42-Group 2-Merchant Card Services, Scope of Services, GEN2131264P1.pdf

SCOPE OF SERVICES

Group 2: Merchant Card Services

1. SUMMARY

Broward County (“County”) is seeking proposals from qualified vendors, also referred to as “merchant card service provider”, to provide Merchant Card services that will keep processing costs low while maximizing operational efficiency. The County requires a vendor that can provide debit and credit card processing services and other related Merchant services to multiple County managed programs. The vendor should ensure timely and reliable authorization of debit/credit transactions, provide economies of scale pricing, as well as provide reporting that meet County requirements.

2. BROWARD COUNTY BACKGROUND

Broward County, Florida is a political subdivision of the State of Florida, governed by an elected Board of

County Commissioners under the Florida State Statutes and the local County Charter. It is the 17th most populous county in the United States and the second most populous in Florida, with the second-largest gross domestic product (GDP) in the state. The County provides a broad range of services to its communities, and operates the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Port Everglades

Department, WWS, along with 60 offices, departments, and divisions.

The County was incorporated in 1915 and is located along the southeastern coast of Florida. With a developable area of 428 square miles and a population of approximately 1.9 million people, the County is one of the largest counties in the country. The County is governed by its amended Charter, originally adopted in 1974, and functions as a home rule government under the Florida Constitution and the general laws of the State. The Board of County Commissioners is the legislative and policy-making body of the

County. The nine member Board of County Commissioners (the “BOCC”) is the legislative body of the

County government. The BOCC appoints the County Administrator to act as the County's chief executive officer.

The Administrator implements policies of the BOCC, provides organizational leadership, and directs business and administrative procedures. In addition, there are five elected Constitutional Officers: The

Clerk of the Circuit and County Courts, the Property Appraiser, the Sheriff, the Supervisor of Elections, and the Tax Collector. Circuit Court and County Court judges are also elected.

The County and its independently elected Constitutional Officers provide a broad range of services. These services include law enforcement, fire rescue protection, maintenance of streets, highways, bridges, traffic signals, transportation, environmental protection, urban planning, economic development, human services, parks, libraries, a convention center, property assessments and tax collections.

The BOCC also appoints the County Attorney, advisory board members and authorities to administer certain public services. The County Auditor is nominated by an independent board and is subject to ratification by a majority of the BOCC.

The County’s fiscal year runs from October 1st through September 30th of the following year.

3. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

3.1. The vendor should have at least five (5) years of experience processing payment records and credit records transmitted for processing and settlement from major credit/debit card processing networks.

3.2. The vendor should, at the time of the proposal, be capable of providing facilities, equipment, and trained personnel necessary to perform the work as required in this Scope of Services.

3.3. The vendor must be compliant with all relevant Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards.

Through this contract, the County is seeking a vendor that will provide cost-effective services. This Request for Proposals (RFP) specifies all required qualifications, the processing services required, the estimated activity volumes, the method and terms of payment, submission instructions, and contract award provisions. This RFP is designed to present prospective proposers with an accurate description of the County’s operational activities and strategies. All qualified institutions, as defined below, are invited to submit a proposal.

The County processes credit card transactions at approximately 26 combined sites, including but not limited to, the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Water and Wastewater Services, Parks and Recreation, municipal court, libraries, building permits, and parking meters. Each site is considered a “Managed Program”. Reporting capabilities must be flexible enough to allow each Managed Program to create reports that meet their individual needs.

The County processes transactions through the Merchant Banks Payment Gateway, through Merchant Bank Terminals, and third-party Gateways. Third Party Gateways used by the County, include but are not limited to:

• Advan

• Authorize.net

• Credit Call Cardease

• Cybersource

• Datacap Systems

The County currently has the following equipment solutions in place that a succeeding merchant bank must migrate to their gateway and/or replace. Shall replacement equipment be required as part of vendor solution, provide cost associated with equipment and implementation in the Pricing Worksheet.

