TOWN OF MANCHESTER GENERAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT 494 MAIN STREET P.O. BOX 191 MANCHESTER, CONNECTICUT ELECTRONIC BILL PAYMENT SERVICES

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1 TOWN OF MANCHESTER GENERAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT 494 MAIN STREET P.O. BOX 191 MANCHESTER, CONNECTICUT ELECTRONIC BILL PAYMENT SERVICES 1. The following questions were asked regarding the RFP. Section 1.3 Introduction states, Software should include online and in-office (point of sale) electronic payment functions, and should work seamlessly with the financial software currently utilized by the Town. With regard to point of sale (in-office) transactions: Q1. Will you accept a separate file from the credit card merchant provider with payment information (amount, date, account number, etc.)? A1. YES, but it must be compatible with our system. Q2. Will you accept this file if it is not pre-formatted to automatically upload to QDS/ MUNIS? A2. No it must be compatible with our system and it must be formatted for our systems. We use QDS for tax, and MUNIS for Water & Sewer. Q3. Will you accept this file if it is in a TXT/CSV format that may need reformatting to be uploaded? A3. No it must be compatible with our system and it must be formatted for our systems. We use QDS for tax, and MUNIS for Water & Sewer. Q4. Section 1.3 Introduction, stated that recent online tax payment information included: 2016 Online Tax Payments: 7,705 payments totaling $4,727, Online Tax Payments: 7,140 payments totaling $3,924, Online Tax Payments: 7,574 payments totaling $3,262, a. Can you provide online payment volumes (ACH and credit card) for your water/ sewer collections? A4a. 450 batches totaling $394,910. b. Can you provide volume information you have related to fees, permits and services in Town Clerk, Parks & Recreation, Building Department, and Health Department? A4b. Total - $1,499,496.

2 PAGE 2 Q5. Section 1.3 Introduction also states, Importance is placed on internal and external controls and a desire to sync bill payment software with MUNIS and QDS. a. Can you elaborate on what is meant by internal and external controls in this context? A5a. Must comply with NIST Cyber Security Framework. b. We recognize that QDS is the billing system for Tax; please indicate what system (QDS or MUNIS) is the billing system for Utilities (water/sewer). A5b. Water & Sewer in Munis. c. Please indicate what system (MUNIS or QDS) is the billing system for Town Clerk, Park & Rec, and the Building and Health Departments. A5c. These departments do not bill for their services. The payments are made for fees associated to permits, services and programs. Town Clerk uses Cott Resolution Parks and Recreation uses Rectrac Building uses ViewPermit Health uses ViewPermit d. Does the system generate some type of invoice or billing file for these activities? A5d. We send out tax bills and the Water Department sends out Water & Sewer bills. e. Will you accept this file if it is not pre-formatted to automatically upload to MUNIS/QDS? A5e. No it must be compatible with our system and it must be formatted for our systems. We use QDS for tax, and MUNIS for Water & Sewer. f. Will you accept this file if it is in a TXT/CSV format that may need reformatting to be uploaded? A5f. The file must be formatted for QDS and Munis. Town staff will not be responsible for reformatting it prior to importing it. Q6. Section 1.3 Introduction states It is anticipated that the electronic bill payment solution shall provide a User-Friendly bill payment platform funded by user fees with Are you looking to collect convenience fees that will cover the cost of providing the service? If yes, will you collect user/convenience fees for every type of fee (i.e. tax, utility, park & rec, PD, etc.)? Section 1.3 Introduction states, Proposers shall make available the flexibility to allow the Town to absorb some or all of the user fee costs for these smaller revenue-collecting offices; and

