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Third Amended Agreement for Merchant Payment <br />Services with TransFirst, LLC <br />June 6, 2017 <br />Page 2 <br />This agreement with Vizant was entered into in recognition of the highly commoditized nature of <br />credit card merchant payment processing, services in which price, among competent service <br />suppliers, is typically the primary component of the selection process. The agreement authorized <br />Vizant to lead a City RFP in the event their analysis indicated a potentially realizable long-term <br />savings by re -bidding credit card merchant processing services. During the term of this <br />agreement Vizant's continuous analyzes indicated that no long-term net costs savings could be <br />realized when comparing potential competing providers against TransFirst's reduced credit card <br />merchant payment processing rate. <br />On that basis, City Council in June 2015, approved a First Amended Agreement with TransFirst <br />(Agreement #A-2015-117) to extend the term of the existing agreement with TransFirst <br />(Agreement #A-2014-071) through June 30, 2016 with a further option exercisable by the City <br />Manager to extend the agreement by letter for one additional year from July 1, 2016 through <br />June 30, 2017. The First Amended Agreement included an annual 'expenditure cap of <br />$95,000. However, due to the rapid growth in credit card payments made by residents and <br />businesses, both in terms of number of transactions and sales volume, staff anticipated that <br />the annual cap might be exceeded. As such, on June 21, 2016, the annual cap amount was <br />increased to $165,000 per year via a Second Amended Agreement (Agreement #A-2014-148). <br />On June 27, 2016, the City exercised its option to extend the underlying TransFirst agreement to <br />June 30, 2017. <br />Subsequently, in February 2017, the Police Department replaced its parking citation processor, <br />Phoenix Group, with a new processor, Data Ticket, Inc. (Agreement #A-2017-026) requiring an <br />upgraded integration with the City's city-wide cashiering system and payment kiosk for which <br />TransFirst is incorporated as credit card merchant processor. Therefore, staff recommends <br />extending TransFirst's contract for one additional year to allow the City time to fully assess the <br />upgraded functionality of the system prior to issuing an RFP before December 31, 2017, in <br />connection with future merchant payment services commencing July 1, 2018. <br />STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT <br />Approval of this item assists the City in meeting Goal #4 City Financial Stability, Objective #1 <br />(maintain a stable, efficient and transparent financial environment) and Goal #7 - Team <br />Santa Ana, Objective #5F (explore opportunities to engage with outside agencies, both <br />private and public, to share information and increase efficiencies). <br />FISCAL IMPACT <br />Funds up to the annual amount of $165,000 in account no. (various -62300) are budgeted and <br />available, upon Council approval for FY 2017-18 on an allocated basis in various departmental <br />accounts. <br />25C-2 <br />