U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
FY 1999-2000
INTEGRATED CHARGE CARD BULLETINS


Table of Contents
BULLETIN #1 Delinquency Grace Period Ends In August
BULLETIN #2 It's Official - NationsBank Is Now Bank of America
BULLETIN #3 Department-Wide Charge Card Re-Issuance Planned for FY 2000
BULLETIN #4 Charge Card Misuse
BULLETIN #5 Federal Travel Regulation: Mandatory Use of the Travel Card - Interim Final Rule Issued
BULLETIN #6 Agency/Organization Program Coordinator Training Is Available
BULLETIN #7 Summary Of Functionality: EAGLS Release 4
BULLETIN #8 August Billing Statements For All Active Accounts
BULLETIN #9 Preparations For Department-Wide Charge Card Re-Issuance In Progress

If you have any questions regarding any of these bulletins, please contact your Bureau's
Agency Program Coordinators (APC).
For more information on Interior's charge card program, access: http://www.doi.gov/pam/charge.html
Send suggestions, comments or requests for other bulletin topics via e-mail to Delia Emmerich@os.doi.gov.

BULLETIN #1
Fourth Quarter - Fiscal Year 1999 July - September 1999

DELINQUENCY GRACE PERIOD ENDS IN AUGUST

Our contract with NationsBank, now Bank of America, your own cardholder agreements, and the Department of the Interior Integrated Charge Card Program Guidelines (November 1998) require that charge accounts be suspended if any undisputed individually billed transactions remain unpaid 61 days after the billing/closing date on the statement of account. If any undisputed individually billed transactions remain unpaid 96 days after the billing/closing date on the statement of account, the account will be canceled.

A grace period, suspending this standard policy, was temporarily put in place in order to allow our contractor time to correct transaction processing backlogs and billing errors. That grace period is scheduled to expire at the end of the August billing cycle, i.e., August 27, 1999, and the standard 61 day-suspension/96 day-cancellation policy put back in force.

You are obligated to pay the individual balance due on your account on time each month, whether or not you have received reimbursement. If payment is overdue on your charge card account, please correct any delinquencies before August 27th. If the delinquency is the result of an error or billing problem, contact your Agency/Organization Program Coordinator (A/OPC) and ask for their help.

Charge card account delinquencies may jeopardize your eligibility to maintain your existing card and receive a replacement when the charge cards are reissued in Fiscal Year 2000. Remember, authority to have and keep your personal charge card depends a great deal on your ability to maintain your account in good standing. This same principle holds true for the Government charge card.

BULLETIN # 2
Fourth Quarter - Fiscal Year 1999 July - September 1999

IT'S OFFICIAL - NATIONSBANK IS NOW BANK OF AMERICA

NationsBank has merged with the Bank of America. Up until now, your billing statements and charge card related correspondence have featured the NationsBank logo with which we have all become familiar. However, account statements and correspondence issued between August and October 1999 will feature the logos of both NationsBank and the Bank of America. Beginning in November, only the Bank of America logo will be used. Please keep this in mind when you receive charge card related correspondence and/or billing statements over the next few months.

BULLETIN # 3
Fourth Quarter - Fiscal Year 1999 July - September 1999

DEPARTMENTWIDE CHARGE CARD RE-ISSUANCE PLANNED FOR FY 2000

Due to contractor error during the Governmentwide charge card transition, Department of the Interior charge cards were not given the general Governmentwide tax exemption code that was to be a standard in the 16-digit charge card account number for cards issued under the General Services Administration's SmartPay contract. This error has resulted in taxes being improperly assessed against DOI transactions. The charge card contractor, NationsBank, now Bank of America, has agreed to reissue charge cards Departmentwide.

The Department's Charge Card Implementation Team is working together with the Bank of America to resolve any outstanding issues that may complicate the card re-issuance process. Individual cards will be issued in a phases on a bureau-by-bureau basis during the First Quarter of FY 2000. Vehicle-assigned fleet cards will be reissued beginning in January 2000. A detailed plan is being developed and should be completed by mid-August 1999. We will update this bulletin regularly as plans are developed and preparatory steps identified. In the meantime, continue to use your current individual and fleet cards. They will remain valid until you receive and activate your new cards.

BULLETIN # 4
Fourth Quarter - Fiscal Year 1999 July - September 1999

CHARGE CARD MISUSE

While the vast majority of DOI charge card holders use the charge card in a responsible and compliant manner, there have been some abuses. On June 23, 1999, the Director, Office of Acquisition and Property Management, issued a Charge Card Program Advisory to Assistant Directors for Administration. The advisory was issued as a reminder of possible administrative and criminal penalties associated with charge card misuse. (Please call (202) 208-1906 if you would like a copy of the advisory.)

