Government Procurement Card (GPC Visa)
Streamlined processes and greater control for the public sector
- Simplifies high-volume, low value transactions, greatly reducing paperwork and processing time
- Management Information reports for transparency and accountability
- Meets prompt payment legislation with suppliers being paid within 10 days
- Spending limits and restrictions can be set, giving you total control
- No card or transaction fees to pay
Overview
How GPC Visa helps your organisation
Our public sector cards provide a fast and efficient way of purchasing different types of goods and services, from office supplies to the wages of temporary staff.
The benefits and savings are equally as valuable to local councils, universities and police departments as they are to central government agencies.
High-volume, low value transactions are simplified and employees benefit from greater flexibility as the cards can be used in person, over the phone or online. As the UK's leading issuer of GPC Visa, we can help your organisation meet government efficiency targets, while making savings locally.
Deliver recognised savings to the public purse
Thanks to a pre-negotiated framework agreement with Buying Solutions, all public sector organisations benefit from improved commercial terms with Barclaycard's GPC Visa.
Savings include:
- No annual card fees
- Significantly less paperwork and environmental impact
- Reduced time and cost of processing invoices and orders
- Discounts from Comet, Argos Business Solutions and other leading suppliers
Promotes financial transparency and accountability
Our Enhanced Management Information software can be customised for your organisation, giving you access to electronic reports and creating a clear audit trail.
A suite of tools enables you to track, report and extract data about purchasing activity, so you monitor who's spending what, where and with whom.
Streamlines processes so you meet efficiency targets
GPC Visa enables you to streamline time consuming processes and reduces administration, paperwork and bureaucracy.
Since the government's prompt payment pledge to pay SMEs in 10 days to ease cash flow in the current economy, GPC Visa pays suppliers in as little as four days. So organisations, like yours, can exceed these targets without losing interest on deposits – as we pay suppliers on your behalf. You then make a single payment to us at the agreed time.
Empowers staff without relinquishing control
Give employees a way to make payments in person, online or over the phone that's within your control. Keeping track of payments is simple with online access to view balances, transaction details and amend individual credit limits.
You will find it easier to enforce procurement policies and, in the event of inappropriate spending, our free Cardholder Misuse Insurance protects your organisation from liability.
To help you monitor employee use, GPC Visa cards allow you to set:
- different levels of purchasing authority for staff
- built-in safeguards such as monthly credit limits
- trade category restrictions.
How it works
Using a Government Procurement Card
When you sign up for a GPC Visa account, our dedicated public sector team will work closely with you to ensure its seamless integration into your organisation.
Implementing it
Our UK-based customer services team is there to help managers and administrators get the most from GPC Visa cards.
You will find it quick and easy to integrate into your existing procurement and expense management systems, with our experts there to help with raising internal awareness of your new card programme.
Working with suppliers
We ensure cards can be used with suppliers of your choice, by identifying key suppliers that currently accept GPC Visa cards and helping those that don't to introduce the payment system.
Embedding card details into your systems and lodging them with suppliers as a preferred method of payment creates a virtual and seamless procurement system that keeps the number of issued cards to a minimum.
Organisations that qualify
Could your organisation benefit from a GPC Visa?
To check if your specific organisation is eligible, here's an excerpt from the regulations that define what falls within the public sector.
According to Regulation 3 of the Public Services Contracts Regulation of 1993, and amended in the Public Contracts (Works, Services and Supply) (Amendment) Regulations of 2000, the following types of public sector organisations or ‘contracting authorities’ qualify:
- Central, Civil Government Departments and Agencies
- Non-Departmental Public Bodies (listed in the latest edition of the Civil Service Yearbook)
- Wider Public Sector Organisations such as Local Authorities and Counties
- Councils, Education, Health Authorities, Emergency Services
Exact definition of a public sector organisation (Regulation 3)
- For the purposes of these Regulations, each of the following is a contracting authority:
- Minister of the Crown
- a government department
- the House of Commons
- a local authority
- a fire authority constituted by a combination scheme under the Fire Services Act 1947
- the Fire Authority for Northern Ireland
- a police authority constituted under section 2 of the Police Act 1964 or a combined police authority established by an amalgamation scheme under that Act
- the Police Authority for Northern Ireland
- an authority established under section 10 of the Local Government Act 1985
- a joint authority established by Part IV of that Act
- any body established pursuant to an order under section 67 of that Act
- the Broads Authority
- any joint board the constituent members of which consist of any of the bodies specified in paragraphs (f), (g), (i), (k), (l), (m) and (n) above
- a joint or special planning board constituted for a National Park by an order under paragraphs 1 or 3 of Schedule 17 to the Local Government Act 1972
- a joint education board constituted under the provisions of Part I of the First Schedule to the Education Act 1944
- a corporation established, or a group of individuals appointed to act together, for the specific purposes of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character and:
- financed wholly or mainly by another contracting authority or
- subject to management supervision by another contracting authority or
- more than half of the board of directors or members of which, or, in the case of a group of individuals, more than half of these individuals, being appointed by another contracting authority.
- an association of or formed by one or more of the above
- In the application of these Regulations to England and Wales, "local authority" in paragraph (1) above means
- a county council, a district council, a London borough council, a parish council, a community council, or the Council of the Isles of Scilly;
- the Common Council of the City of London in its capacity as local authority or police authority.
- In the application of these Regulations to Scotland, "local authority" in paragraph (1) above means a regional, islands or district council or any joint board or joint committee within the meaning of section 235 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.
- In he application of these Regulations to Northern Ireland, "local authority" in paragraph (1) above means a district council within the meaning of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972.
- Where an entry specified in paragraph (1) above does not have the capacity to enter into a contract, the contracting authority in relation to that entity means a person whose function it is to enter into contracts for that entity.