Equipment List

Clover Cash Drawer 6

Clover Flex 3 67

Clover Flex 3 StarterKit 67

Clover Flex 4 3

Clover Flex 4 StarterKit 3

Clover Go 3rd Gen 5

Clover Software RC 12

Equipment List (cont’d)

Clover Solo Starter Kit 6

Clover Station Solo 6

FD150 Terminals 31

RP10 PIN Pad 16

Verifone V400c Plus 1

Verifone V400m 1

Verifone P200 PIN Pad 1

The County seeks electronic remittance of payments collected and anticipates next banking day remittance. The Merchant bank must invoice fees on monthly invoice basis under terms of “Net 30 Days”.

Invoices must be delivered electronically. The invoice must provide a summary of activity, including fees and charges by each Merchant Identification Number.

The County has approximately 38 Merchant Identification numbers which are managed through 26 sites requiring individual access to transaction reporting through Commerce Control Center, formerly Business Track.

The County requires the vendor to provide an annual report prepared in accordance with Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE) 18, System and Organization Controls’ (SOC) 2 Type II Report on controls over the security, availability, confidentiality, processing integrity, and/or privacy, covering the merchant bank services provided to the County.

3.4. CREDIT CARD TRANSACTIONS

3.4.1. The vendor shall allow the County to authenticate the cardholder and use the card’s chip, magnetic stripe and manual entry of the credit card number for face to face, internet and or phone order sales to authorize and capture the transaction. Vendor must provide a competitively based discount rate for the processing of all four major credit cards: Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover.

3.4.2. Cumulatively, the County expects to process approximately $150 million annually in merchant card sales. The County also utilizes payment processing services for payments by phone or online payments processed through a third payment processor using the County’s

Merchant Bank and Merchant Number.

3.4.3. The vendor shall provide unit prices for listed items required in proposal. Unit prices shall include all associated costs.

3.4.4. The fees and charges shall remain firm for the entire term of the contract with the following adjustment exceptions:

3.4.4.1. Increases or decreases in all applicable rates, fees, and assessments established and levied by the four major credit cards against all merchant service providers.

3.4.4.2. Increases in applicable taxes levied by any State, Federal, or Local authority related to the delivery of the services provided by the Merchant Card Processing Services provider.

3.4.5. The merchant card service provider shall notify the County thirty (30) days prior to the effective date of any change of the non-guaranteed conditions, exclusions or service fee increases or decreases.

Non-guaranteed conditions or exclusions refer to any operational requirements, service parameters, or industry driven rule changes established by the card networks (e.g., Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express) that may affect service delivery, settlement procedures, chargeback rules, or compliance obligations but do not involve County negotiated fees. These items may change due to regulatory updates or card network policy adjustments. The merchant card service provider shall notify the County in writing of any such changes that may impact processing requirements, service availability, or County operational practices. Fee changes are governed separately under Section 3.4.4.

3.4.6. The County reserves the right to remove or add locations/Managed Programs.

3.4.7. Refer to Attachment A – Transactions by Site and Attachment B – Transactions by Type for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025.

3.5. PAYMENT CARD INDUSTRY (PCI) SECURITY STANDARDS

3.5.1. The vendor must provide certification demonstrating full compliance with all relevant PCI security standards.

3.5.2. The vendor must provide expertise and guidance to the County as it works to maintain or achieve PCI compliance among its merchants.

3.5.3. The vendor will recommend specific practices that will keep the County compliant with PCI

Standards.

3.5.4. The merchant card service provider will be held liable for any loss due to non-compliance.

3.6. CUSTOMER SERVICE

3.6.1. The Vendor must provide the County with a dedicated relationship manager to deliver support, including but not limited to, contract management, performance oversight, escalation resolution, and training. The vendor must provide direct contact information, including a direct phone line and email address, for County communication during the

County’s business hours (Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM EST).

