Citibank and 800 Program Managers get a

Fresh Perspective in Miami

Last year, participation at the conference focused onprogram development and electronic commerce.This year, Citibank delivered a series of hands-ontraining sessions that was designed to help A/OPCssee the benefits of product enhancements and gainvaluable information that will assist in managingeffective card programs.

Focus on Training

This training conference attracted atotal of 2,470 attendees of whomapproximately 800 were A/OPCswith a Citibank program.Citibank’s valued participantshad the opportunity to choosefrom 29 presentations and hands-on training sessions of variedprograms. The presentations includedBest Practices and CustomerRoundtables where Citibank andProgram A/OPC Managers hosteddiscussions on the Purchase Cardand Travel Card. The roundtablediscussions were well attendedand received high marks in

The Third Annual GSA SmartPay Conference, held the week of August

13, 2001 in Miami Beach at the Fontainebleau Hotel, set the stage for

Citibank to provide a fresh perspective on ways to manage successful

travel, purchase and fleet card programs.

the post-conference evaluations. Many customersremarked that the roundtables “could be even longer.”That change is one “we will gladly make next year”,according to Tara Hays, the Director of BusinessDevelopment for Citibank Commercial Cards, GovernmentServices. The Citibank Government Services team is

committed to empowering your business forsuccess. The Citibank product training

sessions allowed Citibank to givecustomers new and innovative tools

to manage their card programs.An A/OPC who attended thesessions said that she “enjoyedthe expanded hands-on trainingsessions and seeing the enhance-

ments in the reporting capabilitiesfor on-line program management

of the CitiExpertSM system” (alsoknown as the CitiDirect® system).

A “Welcome” Decision

Citibank’s decision to create a Customer Welcome Centerinstead of taking booth space in the exhibit hall provedanother successful innovation. Attendees said Citibankhad created “the best way to network with customers.”

commercialcards

I N S I D E

The $2,500 Question

MasterCard EnhancedMerchant Data Reporting System

United We Stand

newsgovernment F A L L 2 0 0 1

Citibank®e-Business

Copyright © 2001 by Citibank N.A.All rights reserved. CommercialCards Government Services Newsis published by Commercial Cards,a business unit of Citibank N.A. andis intended for use by the clientsof its card issuing Affiliates.Thispublication may not be reprintedwithout the express written consentof Citibank N.A. Citibank (SouthDakota), N.A. issues corporatecards in the U.S. Citibank Canadaissues corporate cards in Canada.(continued on next page)

Key

Mes

sage

The end of the year 2001 is fast approaching and it seems like agood time to reflect on the successes and major milestones of thepast twelve months.

• This year we completed all of the 26 reports required under the GSA SmartPay contract. Those reports are available via theCitiExpertSM system (also known as the CitiDirect® system).

• The enhanced Citibank statement format arrived in March 2001and has been most appreciated by our agency customers. The 19 modifications were based on feedback from a customer focusgroup as well as the TAG group.

• Usage of CitiDirect continues to grow as agencies roll out toadditional sites. There are now 74 agencies using the cardmanagement and reporting system and 25,000 users. CitiDirectaverages 9 million hits per month and growing!

• Core allocation was released to all customers this year and several agencies are in the process of implementing this feature(Department of Labor, OCC, US Mint and Smithsonian).We are very excited about several of these features which allowour customers to feed information to their accounting systems,saving time and money!

• The TAG group has been very involved in helping Citibank deliverthe features and functionality that you need. The TAG meets monthlyproviding direction for development, setting priorities, reviewingproduct specifications and release schedules, assisting us with testingand approving the final product. Kudos to our TAG group forinsuring that we develop critical enhancements that fit the bill.

• All 261 agency and organizations have renewed their task orderswith Citibank. We appreciate your business and thank you foryour continued commitment.

For 2002, our key objectives are:

• Retain all agency card programs by continuing to provide goodservice and building upon strong client relationships

• To be responsive to any special needs that arise due to the govern-ment’s current efforts to combat terrorist activities

• Continue to develop our system capabilities to meet the uniqueand changing needs of government

• Introduce new products and services to enhance your card programs, to aid in processing efficiencies, and to support yourbusiness procurement objectives

• Continue to identify “best practices” with our agencies and corporations for the benefit of all government customers

• Reduce paper in all areas (i.e., invoices, reports, payments, etc.)• Assist you in reducing or maintaining low delinquency rates

Citibank is proud to be your service provider and we wish youcontinued success in 2002. We look forward to facing the uniquechallenges of the federal government with you in this ever-changingworld.

With best regards,

Tara Hays, Director Business DevelopmentGovernment Cards Services

A message from Tara Hays

Indeed, the Visa Purchase card can be used for purchasesboth large and small. However, there is a misperceptionamong government agencies that it cannot be used forpurchases exceeding $2,500. This simply is not the case.

In an effort to set the record straight, The VisaExchange recently spoke with Bruce Sullivan, Directorof the Department of Defense Purchase Card Program.The Defense Department’s purchase card program hasover 250,000 participants and has total annual purchasesin excess of $5.5 billion. In the January issue of TheVisa Exchange, Mr. Sullivan discusses how the DefenseDepartment utilizes the Visa Purchase card for many ofits larger purchases, including major office equipment.

For more information on Visa’s SmartPay SolutionsProgram or if you would like to receive The Visa Exchange,please contact your Citibank Business or ClientDevelopment Manager.

Can you or can’t you use the Visa

Purchase card for purchases exceed-

ing $2,500? This seems to be the

question many government agencies

have been asking of late.

The $2,500Question!

(continued from first page)All work and no play wasn’t the name of the game!Keeping with tradition, Citibank hosted a party wherecustomers and other attendees gathered at the “MoonOver Miami” party in the legendary Eden Roc hotel.Several thousand, conference attendees participated,enjoying the “50s glamour” with the music and theambiance of that old TV star era.

Looking Ahead

Next year in 2002, San Francisco, CA is the predeterminedplace for the GSA SmartPay Conference. Citibank plansto deliver more customer roundtables and even morehands-on training sessions. We are once again lookingforward to seeing you – our valued customers.

With the MasterCard Enhanced Merchant DataReporting System, (EMR) government agenciescan get detailed data on their purchasingcard transactions 24 hours a day, seven daysa week. This Web-based, state of the ar treporting system provides critical informationabout spending breakdowns among small,minority- and women-owned businesses aswell as a host of other important data thatcan help you do your job more efficiently.

The MasterCard EnhancedMerchant Data Reporting System:AN ONLINE REPORTING APPLICATION TO EASILY,ACCURATELY

TRACK YOUR AGENCY’S SPENDING

How much money is your organization spending with small,

minority- and women-owned businesses?

TechView

TRAINING! TRAINING!

TRAINING!Did you know that your Citibankteam has a dedicated trainingenvironment just to serve youbetter? This new environmentwill be updated with the latestrelease of the software weeksprior to it going into production.This means that your CitibankTeam will be able to “tell andshow” the new features andfunctions ahead of time so thatyou’re not left wondering what’snew. This will help in your train-ing efforts and you'll also havetime to think about how you willenable the latest functionality inyour corporate or governmentenvironment. Working with yourCitibank Team (Client AccountManager or Solutions Engineer),you will be able to plan for theseupcoming enhancements. Thisis a feature that you’ve askedfor, and we listened!

Extra…Extra…New Releases!December is shaping up to be abusy month for both our govern-ment and corporate clients. Wewill be installing a new corporaterelease on December 10, 2001,and a new government releaseon December 17. Your ClientAccount Managers and SolutionsEngineers will provide you witha heads-up of all the new featuresand functionality. They will beable to demonstrate the productto you in our brand new trainingenvironment prior to the releasegoing live. Just contact one ofyour Citibank representativesand they’ll be able to walk youthrough the new features.

The MasterCard Enhanced Merchant DataReporting System holds data from over 3 million merchants that is consolidated bypurchasing organization, and supports threelevels of hierarchy for the company or agency(e.g., agency, division, and department). Thedata provided by EMR provides your agencywith the most complete, accessible merchantview available in the market today. Importantly,the data is in compliance with recentlyestablished GSA guidelines for annual socio-economic reporting, which require detailedinformation about:

• Database completeness: EMR will provide abreakdown of both the total number ofmerchants that do business with the

government and the percentage of thosemerchants for which socio-economicinformation is available.

• Data sources: EMR will help cardholdersidentify the source of the data for eachclassification of merchant (e.g., self-certified,third party certified or other third party)

• Government Wide, Department of Defenseand Civilian Statistics: EMR will enablecardholders to identify for each transaction,

the number of transactions,transactions as a percentageof all classifications, total dollars,dollars as a percentage of allclassifications, merchants andnumber of merchants as apercentage of all classifications.