3 PAGE 3 Section I.1.2 states, In some departments, the Town may elect to absorb some or all of the user fees. Visa/MasterCard rules allow municipalities to pass a convenience fee to payors for certain payments, such as taxes and certain educational and governmental programs. o If a convenience fee model is available, would the Town ever choose to absorb the credit card fees associated with those payments? o We are asking because the credit card fee on a $10,000 real-estate tax bill could be as high as $300, and we want to be sure we understand the Town s intentions. o If the answer is yes and the Town does want to assume responsibility for credit card fees associated with tax payments, will this change become effective in January 2018? A6. It is the intention of the Town to engage with a bill payment software provider that has no upfront costs that will be fully funded by taxpayer fees. The Town does not plan to waive fees for the Tax office or the Water office; but is interested in having the option to waive fees for smaller collecting offices that might join the system later. Q7. Section 1.3 Introduction states, The Town is seeking a fee structure that will greater incentivize online payment, improve transaction time for in-person payments, and provide a user-friendly call center for users still wishing to make payments via telephone. Is the Town looking to utilize an interactive voice recognition (IVR) system for telephone payments? Do you anticipate that you will want the IVR option for all types of payments? A7. Yes. Q8. Section 1.3 Introduction states, the solution should provide the Town with multiple levels of security including digital signatures, client access controls, user-specified transaction limits and multi-party security controls to ensure every payment is authenticated. Can you elaborate on digital signatures, client access controls, user-specified transaction limits, and multi-party security controls or provide examples? Are these controls intended to protect the end-users (i.e. taxpayers) or the Town s staff? A8. Our IT staff will be available during presentations we have a strong cyber security focus. Q9. With regard to in-person transactions, how many credit card terminals do you anticipate you will need? A departments are spread over several buildings.

4 PAGE 4 Q10. With regard to the cost-benefit, are you asking us to provide that analysis from the perspective of the Town or the end-user (i.e. taxpayer)? A10. Town we are looking to absorb fees across all platforms in the future. Q11. Section C., Item C.1.9 states, Describe your company s user enrollment and support programs. Is a third party alliance established? If so explain the nature of the alliance. Can you elaborate on the meaning of user enrollment and support programs? Is it your objective to have the Bank interact with the Town s payers/residents? A11. The Town is interested to learn what services different providers offer, in terms of getting the word out about the new service, offering support to customers, etc. Q12. Section D., Item D.1.3 states, Describe the pull payment and push payment process, the differences between them and which process your program uses, or if the Town can choose between the two. Push vs. pull often relates to the transmission of data; can you elaborate or provide an example of push vs. pull with regard to payments? Are you referring a billing file where the Bank pulls the billing file from the Town vs. the Town pushing the file to the Bank? Are you referring to an accounts receivable file where the Bank pushes the file to the Town vs. the Town pulling it from the Bank (as an automated remittance download)? A12. Files to be uploaded into various software programs bank push to town. Q13. Section F., Item F.1.1 states, Describe the control parameters on the electronic payment processing program. How quickly can changes be made to the parameters? Can you elaborate on control parameters? o Does this question refer to user payment limits or log-in credential for taxpayers, or log-in credentials for Town staff? o Would the Town employees ever be expected to enroll users (taxpayers) remotely? A13. Town should have some control over changes to parameters to meet department needs. Q14. For current payments through Official Payments, MuniciPAY and Paypal, please provide the: annual volume number of transactions average ticket size in dollars A14. annual volume-$6,800,000 number of transactions-3250 average ticket size in dollars-500

5 PAGE 5 Q15. What, if any, points of sale are currently used? A15. Tax office, Park & Recreation Q16. How many locations will require a point of sale? A16. Seven to ten. Q17. Will the Town require the ability for users to set up recurring payments? A17. There is no requirement. The Town is interested to see what services and features are offered by different platforms/providers, etc. Q18. Does the Town intend to accept all major card labels (Mastercard, Visa, Discover, Amex) as well as pin and pinless debit? A18. It is the intention of the Town to offer a service that is user-friendly, promotes the use of online bill payment, and is safe/secure for the consumer. Q19. Are criteria for evaluation weighted? A19. It is the intention of the Town to evaluate proposers based on the criteria as outlined within section 1.8 of the bid package. Q20. Regarding e-check payments; can the Town clarify if the current e-check Payments include account verification services (a pre-check to verify the routing information entered is a valid bank account)? A20. No verification-checks are returned as unpayable. Q21. Can the Town clarify if the electronic bill payment services vendor is responsible for calculating and adding late tax payment interest to payment transactions based on the predetermined interest rate? Or is interest to be calculated within MUNIS and provided to the web payment site via a MUNIS interface? A21. Munis does the interest calculation. Q22. Regarding Quality Data Service, Inc. s collection software ; can the Town provide a brief functional explanation of the technology provided to the City by this company? A22. QDS offers an online payment portal and accepts TXT/com files. Q23. Regarding question C.1.9, can you further clarify what is meant by user enrollment and support program? A23. Payers should be able to create online user ID s to ease return visits.