Feb. 4, 2003
P-Card Update: What Cardholders Need to Know
By John
Carroll
The Supply Chain Organization (SCO) was given the go-ahead in August
2001 to increase its single transaction limit for Procurement Cards
or “P-Cards” to $2,500 and to proceed with the development
of a travel and entertainment program for the P-Card, which had been
previously restricted.
At the same time, the SCO also made the decision to switch the P-Card
to a Bank One Mastercard and to use a more efficient reconciliation
process.
“We decided that, during this period of change, we would take the
time to reevaluate the entire program from top to bottom,” says
Greg Powell, P-Card program manager. “We moved to Bank One primarily
for its very strong presence in higher education, its solid reputation
for customer service, and the superior reporting that it offers.”
New cards were automatically created for present cardholders so there
is no need to re-enroll. If you are a current P-Card holder and have
not switched from Visa to MasterCard, the SCO asks you contact the P-Card
office immediately to get your new card because your Visa soon will
be invalid.
The new reconciliation process, called ‘Pathways,’ is a Web-based
application that gives cardholders the ability to work directly with
all of their transactions. It is the means by which the cardholder selects
which Oracle alias and account to charge each transaction. According
to Powell, there is much less room for error than with the old system
in which a single E-mail was sent for each transaction. “Pathways
allows cardholders to work directly with their transactions,” Powell
says. “There is no longer the possibility of a lost or improperly
formatted E-mail. And cardholders can access all their transactions
at the same time as well as run reports that can be used for reconciliation.”
Powell stresses that although the new system requires a little more
work by the individual cardholder, the P-Card program gives employees
the freedom to make purchases when needed. “What would have once
been a requisition or a personal reimbursement can now be done more
quickly via the P-Card,” says Powell. “What we have done is
empowered employees to make these purchases without SCO’s prior
oversight or approval.”
Mary Ellen Rodrigues, office manager for University Relations, says
the P-Card program has definitely made her life easier. “Vendors
and purchases that require payment up front prior to the P-Card needed
to have a purchase order,” explains Rodrigues. “Now I can
just pick up the telephone and place an order with the card.”
GW employees (or students working on behalf of the University) are eligible
for a P-Card with the written approval of their department head. For
a P-Card manual, a list of frequently asked questions, and all P-Card
forms, visit www.gwu.edu/~supchn/pcard.htm
or call 994-2500.
Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu
