CITY OF MIDDLETON REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FOR CITY BANKING SERVICES

Transcription

1 CITY OF MIDDLETON REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FOR CITY BANKING SERVICES January 30, 2013 y:\bank\rfp\final banking rfp docx 1

2 CITY OF MIDDLETON, WISCONSIN BANKING SERVICES REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL I. INTRODUCTION A. Purpose of Request The City of Middleton, Wisconsin ( City ) is seeking proposals for comprehensive banking services commencing July 1, 2013 and continuing through December 31, 2015 with an option to renew for additional twelve-month periods, as needed. The successful Bank (or financial institution, referred to as Bank in the RFP) will provide the City with normal and traditional banking services including but not limited to general check clearing, deposit services, ACH services, wire transfer services and currency and coin handling and exchange. The City is also interested in exploring the possible use of new services such as positive pay and electronically processing deposit checks and perhaps others suggested by the Bank. The banking services contract shall not be an exclusive contract nor shall the contract preclude the City from obtaining banking or investment services from any other Bank. The City s banking needs are outlined in this Request for Proposal ( RFP ) in Section VI Scope of Requested Banking Services, Other Requirements and Questions. As used in this Request for Proposal document, the term proposal shall refer to the total package of price, service and other information requested by the City and submitted by a financial institution. As explained in this document, the award of the City s banking services will be based on the proposal judged to be most favorable to the City s interests based upon both cost/revenue consideration and the ability to effectively meet the City s banking service needs. B. General Information The City of Middleton s population is approximately 17,903. The City is west of Madison in Dane County. The City employs approximately 165 employees, 136 of whom are full time. The current City bank accounts are listed in Section II C of this Request for Proposal. This RFP involves only accounts payable and receivable funds. Payroll is currently at a bank separate from accounts payable and this relationship will most likely continue. C. Time Schedule The City will attempt to follow this timetable, which should result in the implementation of a banking services agreement by May 28, Issue RFP February 7, 2013 Pre-bid conference February 13, 2013 Deadline to Submit Questions March 4, 2013 Written Response to Questions March 15, 2013 Proposal Submittal Due Date April 19, 2013 Interview with Finalists (if needed) April 25-26, 2013 City Council Contract Award May 21, 2013 Implementation to Begin May 28,

3 New Contract Begins July 1, 2013 D. Pre-Bid Conference A pre-bid conference will be held on February 13, 2013 in City Hall, Council Chambers to address any initial questions and discuss the RFP. E. The City is not liable for any costs incurred by Banks in replying to this RFP. All costs associated with preparation and submissions of proposals are the sole responsibility of the Bank. II. BANK QUALIFICATIONS A. Bank Qualifications For a proposal to this RFP to be considered and evaluated, the Bank must: 1. Be insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or its equivalent. 2. Be authorized to do business in the State of Wisconsin. 3. Comply with all Federal, State of Wisconsin and local laws. 4. Have a full service facility (or branch) in the City of Middleton. 5. All responding banks must provide all requested information and respond to all questions. 6. Be an on-line cash and securities member of the Federal Reserve. 7. Be able to provide 110% of collateralization of all City deposits. 8. Include with the proposal a copy of a recent investment rating report provided by a nationally recognized rating agency. 9. Have the capacity of providing all Required Services internally without the use of joint ventures, consortiums or contract service providers because of control issues. B. Collateral Security The selected Bank must enter into a depository agreement requiring the Bank to pledge collateral to secure all City funds over and above the amounts guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. All securities serving as collateral shall be specifically pledged to the City (not part of a pooled fund) and placed in a custodial account at a Federal Reserve Bank, a trust department of a commercial bank, or through another financial institution. The custodian may not be owned or controlled by the depository institution or its holding company unless it is a separately operated trust institution. The custodian shall send statements of pledged collateral to the City s Finance Department on at least a monthly basis and whenever changes occur. The type of collateral used must be acceptable to the City. Acceptable collateral types include: 1. Securities of the U.S. Treasury of U.S. Government Agencies as defined by the Federal Reserve. 2. U.S. government guaranteed securities, such as those issued through the Small Business Administration, are acceptable as long as they are fully guaranteed. 3. General obligations of municipalities are acceptable to the extent that they are rated highest or second highest by Moody s Investors Service, Inc (Aaa or Aa1), Standard and Poors Corporation (AAA or AA) or other nationally recognized rating agency. 3

