FAS-026 - Credit Card Policy_2022
Title: Procurement Card Policy
Subject: Procurement Card Policy Category: Strategic Services
Policy No.: FAS-026 M&C Report No.: 2022-250
Effective Date: July 25, 2022 Next Review Date: 2 years (July 2024)
Area(s) this policy applies to: The City of Saint John and Office Responsible for review of this Policy:
any affiliated entity that uses procurement cards Strategic Services
Related Instruments: Policy Sponsors:
FAS-011 Procurement Policy Chief Financial Officer and Chief of Staff
Document Pages:
This document consists of 6 pages.
Revision History:
Common Clerk's Annotation for Official Record
Date of Passage of Current Framework:____July 25, 2022_______
I certify that this Policy was adopted by Common Council as indicated
above.
__ ____August 9, 2022______
Common Clerk Date
Contact: Chief Financial Officer and Chief of Staff – Kevin Fudge
Telephone – 506-635-2011
Email – kevin.fudge@saintjohn.ca
City of Saint John
Procurement Card Policy
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. PURPOSE .................................................................................................... . 3
2. DEFINITIONS ............................................................................................... . 3
3. POLICY STATEMENTS .................................................................................. . 3
4. APPROVING AUTHORITY ............................................................................... 4
5. CARD LIMITS ................................................................................................ 4
6. ACCEPTABLE USE .......................................................................................... 5
7. ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS AND RESPONSIBILITY...…..…………………………………5
8. COMPLIANCE……………………….………………………….……………………………..……………6
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City of Saint John
Procurement Card Policy
1. PURPOSE
To establish the guidelines, policies and procedures related to the appropriate use of the
City’s Procurement Card (P-Card).
2. DEFINITIONS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND OBLIGATIONS FOR USE FORM: The written agreement between
the City of Saint John and the Cardholder.
CARD PROVIDER: The Financial Institution who issues the P-Card.
CARDHOLDER: Employee of the City of Saint John or one of its agencies, boards or
commissions who has been issued a P-Card.
CARD COORDINATOR: Manager responsible for the administration and management of the
procurement card program.
3. POLICY STATEMENTS
1. The P-Card is the preferred method of payment for most business-related low-cost
purchases of goods and services. Additionally, due to the annual P-Card volume
rebate that is received from the card provider, the P-Card should also be used by
designated employees to vendors who will accept it. These higher value purchases
need to follow the appropriate approval process, as detailed in the City’s
Procurement Policy.
2. This Policy applies to the employees of the City of Saint John and its Agencies, Boards
and Commissions to whom cards have been issued.
3. The Policy is intended to ensure appropriate, efficient, and authorized use of the P-
Card, while maximizing the annual volume rebate.
4. This Policy supersedes section 5.4 of the Policy for the Procurement of: Goods,
Services and Construction, as approved by Common Council December 5, 2011. This
Policy also supersedes any other reference to the corporate purchasing card in the
City’s Procurement Policy (2011) as well as the limits detailed in said Procurement
Policy.
5. The Procurement Card Policy shall comply with all relevant provisions of the
Procurement Act of New Brunswick (“PANB”). Where PANB conflicts with this Policy,
PANB shall take precedence.
6. The City intends to utilize to the fullest extent any and all digital tools available from
the P-Card provider or otherwise to monitor, reconcile, approve, manage and store
data.
7. Unless an employee has lost the use of their p-card, employees are not to use a
personal credit card for City business expenses.
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City of Saint John
Procurement Card Policy
4. APPROVING AUTHORITY
1. There are two types of P-Cards: Plastic and Virtual
2. All Plastic cards will only be issued after the cardholder has read and signed the P-Card
Acknowledgment and Obligations for Use form.
3. The following approval hierarchy applies for Plastic card issue:
Cardholder Card Issue Authority
City Staff Director
Director Commissioner
Senior Finance Manager Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Commissioner / CFO City Manager
City Manager CFO
4. Virtual cards shall be used on an as needed basis by the Finance department to reduce
administrative overhead and maximize the procurement card rebate. Normally, the
card is not issued in a specific person’s name. The issue of virtual cards shall require
the approval of two managers within the finance department with signing authority.
Virtual cards are the responsibility of the finance department.
5. Monthly Expenditure Authorization:
th
(a) On approximately the 20 day of every month, the card provider will issue a
statement to each cardholder that will list the details of the transactions
charged to their card. Approval is obtained on a monthly statement basis.
