US Bank in Pact with Purchasing Co-op WSCA-NASPO
US Bank said that it has signed an agreement with the National Association of State Procurement Officials’ (NASPO) cooperative purchasing arm. WSCA-NASPO was formed in October 2012 and began operating officially on 1 January 2013.
The agreement offers states, cities and public educational entities across the US streamlined access to more US Bank commercial card programmes at preferred prices. The contract extends the bank’s current partnership with WSCA-NASPO for up to seven more years and expands it to include US Bank fleet card in addition to the purchasing, travel and One Card options available under the previous contract.
US Bank added that using card programmes for procurement, travel and fuelling helps public agencies better manage their purchasing processes. They can issue one payment per month to cover all purchases on each card type, instead of processing multiple purchase orders and payments. Transactions can be monitored online almost immediately, rather than waiting for end-of-month invoices. Using US Bank’s Voyager network, fuel purchases can be controlled through state-of-the-art fleet card technology.
Suppliers also benefit from card-based purchasing by receiving immediate payment. With more traditional transaction methods, public agencies typically make a payment 30 days after a purchase.
“We are pleased to have earned this opportunity to renew and expand our offerings to public sector entities through WSCA-NASPO,” said Richard Raffetto, head of public sector and financial institutions for US Bank’s wholesale banking division. “We are eager to put our payment expertise to work helping public sector organisations and educational institutions operate more efficiently and improve stewardship of their financial resources.”