Title
American Express Corporate Card - Approval
History
The Village currently pays vendors by check or electronic payment. There are 318 vendors that have elected to enroll in the Village’s electronic payment program. An additional form of vendor payment the Village has yet to implement is credit card payments. Paying vendors by credit card allows the Village to save on check issuing costs, improve cash flow, and offers the opportunity to earn credit card reward points.
American Express offers a corporate credit card program that would allow the Village to earn a membership reward point for every dollar charged. The Village can choose to use these membership reward points to purchase a variety of items and/or to make a donation to an eligible 501(c)3 Corporation.
American Express reviewed the Village’s current vendor list and has indentified three major vendors that accept American Express. In FY2010, the Village spent approximately $4,800,000 with these three vendors. The Village would earn 4,800,000 reward points assuming we paid these vendors approximately the same amount in FY2011. Reward points can be converted to dollars when donating to an eligible 501(c)3 Corporation.
Staff recommends implementing the corporate credit card program and donating half of the reward points to a program or organization to be determined by the Board. The remaining half would be used to purchase computer equipment and other supplies. A spending plan will be developed with the Village Manager’s Office upon approval.
I move to recommend to the Board to issue an American Express corporate credit card that will be utilized to make payment to qualified Village vendors.
Financial Impact
The American Express corporate card does not have any fees associated with it. Based on anticipated purchasing volume, the Village will realize $48,000 in reward points. These reward points will be utilized to make donations to eligible programs and/or to purchase equipment and/or other supplies.
Recommended Action/Motion
I move to table this item.