newsI N S I D EMasterCard® Smart FleetOn Line: The FleetProgram Reporting ToolYou’ve Been Waiting For

Emerging PaymentSolutions: Automatic BillPayments

Meet Lisa Franklin,Customer AccountSpecialist

governmentCitigroup® Cash,Tradeand Treasury Services

W I N T E R 2 0 0 3

It is the start of a new fiscal year

for the Federal Government, and Citibank encourages

all purchase cardholders to renew their commitment to

supporting the Javits-Wagner-O’Day Program (JWOD).

The JWOD Program, established by Congress in 1938,

enables people who are blind or have other severe

disabilities to work through local community-based

organizations to provide quality, on-time goods and

services to the Federal government. Through

two Central Nonprofit Agencies—National

Industries for the Blind (NIB) and NISH (Creating

Employment Opportunities for People with

Severe Disabilities)—more than 600 nonprofit

agencies across the country, as well as in

Puerto Rico and Guam, employ nearly 40,000 people.

The purchase of JWOD products and services by Federal

customers helps battle the 70 percent unemployment

rate faced by this untapped labor resource.

The benefits of the JWOD program touch tens of

thousands of Americans who are blind or have other

severe disabilities. Employment is the single most

important factor that enables an individual to more fully

participate in society - it brings economic power and

independence. As a result, those non-profit

organizations operating in cooperation with

the JWOD program are the largest providers

of employment to Americans who are blind

or have other severe disabilities.

This dynamic program continues to enable federal

customers to purchase quality products and services,

such as SKILCRAFT®, through sources like www.jwod.com,

while also saving time and money on contracts

and paperwork. SKILCRAFT products including

office supplies (pens, pencils, binder clips,

notepads, and paper), environmentally friendly

cleaning supplies, military specific items,

medical supplies and much more, are produced

by employees of NIB associated agencies. These

products provide employment and training opportunities

for Americans who are blind in custom manufacturing,

packaging, assembly, sales, distribution, and marketing.

In addition, service opportunities performed under the

JWOD Program are expanding employment choice for

Americans with disabilities. Temporary administration,

computer document scanning, customer service, call

© 2003 Citicorp. All rights reserved.Commercial Cards GovernmentServices News is published byCommercial Cards, a business unit of Citibank N.A. and is intended foruse by the clients of its card issuingAffiliates. This publication may not be reprinted without the expresswritten consent of Citibank N.A.Citibank USA, N.A. issues commercialcards in the U.S. Citibank Canadaissues commercial cards in Canada.MASTERCARD is a registeredtrademark of MasterCard InternationalIncorporated. Visa is a registeredtrademark of Visa U.S.A. and VisaInternational. SKILCRAFT is a registeredtrademark of National Industries for the Blind. CITIBANK, CITIDIRECT,CITIMANAGER, CITIGROUP and theUmbrella Device are trademarks andservice marks of Citicorp and itsaffiliates and are used and registeredthroughout the world.

JWODWorksto Support America“All of our citizens should have the opportunity to live and work with dignity and

freedom. My Administration remains committed to helping America's more than 50

million disabled persons to obtain meaningful work and to achieve the ADA's promise

of equality of opportunity, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency.”

— President George W. Bush, October 1, 2002

The President’s Proclamation of National Disability Employment Awareness Month

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Given the more than 500,000 vehicles under the Federal Government’s

management, it should not be difficult to understand the need for a

better fleet card program reporting and budgeting solution. One industry

rule of thumb estimates that fraud and card misuse can account for

as much as 15% of maintenance and fuel costs in Fleet programs.

MasterCard® Smart Fleet OnLine:

The Fleet Program ReportingToolYou’ve Been Waiting For

Thanks to a new solution from MasterCard®

Public Sector Payment Solutions, now there

is a better way to track exactly how your

agency’s fleet, fuel, and maintenance dollars

are being spent.

MasterCard® Smart Fleet OnLine is a Web-based,

ad hoc/query reporting solution that can

readily improve the performance of your

agency’s fleet, fuel, and maintenance program.

Smart Fleet OnLine, which was launched

in July at the Fed Fleet 2002 conference in

Kansas City, was developed in response to

the specific needs of government fleet

managers who requested a reporting tool with

ad hoc and query capabilities to assist with

overall fleet management. With Smart Fleet

OnLine, you can create the reports you need

right from your desktop — 24 hours a day,

seven days a week. Equally important, Smart

Fleet OnLine’s ability to support eight different

levels of hierarchy gives Fleet managers an

important, convenient resource for drafting

better budgets and regularly tracking

performance against budget.