Cardholders can access EMR data through MasterCardOnLine, our secure Internetserver, and data can bedelivered in a variety of formats

electronically to the desktop. Cardholderscan request preformatted or customizedreports, in addition to one of the many datafiles available for easy manipulation.

Now your agency can pinpoint not onlywhere its money is being spent but also how– whether for office supplies or vendor services.Moreover, you can track and get credit forsupplier spending with specific supplier groupsor other program goals.

To learn more about the MasterCardEnhanced Merchant Data Reporting Systemor to find a tailored solution that fits yourneeds, please contact your Citibank ClientDevelopment Manager.

The tragic events of September 11 forced us to change

the way we live. And for many companies and government

agencies, the terrorist attacks also forced a temporary

change in the way they do business.

In the aftermath of September 11,individuals and organizationsscrambled to maintain a sense oforder during the chaos. Immediatelyfollowing the attacks, the U.S.Customs Service assembled a specialteam of logistics managementspecialists and warranted contractingofficers that traveled from Indianapolisto New York City to assess the situation.The team focused on determining what wasnecessary to quickly restore operations tothe New York office, including assisting withspace acquisition, analyzing systems, purchasingfurniture, and ordering everything fromcomputers to standard office supplies.

The Customs Service, which is respon-sible for controlling our country’s borders,has been a Citibank Purchase Card customersince 1991. Although the card is primarilyused for micro-purchases (under $2,500), theextraordinary circumstances of September 11called for extraordinary measures. The CustomsService and Citibank temporarily increasedcardholder limits up to $50,000 for single-purchase transactions and a $300,000 monthlylimit, enabling those individuals on-site inNew York to make payments for goods andservices based on the verbal order of acontracting officer.

“Based on the urgent and compellingrequirements at the time, we implementedthe practice of verbal orders followed byauthorization of payment with the card to secureoffice space and other necessary supplies,”said Jim Sweat, Purchase Card ProgramCoordinator for the U.S. Customs Service.“With so many companies vying for limited

resources, the atmosphere wasvery competitive and we neededthe ability to make purchases onthe spot.”

In addition, some CustomsService personnel lost PurchaseCards and convenience checks inthe collapse of the Customs Houseat 6 World Trade Center. Citibank

Customer Service was quick to respond byimmediately issuing replacement cards andchecks that were delivered to New York Cityas soon as overnight delivery service wasreinstated. Citibank Client Account Specialists(CAS Managers) worked extended hours

during the crisis to ensure the highest levelof service and responsiveness.

“Citibank’s help in raising limits andgetting cards out as soon as possible really

helped us get back on our feet,” said Sweat.“They have been extremely responsive to ourneeds and instrumental in helping us fulfillour requirements.”

In the wake of the attacks, the CustomsService is trying to return to business as usual,while also looking for new ways to expandthe horizons of its Purchase Card program.One example is the service's Miami office,which often encounters smugglers attemptingto bring drugs into the country by swallowingor concealing them in various body cavities.This sometimes requires the detained individualto be hospitalized for physical care as CustomsOfficers await the passage of the drugcontainers. While in the hospital, the CustomsService is responsible for all of the suspect’smedical costs, even those unrelated to thesmuggled drugs.

United We StandCITIBANK HELPS U.S. CUSTOMS SERVICE WORK THROUGH CRISIS

2002

National Conference of theAmerican Society of MilitaryComptrollers (PDI)May 28 - 31Denver, CO

AGA Professional Development ConferenceJuly 7 -10Atlanta, GA

VA IT Conference (VA ITC)August 5-8Austin,TX

GSA SmartPay ConferenceAugust 27 - 29San Francisco, CA

Leadership VA Alumni Association Forum (LVAAA)August 18-21St. Petersburg, FL

To help streamline the payment process,the bureau issued a requirement contract formedical services that enabled a cardholder inMiami to pay for medical costs up to $10,000per case. In addition, the warranted contractingofficer who issued and awarded the contractwas given a card with a $100,000 single-purchasetransaction limit to cover any excess charges.“This enables the local hospital to use the cardfor prompt payment and we, in turn, have agreat paper trail that is established by usingthe card,” Sweat said. “It’s definitely a win-winsituation for us.” The Customs Service islooking to expand this program at medicalfacilities in other areas including San Diegoand other points of entry where this situationis encountered. And as the service's needscontinue to change, its Purchase Card programevolves with it. “We benefit by using the cardas a payment mechanism against contractedservices and are exploring other contractualmechanisms where this might work to thebenefit of the service by streamlining the entireprocess and making payments,” said Sweat.

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