4 4. Other legal collateral instruments authorized by state statute and approved by the City Common Council. III. SELECTION CRITERIA (Not Prioritized nor Weighted) The following unranked criteria will be used to evaluate the responses and to select the winning proposer: A. Protection of public funds B. Complete response to all required response items on the standard forms provided; C. Full service bank or branch located in the City of Middleton; D. Provision of adequate and desired collateral; E. Financial condition of Bank providing proposal; F. Ability to meet current and projected service requirements over the term of the banking agreement (any past experiences with the bank will be taken into consideration); G. Ability to provide numerous proven and reliable electronic banking services; H. Cost and schedule of providing services; I. Best earnings credit rate (ECR) on required compensating balance, if any; J. Best rate of interest paid on accounts; K. Best availability schedule for deposit items, and L. Interest Rates / Fees for Services. M. Ability to provide enhanced services (new services, emerging technologies) N. Experience with local government clients O. Quality of references P. Cost to the government, e.g. fees Q. Insured by the FDIC or its equivalent When the City has tentatively selected the successful proposer, a meeting may be requested to formulate implementation plans in greater detail, to clarify any unclear items, and to otherwise complete negotiations prior to the formal award. At any time during the meeting, the City may choose to modify the choice of a selected proposer, if there is just cause and the City determines that such a change would be in the best interest of the City. IV. INSTRUCTIONS TO PROPOSERS A. Introduction The City expects all proposals to address all issues and subject matters identified in Section VI, A-V. The City reserves the right to determine if responses are inadequate and fail to provide sufficient responses for evaluation and ultimate selection purposes. This Request for Proposal has been developed in order to provide adequate information for financial institutions to prepare definite proposals and to permit the City to fully consider the various factors that may affect its decision. If, however, additional information is needed, questions regarding specific items in the RFP should be submitted via by March 1, 2013 to: jlehman@ci.middleton.wi.us. Written answers for all questions submitted will be ed by March 15, 2013 to all 4

5 financial institutions which are eligible to submit an RFP. It is the responsibility of the proposer to submit valid addresses to the City no later than February 22, B. Addendum Any additional information or addendum to this solicitation document will be issued by the City prior to the submittal deadline. Interested Banks are solely responsible for obtaining any additional information or addendum issues by the City. The City shall post such information onto the City website ( and may additionally mail such information directly to known interested Banks. C. Sealed Proposals The City shall receive sealed proposals completed on forms provided by the City and bearing on the outside the name and address of the proposer and the words City of Middleton Banking Service Proposal. D. Signature The proposal must be signed in the name of the proposer and must bear the handwritten signature of the person(s) duly authorized to sign the proposal. The name(s), office address, office telephone number(s) of the authorized contact person(s) and address(es) must also be clearly identified. E. Copies Three (3) copies of the RFP, each bearing the original signatures of an officer the Bank, must be submitted to the following location no later than 4:00 pm on April 19, It is the sole responsibility of the bidder to ensure that the proposal arrives on time at the designated place: Courier & US Postal Service Address: City of Middleton Attn: Finance Director/Asst. City Administrator 7426 Hubbard Avenue Middleton, Wisconsin F. Invalid Submittal No fax, or telephone proposals will be accepted. returned unopened. Late proposals shall be G. Fee Schedule Proposals will not be given consideration unless comprehensive fee schedule is included in the proposal packet. If there will be no fees charged, then please state such. H. Cannot Meet Requirement If a service requirement cannot be met by proposer, then the Cannot Meet Requirement line should be checked on Attachment C, Checklist and Certification, for that service requirement. The bidder may offer an alternative service. Acceptability of alternatives will be solely at the City s discretion. The City reserves the right to reject the proposer s entire proposal due to a deficiency in any of the required services. However, if the primary proposal response is acceptable to the 5