Smart Fleet OnLine allows fleet managers

and program administrators to create reports

online, view card and program summary

activity, identify purchasing trends, or download

MasterCard Government Fleet Card transaction

data into Microsoft® Excel, Access, or other

proprietary software. With Smart Fleet

OnLine, your agency can combine (through

data uploads) custom data elements such

as driver name, fuel type, tank capacity,

and license plate number, with transaction

data from the MasterCard Government Fleet

Card to create enhanced exception reports.

The analysis, summary, and exception reports

that Smart Fleet OnLine makes possible

can readily help fleet program managers

budget, identify fraud and card misuse,

and spot other opportunities to increase

the efficiency of their organization’s

Government Fleet Card program.

Smart Fleet OnLine is supported by the

MasterCard Global Central Data Repository,

which stores up to 15 months of transaction

activity. It allows authorized users to run

ad-hoc queries on purchases, drivers, vehicles

or a combination of variables. All information

is protected from unauthorized access with

SSL 128 bit strength encryption. And, Smart

Fleet OnLine reports are easily e-mailed

between users to save time and reduce errors.

Smart Fleet OnLine supports eight levels

of organizational hierarchy, making it

extremely easy to segregate information,

and defines three types of users:

Administrator – has access to all program

capabilities, and defines program access for

other users;

Power User – can create, edit and access

reports; and

General User – can access reports only.

“Smart Fleet answers the needs of the

Government’s Fleet managers,” says Dan

Rose, Director of Global Product Development

at MasterCard International. “With large

Fleet programs, you really need to manage

by exception. Smart Fleet OnLine, with its

ad hoc reporting capability, lets Fleet

managers do just that and in the process,

helps them improve the performance of

their Fleet programs.”

Smart Fleet OnLine features online help

and documentation, as well as online account

set-up and maintenance. This flexible and

easy to use reporting solution will assist Fleet

managers and program administrators in

creating budgets and reports so that their

MasterCard Government Fleet Card

programs can generate excellent results.

New Password has you stumped? As you know, the CitiDirect® Card Management System recently

changed its password rules to ensure proper security of your information. What many people

may not realize is that the CitiDirect® Card Managemet System no longer allows a person to change

passwords more than once every 24 hours. To further ensure that no one can compromise a

password, and change it several times in a day, the system will not allow a password change

more than once per day. So, when changing passwords, be sure to remember it!

attributed to automatic bill

payments in 2001, a sharp

rise from $4 billion in 1995.

Khachadourian compares

automatic bill payments to

consumer use of credit cards

at the supermarket 10 years

ago. “At first, consumers were

slow to adapt, but once they

did, it became their preferred

payment method.”

In addition to its growing popularity in the

private sector, great opportunities for automatic

bill payments exist within the government

with office equipment and furniture leasing

and rental, as well as residential property

management for government personnel.

Government Personnel Applications

Automated bill payments can be especially

appealing to military and government

personnel who are often required to relocate.

By now most GSA SmartPay participants and administrators know

that Visa® and its member financial institutions are continually searching

for ways to cut costs, save money and improve the timeliness of

bill payments. It has also been noted that some of the most effective

solutions originate in the private sector. In the past Visa has taken

these best practice learnings and introduced them to its GSA

SmartPay Solutions program.

Emerging Payment Solutions:

Automatic Bill Payments

One such payment solution that is being

made available to government personnel

and agencies is automatic bill payments, or

recurring payments.

How Automatic Bill Payments Work

In the private sector automatic bill payments

allow customers to authorize companies they

interact with on a regular basis (i.e., utility,

telephone, cable) to bill their Visa credit card

or Visa check card account at specified time

periods (i.e., weekly, monthly, quarterly). More

and more, consumers are seeking these

types of timesaving conveniences. In fact,

a recent Visa survey found that 51 percent

of cardholders cite the convenience of not

writing and mailing multiple checks as a

reason for establishing automatic bill payment.

According to Armen Khachadourian, Senior

Vice President, Merchant Sales & Integrated

Solutions, Visa U.S.A., cardholders are quickly

adopting this payment option. In fact, Visa

surpassed $30 billion in sales volume

Visa has the ability to direct these personnel

to property management companies that

accept recurring payments for rent payments.

For instance, AIMCO, the largest property

rental company in the United States, is one

of the companies currently working with Visa

to implement a payment card acceptance

program. The service provided by AIMCO makes

it more convenient and easier for residents

to make monthly rent payments with a credit

or debit card on an ongoing basis.

In fact, residents in more than 250,000 rental

units throughout the U.S. currently have the

option of automatically paying their monthly

rent with their Visa credit or debit card.

