Cal_Card_FAQS_Final.pdf

October 15, 2025

Request for Proposal (RFP) No. 017-2861002-RE-B Commercial Card Services

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How many separate departments/agencies does the County of Orange have?

The County of Orange has 22 separate agencies; however, it is the County’s intention that this agreement could be made available to other public agencies such as cities and special districts.

2. What is the total number of employees the County of Orange has and how are they divided among the various programs?

As of the FY 2025-26 Adopted Budget, the County of Orange has 18,819 positions. County positions reside in the Departments they support. A successful Commercial Card Program will provide technical support to various levels of users across all agencies; as well as the ability for various account coding options to ensure charges are allocated correctly. More detailed information about the County’s department and position breakdown can be found by reviewing the County’s Annual Budget located at:

https://cfo.oc.gov/budget

3. How many employees are involved in purchasing activities?

The County Procurement Office, a function of the County Executive Office, has 212 positions as of the FY 2025-26 Adopted Budget. However, each agency will need to assign approving officials (those who approve the transaction by the cardholder) and billing officials (those who approve funding of the transaction by the cardholder). As of October 2, 2025, the County has 540+ individuals involved in the current Commercial Card Program.

4. What is monthly average of purchases for the County of Orange? How many transactions occur throughout the County in a Fiscal Year? What is the dollar amount of purchases made during the last fiscal year? What is the average transaction amount?

On average the County pays $174.8M a month to vendors doing business with the County.

Payments by Department and month vary widely due to the nature of the County’s business.

In FY 2024-25 the County processed 62K+ transactions totaling $2.1B to vendors doing business with the County. Of that figure, $117.7M was spent with the County's current Commercial Card Program. The overall dollar amount of each payment transaction varies widely; however, the average card transaction was $1,356 in FY 2024-25.

5. What is the maximum dollar amount of a purchase that does not require preapproval by a supervisor? How many purchases fall under the preapproval limit?

With the County's current Commercial Card Program, one-time payments are limited to no more than $10K; however, all purchases by the County are subject to prior written authorization. In FY 2024-25, about 90% of the County's transactions (measured as number of transactions) fall under the County’s one-time purchase limit on the current commercial card program. Those transactions represent about $180M of the $2.1B paid to vendors doing business with the County.

6. What is the maximum dollar amount of a purchase that does not require a competitive bid

(commonly referred to as a “no-bid limit”)?

The County’s procurement thresholds vary by type but can generally be summed up as follows:

-Commodity

$10,000 or less: requires 1 written or oral quote $10,001- $25,000: requires 2 written or oral quotes $25,001and over: requires a formal written solicitation advertised on the County’s Online Bidding System.

-Professional Architecture-Engineer Services

$75,000 or less: requires 1 written quote $75,001 and over: requires a formal written solicitation advertised on the County’s Online Bidding System.

-Public Works Construction

$75,000 or less by force account, through a negotiated contract $75,001 and over requires a public solicitation advertised on the County’s Online Bidding System

7. What purchasing and financial software is the County using?

The County's current Enterprise Resource Planning System is with CGI; however, the County is migrating to a new Enterprise Planning System with Oracle.

8. What are the goals of the program?

The County currently utilizes card payments for ease of use and to ensure a more efficient payment method is available when establishing a contract may not be feasible. However, the County's goal in establishing its own Commercial Card Contract is to minimize expenses related to the program and maximize rebates on purchases.

9. What type of transactions does the County wish to migrate from paper-based to card-based?

The County does not have transactions that are paper-based which would be moved to card based at this time.

10. What card types does the County anticipate including in the program?

The County currently utilizes Purchase Cards, Travel Cards, Programmatic Cards, Ghost Cards and Fleet/Fuel Cards. While the County’s Fleet Department is not currently anticipated to be part of this program, Respondents may provide Fleet Cards as part of their response as the Fleet Department may be rolled-in to a future contract year.

11. What is the anticipated billing and payment structure?

All cards will be managed and paid for by the County, including Travel Cards. Cardholders will make purchases as agents of the County and are subject to County policies and procedures when utilizing their cards. Payments for these transactions will be made by the respective Department on a monthly statement basis.

12. Will the County have a dedicated Program Administrator to manage the program and where will this Administrator be based?

Yes, the County Procurement Office, a division of the County Executive Office, will remain the central contact for the Program and will assign a Program Administrator for the ease of the awarded contractor. However, payments will come directly from Departments and the successful respondent will need to provide a solution for direct interaction with cardholders when a card is lost, stolen or when fraud occurs.

13. What is the County’s expectation on time frame for implementation of the new contract and what departments/agencies will be involved?

The County's intention is to migrate from the current program to the new program as soon as practical. There are 800+ cards issued in the current program with 540+ unique individuals spanning 22 Departments. The Respondent should provide a transition period that they can reasonably manage to minimize impacts to current cardholders.

14. What is the anticipated length of the Contract?

The County’s standard contract is an initial three-year term, with the option to renew for an additional two years. However, if the Respondent can provide more favorable terms depending on the length of the contract, then please include that in the response.

15. What are the County’s policies related to the Commercial Card Program?

Please review the link below for County’s Contract Policy Manual and reference Section 1.7 Procurement Cards. While these are the County’s current policies, please note they are subject to change at any time.

https://cpo.ocgov.com/cpm