PO26-432 PrePaid Gift Cards Questions and Answers Document.xlsx

This is a Questions and Answers document for Open Market Bid 26-418DCFS-PROCU-B-50505 issued by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) for prepaid gift cards and administrative support services. The procurement seeks a vendor to supply physical prepaid cards and electronic gift cards to support state disbursement programs. Historical data indicates annual volume of approximately 4,700 physical cards and 50 electronic cards, with an anticipated initial order of 600-700 cards following contract execution (potentially increasing 20 percent monthly if execution occurs after mid-October). The contract term is ten years with the potential for program changes during the contract period. Ninety percent of cards issued are $500 denominations, with other common denominations including $341, $243, $150, and $25 (electronic), all subject to annual COLA adjustments. The predominant use case involves single, one-time issuances to recipients without reloadable or repeat payment functionality.

The anticipated annual aggregate dollar load across all cards is approximately $3,000,000 per year. In the primary use case, the State does not retain ownership of funds once cards are activated; however, for KIND Act uses (anticipated at less than 10 percent of total cards issued), State of Illinois employees will handle and hold the cards. Higher-value denominations between $1,000 and $2,000 are expected to represent less than 1 percent of volume. The Department indicated that a new program implementation may introduce an additional denomination to differentiate from the existing $500-card program. The vendor should anticipate fairly stable utilization over the contract term with moderate increases related to COLA adjustments and minor program modifications.