Thanks to reporting technology now available from our contractor, the Bank of America, reviewers can identify abuses and take corrective measures faster than ever before. Under past charge card programs, reviewing officials and auditors were heavily dependent on paper charge card transaction statements, that could be lost or destroyed. Newer charge card programs offer centralized electronic transaction reporting with special features that allow reviewers to access, among other data, electronic "Exception Reports."

Exception Reports can identify to the transaction any questionable expenditures or expenditures that vary from a cardholder's standard buying practices. Within DOI, our Exception Reports are working. The Department is analyzing transactions and referring cases directly to Agency/Organization Program Coordinators and the Office of Inspector General.

Charge card misuse will result in suspension or cancellation of your account, and disciplinary action against you, up to and including removal. Remember - your Government charge card may ONLY be used for official government business. ATM cash withdrawals are ONLY permitted for expenses related to official government travel. Let's all do our part to keep the charge card program an effective and compliant one.

BULLETIN # 5
Fourth Quarter - Fiscal Year 1999 July - September 1999

FEDERAL TRAVEL REGULATION:
MANDATORY USE OF THE TRAVEL CHARGE CARD
INTERIM FINAL RULE ISSUED

In the July 16, 1999, issue of the Federal Register, the GSA Office of Governmentwide Policy issued its interim final rule on mandatory use of the travel charge card (Volume 64, Number 136, pages 38527- 38531), part of the Federal Travel Regulation. The interim rule implements Public Law 105-264, October 19, 1998, and covers required use of the travel charge card, collection of amounts owed, and reimbursement of travel expenses.

The interim rule was effective on July 16, 1999, and applies to payment of expenses in connection with official Government travel performed on or after December 31, 1999.

BULLETIN # 6
Fourth Quarter - Fiscal Year 1999 - August 27, 1999

AGENCY/ORGANIZATION PROGRAM COORDINATOR
TRAINING IS AVAILABLE

Based on agency request, the following EAGLS and Charge Card Reports training will be available during September 1999. Training is open to Charge Card Program Coordinators only. To register, A/OPCs should contact Venessa Goodrum, Bank of America, by e-mail at venessa.goodrum@bankofamerica.com or on 1-800-245-0191.

Date Location

Wednesday, September 1, 1999 Albuquerque, New Mexico
Thursday, September 2, 1999 Albuquerque, New Mexico
Wednesday, September 8, 1999 Atlanta, Georgia
Thursday, September 9, 1999 Atlanta, Georgia
Monday, September 13, 1999 Washington, DC
Friday, September 17, 1999 Washington, DC
Monday, September 20, 1999 Washington, DC
Friday, September 24, 1999 Washington, DC

PLEASE NOTE: Additional training dates are being planned for Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Portland, Albuquerque, and New Orleans.

Training Format: Classes begin at 8:30 a.m. local time and end at 4:00 p.m. EAGLS training is provided in the morning session (@ 8:30 a.m. - 12 Noon). Reports training is provided in the afternoon session (@1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.)

Training Locations for Albuquerque, Atlanta, and Washington, DC:

Albuquerque, NM: CompUSA
The Pavillion at San Mateo, 4610 Cutler Avenue, Albuquerque, NM 87110 (505) 830-5350

Atlanta, GA: CompUSA
3400 Around Lenox Rd,Suite A210, Atlanta, GA
(404) 814-7650

Washington, DC: Bank of America
1801 K Street, NW, Washington, DC 1-800-245-0191

BULLETIN # 7
Fourth Quarter - Fiscal Year 1999 - September 3, 1999

SUMMARY OF FUNCTIONALITY: EAGLS RELEASE 4

The next release or update to EAGLS is scheduled for September 11, 1999. It will be release #4. The attached file, R4ovrvw.doc, provides an overview of the various functions that will be featured in EAGLS Release #4. They include changes to:

  • Transfer accounts between bureaus/offices;

  • Generate unique daily invoice sequence numbers within a central account ID;

  • Remove ATM access, convenience check and debit card flags/fields from EAGLS screens;

  • Change brand name to "Bank of America" (this will show in the places that used to show "NationsBank");

  • Allow credit limits to be changed before a card is activated;

  • Include more fleet information (new fields added to online statement/invoice components for fleet transactions);

  • Allow transaction transfers from central to individual for A/OPC, finance office and account holder roles and change transfer transactions queuing to A/OPCs;

  • Prevent A/OPCs from performing maintenance on their personal accounts;

  • Improve system security for default passwords

These changes will be apparent in EAGLS beginning September 13. The new transaction transfer function will now allow ALL Interior account holders to request an incorrectly billed transaction to be moved from central to individual or individual to central billing. Requests will be queued to your A/OPC for approval. New fleet functionality will also improve support for Interior's fleet managers. For technical questions, a new password, or assistance on EAGLS, you can call the EAGLS Technical Help Desk at 1-888-317-2077.

