Prepaid Gift Cards and Administrative Support

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is issuing Invitation for Bid 26-418DCFS-PROCU-B-50505 to establish a multi-year Agency Specific Master Contract for the procurement of non-reloadable prepaid gift, reward, and incentive cards branded as Visa or Mastercard. The solicitation, posted on March 27, 2026, with a due date of April 27, 2026, seeks vendors capable of supplying both physical prepaid cards and electronic gift cards (e-gift cards) in denominations ranging from $25.00 to $2,000.00. The selected vendor must design, develop, and implement a fully operational online tracking portal with five regional access areas within 90 calendar days of contract execution; this portal will track card issuance linked to specific client and youth identifiers, monitor card transactions, display account balances, and generate comprehensive reports. The vendor must maintain a toll-free customer service help desk available Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Central Time, excluding State of Illinois holidays, and process both physical card orders with a minimum of 100 cards per order and e-gift card orders with a minimum of 50 cards per order. Historical volume data indicates approximately 4,700 physical cards and 50 electronic cards annually, with anticipated annual aggregate dollar loads of approximately $3,000,000 and 90 percent of physical cards issued at $500 denominations. Qualifying vendors must demonstrate a minimum of three years of experience providing non-reloadable prepaid cards, processing refunds and credits for unused balances, offering similar prepaid card administrative services, and operating customer service help desks for prepaid card users. The contract term is ten years from the date of final execution, with the Department placing the initial card order within 120 calendar days of contract execution. Vendor compensation consists solely of per-card issuance or activation fees and administrative fees for portal implementation and annual operations, with all funds loaded onto cards representing Department program funds and not constituting vendor compensation. All bids must be submitted electronically through the BidBuy procurement system by April 27, 2026, and must remain firm for 90 days from the bid opening date; award will be made to the lowest priced responsive and responsible bidder.

The solicitation includes a two percent Business Enterprise Program utilization goal, requiring all bidders to submit a complete four-part utilization plan demonstrating commitment to utilizing certified diverse vendors, including businesses owned by minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and service-disabled and qualified veterans; failure to submit a complete utilization plan renders a bid non-responsive and subject to rejection. Bidders unable to meet the two percent goal must submit detailed good faith effort documentation including contact logs, evidence of negotiations with available certified vendors, and explanations for why agreements could not be reached. The solicitation does not identify any incumbent vendors or current contractors, nor does it specify existing technology infrastructure requiring integration beyond the state's standard requirements. Vendors must comply with the State of Illinois Standard Information and Technology Terms and Conditions Version 26.1, maintain General Commercial Liability insurance of $1,000,000 per occurrence with $2,000,000 annual aggregate, Auto Liability insurance of $1,000,000 per occurrence, and Worker's Compensation Insurance as required by law. Pricing submitted by vendors must remain firm for the first two years of the contract, with economic price adjustments permitted beginning in year three not to exceed three percent annually based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U). While no specific award value is stated in the solicitation, historical usage data and anticipated annual aggregate dollar loads of approximately $3,000,000 provide a baseline for budgeting purposes, though actual contract value will depend on final pricing and card utilization volumes over the ten-year term.