Request for Information (RFI) for Debit Card and Digital Disbursement Services

The California Department of General Services - Procurement Division (DGS-PD) is conducting a Request for Information (RFI) for a new statewide Master Service Agreement (MSA) for debit card and digital disbursement services. The procurement will establish a contract available to State Agencies and Local Governmental Agencies, including California State Universities, University of California systems, K-12 schools, and community colleges. Required services include prepaid and reloadable debit cards, virtual debit cards, and digital disbursement platforms like Zelle, Venmo, and PayPal. Key deliverables include fee-free card activation, transactions, customer support, and two free card replacements, with mandatory fraud prevention services maintaining a 99% or higher success rate. The contractor must provide 24/7 multilingual customer support and submit quarterly usage reports to DGS-PD. The contract term is five years with two optional one-year extensions, for a maximum of seven years. Responses to the RFI are due by 5:00 PM Pacific Time on March 10, 2025, and must be submitted via email to MSASolicitations@DGS.ca.gov. Evaluation will be based on responses to specific questions regarding cost structures, service capabilities, and government contract experience.

The RFI does not explicitly designate set-aside preferences for disadvantaged enterprises. The contractor must maintain all facilities and staff within the United States and comply with state security and privacy requirements. For Local Governmental Agency transactions, the contractor will be required to pay DGS-PD an incentive fee of 1.25% of the total contract amount. While no specific budget range is mentioned, the cost worksheet indicates pricing will be evaluated across four transaction volume tiers: 1-100,000, 100,001-1,000,000, 1,000,001-5,000,000, and over 5,000,001 transactions. Vendors must provide per-unit rates for debit cards and digital disbursements, a monthly flat rate for customer service center operations, and per-item rates for print and mail services. This RFI is not a competitive solicitation, and no contract will be awarded directly from this process. The state's primary objective is to gather market intelligence to determine if current requirements align with industry practices and potentially adjust specifications for a future competitive solicitation.