BULLETIN # 8
Fourth Quarter - Fiscal Year 1999 - September 7, 1999

AUGUST BILLING STATEMENTS FOR ALL ACTIVE ACCOUNTS

Even if you have not used your NationsBank/Bank of America MasterCard for a number of months, you will receive a billing statement dated August 27, 1999 in the mail. If no charges have been made, the statement will identify a new balance of $0.00. Nothing will be listed in the posting date, description, transaction date, or other columns.

The main reason the billing statements are being issued is to notify card holders that

NationsBank's new name is Bank of America. A new red, white, and blue Bank of America logo is also provided to enhance card holder awareness of our charge card contractor's new name and logo. You will also notice that at the top of the billing statement, both the names of Bank of America and NationsBank are printed. Until November 1, dual names will be used on billing statements and correspondence. After November 1, only the Bank of America name and logo will be used.

A notice regarding the name change and some resulting changes in the Government Card terms and conditions is included in the billing statement envelope. Bank of America asks card holders to retain the notice for their records. Please read the notice and familiarize yourselves with the changes discussed. If you have any questions about the information contained in the notice, please contact Bank of America Government Card Services toll-free at 1.800.672.9851 or outside the U.S. call collect at 757.441.4124.

BULLETIN # 9
Fourth Quarter - Fiscal Year 1999, September 17, 1999

PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTMENT-WIDE CHARGE CARD RE-ISSUANCE IN PROGRESS

Bulletin # 3 issued in July 1999 announced a planned Departmentwide charge card re-issuance during the First Quarter of FY 2000. Preparations for the re-issuance are in progress, and a series of bulletins will be issued detailing what card holders, Agency/Organization Program Coordinators (A/OPC), and other interested parties can expect during each phase of the re-issuance process.

WHEN

Individual charge cards are scheduled to be re-issued during October - November 1999.

CHARGE CARDS NOT AFFECTED BY THE OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 1999 RE-ISSUANCE:

PLEASE NOTE:

If you have a charge card with an account number beginning with "5568 16," a new charge card will not be issued to you as part of the general charge card re-issuance process;

  • Vehicle-assigned fleet charge cards will not be included in the general charge card re-issuance scheduled for October-November 1999. The re-issuance of fleet charge cards is scheduled for January - February 2000; also,
  • Bureau of Land Management uniform charge cards will be issued separately prior to the general charge card re-issuance.

PHASED APPROACH TO CHARGE CARD RE-ISSUANCE

As stated in Bulletin # 3, individual charge cards will be issued in phases on a bureau-by-bureau grouping basis. Charge cards will be issued to DOI personnel in the following order:

Group # 1: Office of Surface Mining, Minerals Management Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service;

Group # 2: National Park Service;

Group # 3: Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Bureau of Reclamation;

Group # 4: U.S. Geological Survey, and the Office of the Secretary (including the Office of Trust Funds Management and the Office of Aircraft Services); and

Group # 5: Bureau of Land Management

ACCOUNT DATA VALIDATION/SIGN-OFF

Before charge cards are re-issued, card holder account data will be reviewed and validated for accuracy and signed off by bureau A/OPCs. Charge cards should be in the mail 10 to 14 CALENDAR DAYS FOLLOWING ACCOUNT VALIDATION/SIGN- OFF.

WHEN IS MY BUREAU A/OPC SCHEDULED TO VALIDATE/SIGN-OFF FOR INDIVIDUAL CARDS FOR MY BUREAU GROUP?

Validation/sign-off is scheduled for the following dates by bureau group:

Group # 1 (OSM, MMS, FWS): October 8, 1999

Group #2 (NPS): October 15, 1999

Group #3 (BIA, BOR): October 22, 1999

Group #4 (USGS, OS): October 29, 1999

Group #5 (BLM): November 5, 1999

Remember, charge cards should be in the mail 10 to 14 calendar days following account validation/sign-off.

In the mean time, continue to use your current charge cards. They will remain valid until you receive and activate your new cards. Upcoming bulletins regarding charge card re-issuance will cover: (1) receipt of re-issued cards and related mailings; (2) card activation, and other guidance.