The process also accommodates

variable expenses, such as utilities,

by having the resident identify the

maximum monthly amount on the

initial authorization form.

Aside from individual benefits to

government personnel, automatic

bill payments are also a convenient

and easy way to pay for leased or

rented office equipment and furniture.

“Cardholders benefit by using

recurring payments to streamline bill

payments,” said Khachadourian. “They

receive fewer bills, which in turn results in

fewer late payments.”

For More Information

Government personnel and GSA SmartPay

participants who are interested in learning

more about automatic bill payments should

contact their Citibank Client Development

Manager or visit visa.com.

TechieTip

It takes extraordinary dedication to

consistently excel at serving multiple

clients, while maintaining a high level

of productivity and professionalism

under pressure. Lisa Franklin, Client

Account Specialist for the Department

of Transportation (DOT) does just

that, on a daily basis. Lisa's dedication

to meeting and exceeding customer

expectations is clearly demonstrated

in her work with the newly established

Transportation Security Administration.

Lisa worked tirelessly to serve this DOT

bureau, created in the wake of 9/11

to oversee the new federal Air Marshal

and Airport Security programs,

ensuring that all new marshals got

their Citibank government cards as

quickly as possible. This meant

processing hundreds of cards a week

and handling rush requests, as well

as serving the program administrators

in 16 other DOT divisions at the

same time.

Lisa’s efforts produced high-level praise

directly from the DOT Office of the

Secretary, who commended her

for doing “a great job … handling

rush requests related to the new

Transportation Security Administration.

She was very responsible, diligent

and professional as we worked

through the issues.”

The fact that five separate clients

within DOT nominated Lisa for this

award is a testimony to her world-

class dedication and stellar customer

service skills. “What an outstanding

job Lisa Franklin has been doing.

She has always been gracious and

professional, and responded in a timely

manner to any problems, questions

or concerns. She provided exceptional

support… (which) has often resulted

in our asking her to satisfy requests

in a short period of time. She has

always responded efficiently, promptly

and professionally. Overall her

performance and support have been

truly exceptional and it is a real

pleasure to work with her,” wrote

Rick Aveleyra (former travel card

administrator, DOT).

In addition, Lisa's site in Jacksonville,

FL was awarded the CAS Manager

Team Site Award for providing round-

the-clock assistance to 500 FEMA

and Department of State employees,

as well as countless other government

employees who were stranded in the

aftermath of 9/11.

“It was an excellent match when Lisa

was hired to manage the DOT accounts,

especially considering their vital role

in the safety and security of our nation

since 9/11,” said Jackie Robinson,

(CAS Unit Manager).

Meet Lisa Franklin, Customer Account Specialist

newsgovernment

Publisher:

Bridgette D. Jennings

Citigroup® Cash, Trade

and Treasury Services

Marketing

203.975.6087

bridgette.d.jennings

@citigroup.com

www.citimanager.com

center and switchboard operations are only a few of the

services that are being successfully accomplished by

these non-profit agencies.

At the GSA Smart Pay Conference in August, NIB shared

some of the powerful stories of the dedicated JWOD

employees behind SKILCRAFT products and services.

You may recall hearing about Ron Harris, who began

his career driving tanks in the Army and now replicates

CDs to serve his country. Thirty-one years after leaving

the armed services, Ron recently lost his job at a large

manufacturing company where he produced plastic

packaging. He was unable to continue his employment

due to the deterioration of sight in one of his eyes from

a rare condition called Ocular Histoplamosis Syndrome.

Because of purchasing support from cardholders like

you, Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ABVI)/

Goodwill Industries in Rochester, New York was able to

offer Ron employment. In his first year at ABVI, Ron has

been able to apply his previous manufacturing experience

to improve production rates and enhance the agency’s

safety record.

NIB Conference Speakers also shared a variety of

educational and communications tools available to help

Citibank cardholders understand why it is so important

to choose SKILCRAFT to meet purchasing needs. By

putting these tools and your purchase dollars to work,

you will be ensuring the success of the JWOD program

and creating endless possibilities for people who are

blind or severely disabled.

Together, we have a great opportunity to save your

organization time and money. But most importantly, if you

decide to choose quality JWOD products and services,

you will be instrumental in providing employment

opportunities for Americans who are blind or severely

disabled. As President Bush said in his January 29th

State of the Union address, “Offer every American the

dignity of a job.”

To learn more about how NIB can assist you in

achieving your training and compliance goals call (800)

433-2304 or e-mail customer_service@nib.org.

JWOD Works(continued from first page)

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