3.6.2. The vendor must provide the County with a customer service representative to deliver day-to-day operational support, including but not limited to, routing assistance and issue resolution. The vendor must provide a direct phone number for the County to obtain assistance 24 hours, seven days a week.

3.7. REPORTING CAPABILITIES

The County will require reporting that may include, but is not limited to, the following:

3.7.1. Weekly Chargeback Report detailing all chargebacks processed the chargeback was for, dollar amount, and reason for the chargeback.

3.7.2. Daily notification of all chargebacks prior to the account being debited.

3.7.3. Monthly summary report that includes totals for both sales and transactions by card type.

3.7.4. Summary report should include Year to Date summary information for both sales and transactions.

3.7.5. Online reporting for all credit card transactions. Activity reports must be available online and retrievable on demand.

4. SECURITY AND COMPLIANCE

The County requires the Bank to have integration capabilities with our Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system (Peoplesoft). The Vendor must provide fraud detection, real-time alert capabilities, and an audit trail of all card processing actions.

5. TRANSITION/IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

The Bank must develop a comprehensive transition and implementation plan that will allow the County to seamlessly continue operations and maintain possession of County funds/accounts upon completion of its previous banking services agreement and implementation of its new agreement. A detailed timeline with full transition and implementation must be provided to the County.

6. ADDITIONAL SERVICES

Additional products and/or services of the same general category that could have been encompassed in the award of this Agreement, and that are not already in the Agreement, may be added during the term of the Agreement.

ATTACHMENT A

Broward County Top Credit Card Payment Sites

For the Twelve Months Ended Septembe 30, 2025

Source: ClientLine

Site Name Sales Count Amount Net Count

Net Count

Processed Net

Amount

Processed Avg.

Ticket Size

Ft Laud Hollywood Intl Airport 1,068,931 41,317,406$ 1,068,931 44.91 41,317,406$ 39$

Broward County Transit 607,640 4,941,233 607,640 25.53 4,941,233 8

Water and Wastewater Sv 300,995 72,757,605 300,995 12.65 72,757,605 242

Gov Garage 103,326 1,286,826 103,326 4.34 1,286,826 12

Fll Valet Parking 81,697 8,281,327 81,697 3.43 8,281,327 101

Broward Cnty Solid Waste 63,769 7,276,588 63,769 2.68 7,276,588 114

Parks, Broward County 39,244 224,762 39,244 1.65 224,762 6

BJC East Garage 36,631 292,925 36,631 1.54 292,925 8

Broward County Building 25,751 7,289,841 25,751 1.08 7,289,841 283

Water and Wastewater 15,804 2,236,274 15,804 0.66 2,236,274 142

Brwrd Cnty Animal Care 15,027 600,067 15,027 0.63 600,067 40

Building Code Div 6,826 1,950,601 6,826 0.29 1,950,601 286

Broward County Property 5,531 294,241 5,531 0.23 294,241 53

Animal Care Division 5,159 465,266 5,159 0.22 465,266 90

Brwd Cnty Aviation Badging 2,511 311,162 2,511 0.11 311,162 124

Broward Cnty Emerg Mgmt 381 26,117 381 0.02 26,117 69

OESBD - Online 193 135,450 193 0.01 135,450 702

Intergovernmental Affairs 180 24,600 180 0.01 24,600 137

Broward Cnty Greater Ft Laud Airport 141 16,600 141 0.01 16,600 118

Broward Communications 97 11,337 97 - 11,337 117

Broward County Radio Adm 48 46,015 48 - 46,015 959

Broward County Solid Was 31 3,475 31 - 3,475 112

BCAD Finance 26 12,309 26 - 12,309 473

Broward county Print Shop 5 1,633 5 - 1,633 327

BARC 2 176 2 - 176 88

NRD Plan IT Green 1 1 1 - 1 1

Total 2,379,947 149,803,839$ 2,379,947 100 149,803,839$ 4,649$

ATTACHMENT B