Each cardholder will have at least two available approvers associated to their
card software profile, based on their organizational reporting structure.
(b) Approval of monthly card expenses must be completed by a management staff
member.
(c) Provided that all associated transactions are in accordance with the
requirements of this policy and the FAS-11 Procurement Policy, approval of
credit card reports will be in accordance with the spending limits as outlined
with the authorities listed in the FAS-11 Procurement Policy.
5. CARD LIMITS
1. P-Cards will be established with monthly credit limits. These limits will vary,
depending on the cardholder’s responsibility and role. Should a limit increase be
required, email approval from the cardholder’s manager to the card coordinator is
required.
2. Generally, P-Cards have two credit limit types in place to manage risk; basic and
administrative. Typically, all employees will be granted the basic credit limit.
Administrative cards have higher usage and purchase a large volume of items – such as
employees from the Supply Chain Management and Fleet Departments.
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City of Saint John
Procurement Card Policy
3. Temporary limit increases are available upon request. It is recommended that a
manager consider a temporary limit increase before authorizing a permanent limit
increase.
6. ACCEPTABLE USE
1. The procurement of small, ad-hoc purchases of goods and services not exceeding
$2,500 (excluding taxes).
2. The purchase of goods and services by designated employees exceeding $2,500 to
vendors that will accept the P-Card.
3. Prohibited purchases include:
a. Goods, services, and travel for personal use
b. Meals that are covered by meal allowance under collective agreement
c. Gifts purchased for employees or former employees
d. Any goods or services that covered by a contract established by Supply Chain
Management
e. Cash advances
f. Entertainment expenses
g. Alcohol or controlled substances
4. Where the transaction value of the purchase exceeds the cardholder’s limit, it is
unacceptable to split the purchase into multiple transactions or over multiple cards to
avoid exceeding the approved limit or to circumvent the required approval.
5. Items purchased using a P-Card cannot be returned for cash.
7. ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Ultimately, the Commissioner of each department/division is responsible to ensure
employees under their direct or indirect supervision are following the directives of this
policy.
2. The cardholder is responsible to upload adequate backup to the platform for each
transaction. Itemized receipts for each transaction are required (card transaction
receipts are not acceptable on their own). All transactions must be submitted and
st
approved on the 1 business day of the month following the statement issue. Failure
to follow required timelines will result in the cancelation of the P-card.
3. Cardholders are required to use the digital tools provided by the Card Provider or tools
otherwise designated by the Finance Department, as detailed in Section 3.6 to submit
receipts for approval and reconciliation. Failure to utilize the electronic tools will result
in a cancellation of the card.
4. Management approvers are required to validate that the backup provided by the
cardholders to ensure its appropriate business purpose and that it follows the
requirements of acceptable use in this policy.
5. Manual logs and transaction backup will not be accepted.
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City of Saint John
Procurement Card Policy
6. There may be circumstances where a designated person is required to reconcile and
upload backup relating to another person’s p-card. If this happens, the cardholder is
responsible for the accuracy of completeness of the data entered and uploaded into
the software.
7. P-Cards are intended to remove the “red tape” and administrative costs associated
with small transactions and should not create additional administrative burden. Failure
to comply with this policy in any way, will result in a cancelation of the issued card.
8. Under no circumstances should a vendor include a P-Card number on any address label
or packing list. Nor should a vendor or a Cardholder use an electronic medium (ie.
Email, text message, etc.) to transmit card details. Acceptable means are in person,
telephone or secure online platform.
8. COMPLIANCE
1. P-Cards should be kept in a secure location and should not be shared with others
except for a team member who is completing a purchase on their behalf or their
department.
2. Transactions are always subject to internal and external audit.
3. Violation of this Policy may result in a revocation of the P-Card and/or further
disciplinary action up to and including, dismissal, depending on the severity of the
violation.
4. Being issued a P-Card by the City of Saint John is a privilege, not a right. It is the
cardholder’s responsibility to ensure that the City’s best interests are always the
priority.
5. The card coordinator reserves the right to cancel outstanding P-Card that have not
been used in 6 months or are used on an infrequent basis.
6. It is the cardholder’s responsibility to reconcile, provide adequate backup and receipts
and have their transactions approved, as detailed in Section 7.2. Should a cardholder
fail to submit their information by the timelines specified in Section 7.2, their card will
be cancelled.
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