the length of time in travel status only; and/or
- Restrict use at ATMs.
S:
Salary Offset: The collection of an undisputed, delinquent charge card amount via a direct deduction from an employee’s payroll disbursement or retirement annuity on behalf of the charge card Contractor. Salary offset applies to individually billed accounts only.
Section 508: (Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 USC Chapter 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.
Signature: Discrete, verifiable symbol of an individual affixed to a document, with the knowledge and consent of the individual. This may include electronic signatures.
Simplified Acquisition Threshold: As defined in FAR 2.101, currently $100,000 (except that in the case of any contract to be awarded and performed, or purcase to be made, outside the United States in support of a contingency operation as defined in 10 USC Chapter 101(a)(13)).
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.
Statement of Account: Official document of all transactions (debits and credits) at the cardholder level posted during the billing cycle. The statement of account is not the official invoice for Centrally Billed Accounts. For Individually billed accounts, this is sent to the individually billed cardholder.
Strategic Sourcing: The process of continually analyzing the way agencies/organizations spend funds through contracts, delivery orders, and through the Government card program in order to ensure agencies/organizations are making efficient and effective purchases by:
- Leveraging their sourcing power by seeking opportunities to achieve discounts on commonly purchased goods and services; and
- Applying discounts to all charge card transactions, as appropriate.
Summary Level Data: Transaction data that is grouped or categorized into high levels and is not detailed.
Suspension: The process by which a particular charge card account is deactivated due to delinquency or multiple pre-suspension actions.
T:
Tagging-Along: Joining another agency/organization’s established task order in order to receive the same services that are provided to the primary agency/organization.
Task Order: An order for services placed against an established contract or with government sources.
Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN): A unique set of digits used to identify a business or person for the purpose of federal income tax reporting (i.e., a social security number (SSN) or employer identification number (EIN)).
Transaction Dispute Office (TDO): The office designated by the ordering agency/organization to assist the agency/organization and the Contractor in tracking and resolving disputed purchases or transactions.
Travel Management Center (TMC): A commercial travel firm authorized by, or under contract to, civilian agencies/organizations to provide reservations, ticketing, and related travel management services for official travelers.
Travelers Check: A Contractor issued check, issued for a preset amount that may be cashed by countersigning in the presence of a payee, and is accepted domestically and internationally by financial and commercial firms.
U:
Unauthorized Use: The use of a charge card by a person, other than the cardholder, who does not have actual or implied authority for such use, and from which the cardholder receives no benefit.
V:
Value Added Product and Service Offerings: Products and services of the GSA SmartPay® Program that may be offered at the master contract level and are referred to as “Tier 2.”
Virtual Cards: One time use account numbers that may be used during a limited time period (e.g., within a 30 day window), for a limited amount (specific or not to exceed), and possibly for a specific vendor.
W:
Waste: Any activity taken with respect to a government charge card 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. At the Contractor’s discretion, collection action may continue on these accounts.