6 City (i.e., mitigating comments on such proposal item deemed acceptable) the proposal will be considered and evaluated. I. Submission Clarity Proposals should be prepared simply and economically, providing a straight-forward, concise description of provider capabilities to satisfy the requirements of the request. Special bindings, colored displays, promotional materials, etc. are not desired. Emphasis should be on completeness and clarity of content. J. Supporting Materials Supporting materials may be submitted; however, the decision in selecting the most responsive proposer will be based on the standard forms (exhibits) provided. K. Public Information Submittals are considered public information once a proposal is opened by the City. Only under limited circumstances can submittal information be considered proprietary and not subject to public disclosure. In no case can a Bank indicate that their entire submittal is proprietary and the City shall make the sole determination of what information may be considered proprietary based upon the City interpretation of Public Disclosure laws. L. Terms and Conditions: 1. The City reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, to waive any irregularities or informalities in any proposal or in the proposal procedures, and to accept or reject any item or combination of items. The award will be made to the proposer whose proposal complies with all the requirements set forth in this RFP, and whose proposal in the opinion of the City, is the best proposal taking into consideration all aspects of the proposer s response, including the total net cost to the City. Exception costs will be added or subtracted from the submitted proposal to arrive at a net cost to the City. Failure to include an exception will render the exception as invalid and the proposer will be treated as being in compliance with the specification, regardless of intent. 2. In the event that the proposer to whom the services are awarded does not execute a contract within thirty (30) calendar days after the award of the bid, the City may give notice to such proposer of intent to award the contract to the next most qualified proposer or to call for new proposals and may proceed to act accordingly. The City assumes no cost by the proposers in preparation of this proposal. 3. Proposers shall thoroughly examine and be familiar with these specifications. The failure or omission of any proposer to receive or examine this document shall in no way relieve any proposer of obligations with respect to this proposal or the subsequent contract. 4. The contract may be terminated by either party by giving written notice to the other party no later than ninety (90) calendar days before the proposed termination date. This provision may be exercised only after the contract has been in effect for six (6) calendar months. The Bank shall be entitled to just and equitable compensation for any satisfactory work completed to the termination date. Under 6

7 no circumstances will any damages be paid as a result of the termination of this contract. If the Bank exercises the right to terminate the contract early, they cannot bid on future proposals for a period of seven (7) years. 5. Qualified proposing Banks must submit financial statements for the past two fiscal years. These statements must also include an auditor s unqualified opinion and appropriate notes to the financial statements. 6. Equal Employment Opportunity/Anti-Sexual Harassment Policy. During the term of this contract, the Financial Institution shall comply in all respects with the Equal Employment Opportunity Act. The Financial Institution shall have a written equal employment opportunity policy statement declaring that it does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or age. Findings of non-compliance with applicable state or federal equal employment opportunity laws and regulations may be sufficient reason for revocation or cancellation of this contract. 7. Successful bidder shall comply with the provisions of the Americans With Disabilities Act. 8. Failure to comply with any of these terms and conditions of this RFP by the awarded Bank will be cause for termination of the Banking Services Agreement to be entered into. M. Questions and Additional Information Requests for clarification or additional information should be ed to jlehman@ci.middleton.wi.us or dnelson@ci.middleton.wi.us. Responses to requests/questions will be furnished to all potential proposers that notify the City of their intent to submit a proposal. Cutoff date to receive requests in writing will be March 1, Requests received after March 1, 2013 will not be answered. V. PROPOSAL FORMAT Please follow this format carefully when responding to this Request for Proposal. A. Title Page/Cover: 1. This page should include the name of the proposing financial institution and its principal business address from which the relationship will be managed. B. Tab I - Table of Contents C. Tab II - Transmittal Letter 1. This letter should address your institution s willingness and commitment, if selected, to provide the services, and why your institution believes it should be selected. The letter should be addressed to John Lehman, Finance Director/Asst. City Administrator, City of Middleton, 7426 Hubbard Avenue, Middleton, Wisconsin and should be signed by the Relationship Manager assigned to our account. D. Tab III Financial Institution Staff and Profile 1. Overview: Provide a corporate overview of your financial institution including commitment to the City of Middleton and community involvement. 2. Experience: Describe your financial institution s experience in providing services to the public sector and in particular to local governments. Include extensive resources dedicated to the public sector/local government. Provide 7

