OIG-19-041
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5 years, effective January 3, 2015. Since 2009, KRC Research (KRC),
1
a
Comerica subcontractor, has conducted an annual Direct Express cardholder usage
survey. Direct Express has maintained an overall customer satisfaction rating of 94
percent or above since 2009.
Financial Agent Selection Process
On November 27, 2018, Fiscal Service initiated the process to select the next
Direct Express financial agent. Fiscal Service announced the bidding cycle and that
applications for the Direct Express FAA were due no later than February 15, 2019;
however, due to the government shutdown the date was extended to March 8,
2019. Fiscal Service notified the financial agent finalists of their status on April 2,
2019. According to the Direct Express® Debit Card Program Financial Agent
Selection Process Questions and Answers (Updated 5/22/19), the Fiscal Service
review period was from April 1
– May 10, 2019.
2
Fiscal Service provided the
sample FAA to the finalists, who were invited to make oral presentations.
The sample FAA did not include Exhibit A, Services, Attachment 1, Service Level
Requirements, Attachment 2, Initial Surcharge-Free Network, Exhibit C,
Compensation and Cardholders Fees, or Exhibit E, Memorandum of Understanding
Between the Selected Financial Agent and the Social Security Administration. The
Requirements for Applications to Provide Prepaid Debit Card Services (updated
11/29/18) (Requirements Document) provided general information related to service
requirements and compensation.
3
For example, the Requirements Document listed
19 Service Level Activities (SLA) as minimum requirements compared to 38 Service
Level Requirements (SLR) in the Direct Express FAA in use currently (current FAA).
Additionally, the 19 SLAs listed as minimum requirements are not weighted or
prioritized to emphasize the importance of customer service or any other specific
requirement over another. The specific requirements, tolerance ranges, and
weightings for each SLA will be negotiated with the selected financial agent prior
to signing the FAA. Fiscal Service plans to (1) select the financial agent, and (2)
sign the FAA with the selected financial agent later this summer.
1
KRC is a global strategic research firm that offers quantitative and qualitative market research
solutions to a number of industries from its offices in Washington, DC, New York, and Cologne,
Germany. KRC helps its clients optimize strategies and measure success.
2
https://fiscal.treasury.gov/files/directexpress/DirectExpressFASPQandAs.pdf
3
https://fiscal.treasury.gov/files/directexpress/FASP2020Requirementsfinal.pdf