Credit Card RFP Questions for Pre-Proposal Conference 3/28/19

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1 Credit Card RFP Questions for Pre-Proposal Conference 3/28/19 What is the District s timeline for vendor demonstrations and award decision? The RFP closes on April 11 th and we hope to have demos the next week for the top 2-3 vendors and then make the award later that week. What are the pain points of the current payment / receipting system that the District hopes to improve upon? The current payment solution is cash or check. We don t currently have a credit card solution at all for these points of sale. The pain points are the time consuming task of counting cash, maintaining appropriate controls, NSF checks, and daily deposits to the bank for the bookkeepers. The system should have an easily understandable and accessible reporting system for the bookkeepers to understand and reconcile on a monthly basis. Does the District desire School Fee Management (creating fees, assessing students, billing parents, collecting payments and reconciling accounts) in addition to in-person and online credit card processing? There are a number of different types of school fees. Course-related fees are currently collected using a separate system that interfaces with our student database where course information is maintained. We do not plan to replace this system at this time. We are interested in the other receipts at our schools. For those fees, we would like school-based staff to be able to create their own fees or charges, collect payments, and reconcile the payments both in-person and online. In addition to credit card processing services, does the District desire an online storefront to sell optional items and collect payment for activity fees and other items from students and parents? This was not in the required minimum specifications but we would be interested in exploring this application in our district.

2 Does the District currently absorb some or all of the cost for online payments or does the District pass on convenience fees to parents? If passing on convenience fees to parents, what is the current rate / charge per transaction? The district currently passes the fees on to the parents for activity fees. This may or may not continue depending upon the decided pricing structure in the contract. Currently, our system collecting course-related fees passes a fee of 2.99% onto the payers, and our system adding funds to our student lunchroom accounts charges $2.50 per transaction. Does the District desire the ability to associate a fee or optional item with a General Ledger Account? Yes, JCPS would like to have a GL account associated with each assessed fee. Does the District desire integration with Infinite Campus SIS, to record payments and transactions against specific student accounts? Integration with SIS can also bring across Free and Reduced financial status for waivers and student schedules to assess course fees. Not at this time. We currently have a solution for this. Does the District charge for course-based fees? (e.g. AP exams, career and technology ed, material and supply fees?) If so, what system is currently used to collect these types of payments? Yes, EZPay is our current vendor for this solution. Does the District desire the ability to track free and reduced waivers on school fees? This was not one of the required minimum specifications but we would like to explore this functionality. Does the District desire the ability to generate student account statements? This was not one of the required minimum specifications but we would like to explore this functionality.

3 Does the District desire the ability to mass assign a mandatory fee to a pre-defined group, grade, or course of students? No, we are not planning to interface with our student information system. Does the District desire the ability to collect information through online forms at the same time as an online payment? We will need enough information to properly code and credit the deposit, including payer s name, payment amount, and payment item description paid. If you recommend additional information be collected and you are the successful proposer, we can discuss during implementation. Does the District have a ball park number for the annual total amount of their non-lunch payment collections? We anticipate that many payments will continue to be made in cash or check, and approximate $1 million was collected using a separate card system for course-related fees. Our total school-based collections were $22.6 million during the school year and $20.6 million during the school year. Our schools will have the option to use credit card technology, since their decision will be dependent on equipment costs, staffing considerations, and preferences. Accordingly, we anticipate only a portion of the total collections will be converted to card payments. Do you have a preferred vendor payment option; for example a fixed rate annual licensing fee with no additional costs or a variable rate transactional fee based on usage? We would like to look at both pricing structures. Does the District prefer Interchange / Cost Plus pricing OR Qualified / Non-Qualified pricing for credit card processing? We prefer Interchange / Cost Plus pricing. If you only offer Qualified / Non-Qualified pricing, please include in detail the evaluation criteria for being charged the qualified vs. mid-qualified vs. non-qualified rates or at least include the percent we can expect to pay at each level based on your experience.

4 Do you have a preference for a higher year 1 costs and lower subsequent annual costs or a flat rate for each year? We do not have a preference. Purpose & Intent of Request for Proposal Paragraph 1: With the exception of school meals and registration/course fees that are interfaced with your student information system, what was the total volume generated with checks & cash in 2018? We anticipate that many payments will continue to be made in cash or check, and approximate $1 million was collected using a separate card system for course-related fees. Our total schoolbased collections were $22.6 million during the school year and $20.6 million during the school year. Our schools will have the option to use credit card technology, since their decision will be dependent on equipment costs, staffing considerations, and preferences. Accordingly, we anticipate only a portion of the total collections will be converted to card payments. Purpose & Intent of Request for Proposal Paragraph 1: From the revenues generated in question 1, what was the average transaction? We do not have this data available. Certainly, transactions may range from late library book fines of less than one dollar up to the low thousands of dollars for a spring break trip to Europe with a foreign language class. Our estimate is that transactions would be skewed toward the low end as entry into sporting events, field trip costs, concession stand purchases, and most fundraisers would yield a transaction amount of $30 or less. Scope of Services #2: Besides debit and credit cards, will JCPS have the need to process checks? Not beyond our traditional processes. Scope of Services #11: Does JCPS wish to have the proposed equipment keep track of inventory/stock of the items mentioned? This was not one of the required minimum specifications but we would like to explore this functionality. Would the JCPS like to also accept echeck/ach payments? This was not one of the required minimum specifications but we would like to explore this functionality. Do you predict a need for billing options i.e. recurring payments? Not at this time.

5 We understand that merchant services is not setup for all of JCPS, however are there any schools that are using any merchant solutions today? Some locations have implemented their own solution. This proposal would replace these solutions. In reference to convenience fee, is JCPS interested in absorbing fees or passing along the fee to the end user? We would like to explore both options. In reference to Page 18, Scope of Services question 1: could JCPS elaborate on the need for kiosks? In our first review of card acceptance services, we would like to look into all options, including kiosks, in case these options work in our environment. In reference to Page 18, Scope of Services question 1: could you confirm if you mean the ability to text receipts when referring to text (Apply Pay, Android Pay, etc.)? Text refers to the receipt delivery method. What is the anticipated Award Date? Our goal is to submit this for award to our Board of Education at their meeting on May 14, What is the anticipated Go-Live Date? We plan to begin by piloting a select group of schools during the school year. The timing depends on a number of factors including difficulty of implementation, any contract approval challenges, or other unforeseen matters. What is the anticipated Implementation Date? We plan to begin by piloting a select group of schools during the school year. The timing depends on a number of factors including difficulty of implementation, any contract approval challenges, or other unforeseen matters. Will finalists be allowed to demonstrate proposed solution? If so, when? Yes, the finalists will be asked to do a demo tentatively scheduled on April 16 th. What is the number of serving lines? NOTE: for internal purposes only. We will not be utilizing the Credit Card RFP for cafeterias at this time; they use a different software system. What software programs do you use for central office and school accounting? JCPS uses Munis for central office accounting and EPES for school accounting.