8 at least three (3) references, including entity name, contact person, telephone number and address for clients most comparable to our size and financial needs. Include a brief description of the services provided and how long such services have been provided. b. Relationship Management: Describe the relationship team that will be assigned to service our relationship. Describe individual roles, responsibility and briefly detail credentials and related banking experiences. c. Customer Service: Describe the customer service process at your financial institution. Discuss the role of numbers and the use of communication in the servicing of our relationship. d. Provide address for each full service branch location which will be available for the City of Middleton business transactions. Full-service locations must have the ability to handle: o Currency and coin change orders; o Night deposits o Drive through window transactions open until at least 5:00 P.M., M-F. o In-person deposit processing o Assistance in counting large cash deposits e. Comprehensively discuss your financial institution s website for client use. This should include available on line initiated services, the ability to create ad hoc reports, view check and other transaction images, wire initiations, on line statements, etc. f. Provide the most recently audited financial statement for your financial institution. g. Provide documentation of your institution s SEC and/or Moody s credit rating or comparable rating. VI. SCOPE OF REQUESTED BANKING SERVICES, REQUIREMENTS & QUESTIONS A. Term of Agreement The banking services detailed in this section will be performed for the City, on a contractual basis for three (3) years, beginning on July 1, 2013 with an option to renew for two additional one (1) year periods. Terms specified in this proposal will remain fixed for the duration of the initial 3-year contract period. B. Collateralization of Account Balances The Bank must agree to obtain and maintain acceptable collateral sufficient to cover all anticipated and demand deposits, above the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) protection in effect at the time and the amount of coverage provided for under Wisconsin Statutes (1)(a) and 34.08(2). Securities used to pledge against time and demand deposits must be held in an independent third part safekeeping institution outside the Bank s holding company. The Bank will execute a triparty safekeeping agreement with the City and the Safekeeping bank for safekeeping of these securities. Collateral will be maintained at a minimum of 102% and marked to market at least once a month. Control will be shared jointly between the Bank and the entity. Substitution will be approved by the City and not unduly withheld. Substitutions of collateral will be requested in writing and new collateral will be received before the existing collateral is released. The proposal will name the safekeeping bank for collateral. Monthly reports detailing the adequacy of collateral 8

9 must be supplied by the Bank within five (5) business days of the close of each month to the City via to the Finance Director/Assistant City Administrator and the City Administrator. Any exception to this requirement must be detailed in proposal as an exception. C. Accounts Included: The City will require the following separate bank accounts, although some may be consolidated: 1. General checking and depository 2. Property tax 3. Golf 4. Utility 5. EMS 6. Court The combined regular average daily balance of all accounts is approximately $2.0 M - $4.0 M. However, resulting from the tax collection season the City can have upwards to nearly $30.0 Million in the property tax account. Most of this amount is distributed to the Middleton taxing district entities. The City makes two distributions to the Middleton taxing district entities; during the second week in January and the second and final one in the middle of February. The Bank is to provide a master consolidation account and zero balance accounts from which daily balance and detail reporting is available. D. On-Line Banking Services The City requires the successful proposer to provide On-Line web-based banking services and software. Please provide a description of the Bank s web-based products and services available. The software should be internet-based and include what security measures which are in place to ensure protection of the City s assets. This should include the use of security tokens or the equivalent for login use. Please also describe your Bank s computer maintenance procedures and downtimes. Also document your computer s actual reliability experience. At a minimum, the City wishes to use PC-based Banking for the following: Daily Balance Reporting (ledger, available and collected). Stipulate the time at which access is available and describe the system to be used. Reporting should include balance and detail reporting. Samples of the reports should be included in the proposal. Detailed debit and credit postings (cleared checks, deposits, chargebacks, wire transfers in and out, interest payments, etc.) with ability to download data into Microsoft Excel spreadsheet format. Initiation of internal account-to-account transfers, with account balances immediately updated after the transfer is submitted. Initiation of regular recurring wire transfers. Initiation of ACH debit and credit transactions. Ability to create saved instructions for recurring ACH debit (collection) or credit (direct deposit) type transactions. 9

10 Placement of stop payment orders. Please describe your stop payment services. Multi-level security for various City staff (e.g. inquiry only vs. full system administrator rights). Returned checks for insufficient funds with automated re-presentment tracking. Electronic storage of canceled checks and deposit terms for a minimum of 18 months with access granted to the City. E. Sweep Account Provisions If the City chooses, the Bank will be responsible for automatically sweeping the balances in all accounts daily to an investment option (e.g. money market, repo, etc.). Describe the sweep options and, if a money market fund is used, provide a prospectus. The accounts will be swept to the compensating balance. F. Investment of Idle Funds and Safekeeping of City Securities All certificates of deposit bought by the City will be purchased on a competitive basis. The City has no obligation to invest its funds with or through the selected Bank. If the Bank is proposing overnight repurchase agreements, an executed Master repurchase Agreement is required. In order to fulfill GASB III requirements for reporting, if a repurchase agreement is executed with the Bank itself, the collateral must be held in the trust department of the Bank in a separate account. All securities will be handled on a delivery versus payment (DVP) basis as they are cleared into and out of the account. All clearing and safekeeping will be in the Bank or its correspondent. All correspondent and safekeeping arrangements will be stipulated in the proposal. G. Automated Clearing House (ACH) The Bank must be both a sending and receiving bank on the Automated Clearing House system to accommodate a utility billing electronic payment collection program as well as future revenue collection systems. This service must also include full account blocks and filters. The City will also be exploring the possibility of implementing a system in which vendors would be paid via ACH. Please describe your ACH service, including: The method by which the City can submit ACH files or initiate ACH via your software Pre-notification policy and cost Re-presentment of checks (RCK) through ACH Your security measures for ACH initiation/origination and ACH reception H. Standard Disbursing Services Standard disbursing services are required to include the payment of all checks upon presentation. Please describe your disbursement services, including: Location of collection points Endpoint check cashing policies Number and timing of daily Fed letters Funding alternatives Transmission alternatives 10

11 Imaging options I. Standard Deposit Services The Bank must guarantee immediate credit on all incoming wire transfers and U.S. Treasury checks upon receipt and all other checks based on the Bank s published availability schedule. The Bank should specify in their proposal their deposit requirements and commercial and retail deposit locations, including night deposit services and procedures. J. Wire Transfers A standard wire transfer agreement will be executed with the Bank. This proposal should include a copy of your standard procedures and wire transfer agreement. The City requires adequate security provisions and procedures. If the wire transfer requests are available online, full information should be submitted detailing the use. K. Positive Pay The City currently does not use positive pay but plans on doing so with the selection of a bank through this RFP process. L. Reporting and Account Analysis Monthly account analysis reports must be provided by the Bank on a timely basis for each account and on a total account basis. A sample account analysis format must be provided as part of the proposal. Samples of monthly statements should also be provided. The monthly statements are to be received within ten (10) business days of the next month. M. Account Executive An account executive must be assigned to the account to coordinate the account services and expedite the solution of any problem. A trained and competent backup for the account executive, familiar with the account, should be designated in the proposal. Stipulate the name and a brief biography of the account executive to be assigned to the City s account. N. Daylight Overdraft Protections Every effort will be made to eliminate daylight overdraft situations on the account. However, in case this situation does arise, the proposal should include any and all Bank policies regarding overdraft charges and handling procedures. O. Additional Services If new services become available and are provided during the period of this contract, they will be charged at the Bank s then published rate. P. Lockbox Services The City may choose to utilize lockbox services for certain revenue collections. Q. Courier Services The City is interested in having courier services available to provide an option to having staff make regular trips to the Bank s Middleton facility. 11

12 R. Other Services The City is interested in obtaining service and cost information on additional services for possible use during the contract period. Below are two additional services the City current is not using but may use in the future. These services are not required but will be evaluated in terms of availability, feasibility, service levels, service providers, and cost. The City will make its determination after receipt of proposals as to whether a service will be used. If the service is accepted later in the contract period, the services and charges stipulated in the proposal will be applied. Please list other services your institution provides with sufficient detail and documentation for analysis and possible future selection by the City. S. Bank Fees Complete Exhibit A, Fees T. Reference Please include the following references (if applicable): 1. Provide three (3) client references of municipal accounts which the bank has served over the past two years and is currently serving. Provide a contact person and telephone number for each customer. Provide two (2) references of municipal accounts, which have recently left (within the past two years) the Bank. Provide a contact person and a telephone number of each organization. U. Other questions and requested information: 1. Is your Bank insured by the FDIC or an equivalent? 2. What is the location of the Bank/branch that would be servicing the City? 3. Is your Bank an on-line cash and securities member of the Federal Reserve? 4. Will your Bank be able to provide the required collateral? 5. Have you attached a copy of your most recent investment rating report by a nationally recognized rating agency? 6. Will your Bank be providing 100% of the services proposed in the RFP? 7. Describe your Bank s professional liability coverage, including limits 8. Does your Bank have an archiving system and if so please describe. 9. Provide descriptions of your Bank s policy of handling daylight overdrafts. 10. Provide a detailed description of the Bank s PC based banking software products available. Please include common features and functionality along with security features which will ensure protection of City assets. 11. Please explain how your proposed Remote Deposit system works. 12. How does the City compare in terms of the Bank s customer size and complexity of services? 13. Regarding lockbox services, please describe the service including the lockbox location and a full description of the service. 12

13 PROPOSAL FOR BANKING SERVICES CITY OF MIDDLETON Proposal Submitted By: Bank: Address: Telephone: Address: This proposal contains all the information requested in the Request for Proposal, including the following exhibits: Exhibit A-Fees Exhibit B-Exceptions Bank s Audited Financial Statements for the previous two years (submit only one set) Signature Typed Name Title Date 13

14 CITY OF MIDDLETON BANKING SERVICES PROPOSAL FORM EXHIBIT A -1 Bank: Bank Depository Services Account Maintenance Checks Paid Deposits Slips Processed Items Deposited non-lockbox FDIC Assessment Fee Wire Transfers: Incoming Outgoing Notification ( ) of Wire Transfer Transaction Transfers Between Accounts ACH Transactions: ACH In ACH Out ACH Origination ACH Returned (RCK) Notification ( ) of incoming ACH Transaction Return checks converted to RCK Currency Processing Stop Payments Payee Positive Pay/ARP EDI Payee Positive Pay per check Payee Positive Pay exceptions On-line check/deposit archiving Courier Service Monthly Account Maintenance Charge Per Item 14

15 Bank Depository Services Optional Services: Charge Per Item Lock box - Transactions (check converted to Electronic deposit) _ - Account Maintenance _ - Per Item _ - Cost Per Deposit _ - Deposit imaging _ Remote Deposit - Deposit Transmission _ - Transactions _ - Lease of Equipment/mo. _ - File storage/viewing capabilities _ Other Base Level Fees (not previously listed): Expected Monthly Fee Given Transaction History Please add any additional charges that your institution would apply to the City s account(s). 15

16 CITY OF MIDDLETON BANKING SERVICES PROPOSAL EXCEPTION FORM EXHIBIT B The bank wishes to take exceptions to the following items: Page # Item Estimated Costs 16