NASCIO 2012 Recognition Awards. Mississippi s State Enterprise Payment Portal. State of Mississippi Craig.Orgeron@its.ms.

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1 NASCIO 2012 Recognition Awards Title: NASCIO Award Category: Award Contact: Mississippi s State Enterprise Payment Portal Improving State Operations Craig Orgeron, CIO State of Mississippi Craig.Orgeron@its.ms.gov Project Initiation: January 31, 2011 Project Completion: November 7,

2 Executive Summary: In conjunction with the issuance of an egovernment Portal contract in late 2010 the State of Mississippi (State) sought to combine all existing official online payments into one Enterprise Payment Portal. Prior to a standardized payment solution the state offered a number of egovernment applications for constituent use. Developed by various agency staffs and third party vendors, these applications utilized several different online payment solutions. Mississippi awarded the egovernment contract, including the expanded payment engine, to Mississippi Interactive, a subsidiary of NIC Inc. Beginning in January 2011 the first phase of the project was to convert over 28 existing online services to the new Mississippi enterprise payment processor. This conversion, accompanied by a detailed launch plan was completed in November 2011 with no interruption in the state s existing payment processing. Streamlining official payments through one solution has supported the State s efforts to centralize accounting and standardizing online citizen payments. Surpassing the state s payment processor requirements, the common enterprise payment portal provides seamless interaction for the end user, relinquishes PCI compliance from the State, and provides additional payment solutions not currently offered by previous processors. Citizens, businesses and state entities have benefited from the Enterprise Payment Portal. Launched at a nominal cost to the state, the conversion to one payment gateway in 2011 provided the State with an efficient streamlined solution. From YTD May 30, 2012 online transactions process through the Payment Portal increased over 5% from previous year to more than 206,000 totaling $13 million collected by the solution on behalf of government agencies. 2

3 Business Problem and Solution Description: In late 2010 the State of Mississippi offered a number of egovernment applications for online constituent use. These applications, developed by agency staffs and third party vendors utilized several different online payment solutions, some procured independently of the State s contract. Due to this diversity, the State needed to maintain different accounting processes. Committed to continuing efforts to increase centralization and standardization of Mississippi government payments, as well as fostering a fast-paced and efficient egovernment program, the State issued an RFP in December 2010 to adopt an Enterprise Payment Portal. To expand the capabilities of online payment processing the State required that the Enterprise Payment Portal offer: Continued seamless integration between the enterprise processor and the Statewide Automated Accounting System (SAAS) Processing of all major branded credit cards and electronic checks Vendor acceptance of all Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance Single transaction, subscription, drawdown and one-click processing Processing of payments via web, point-of-sale (POS), and kiosk Configurable payment types by service Mississippi Interactive (MSI), a local subsidiary of NIC Inc., was awarded the contract to offer the expansive payment service engine. After choosing the MSI payment solution through the competitive bid process the Mississippi s Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) issued a directive that all online payments, for both existing applications and those applications with conditional approvals for alternate payment services, convert to the new processor. The new turn-key solution also included the set-up and management of merchant accounts for credit card and ACH processing. In addition, DFA provided oversight on behalf of the State to ensure monies received on behalf of agencies were processed according to the State s standards. The first phase of the project was to convert over 28 existing online services, including numerous state professional licensing applications, driver services, business filings and hunting/fishing licenses to the Mississippi branded common checkout interface. Each application conversion consisted of a detailed transition plan that included some development time by State staff and third party vendors, thorough internal and user acceptance testing, and a rigorous launch and monitoring schedule. Conversion was completed in November 2011 with no interruption in payment processing. In addition to completing the payment migration in under a year, the State was also able to promote and extend the service to new e-government processes including: Mississippi Gives (Enterprise Donation Portal) Driver Crash Reports State Golf Course Point-Sale-Payments 3

4 Significance: Streamlining Mississippi s official government payments through one solution has created efficiencies for integrating state solutions and provided a trusted, branded interface to citizens. After the previous enterprise payment solution was replaced with the Enterprise Payment Portal, average transaction flows were standardized to a common check out. All electronic applications pass the user session to a Common Checkout Page module (CCP) where user payment information is collected, summarized for customer review and electronically processed. The Common Checkout Page module (CCP) that the Enterprise Payment Solution utilizes provides a stand-alone service for collecting and processing credit card and banking information. Branded specifically for Mississippi, CCP provides seamless interaction for the end user. Hosted and maintained by MSI the CCP solution ensures that no sensitive payment information is ever stored locally on any state hardware or transmitted over the state s network ensuring that the State is free of any PCI compliance. At the heart of the State s Enterprise Payment Solution is the Payment Engine (TPE), a fully hosted, web-based, enterprise-class payment processor that well exceeded the State s processing requirements. Specifically designed for use by state government, TPE and MSI offered proven processes and solution for integrating with state financial systems similar to SAAS. Benefits of the Project: Prior to the launch of the Enterprise Payment Solution, most State applications were using an antiquated central payment solution. The conversion to the new payment gateway has provided the state with an efficient streamlined solution. From YTD May 30, 2012 online transactions process through the Payment Portal increased over 5% from previous year to more than 206,000 totaling $13 million collected by the solution on behalf of government agencies. The new Enterprise Payment Portal solution is offered to the State of Mississippi with a lower than industry standard flat percentage rate for credit card processing. This simplifies reconciliation and supports consistent calculations for fee structuring. Additional benefits to the State include: Seamless integration with existing and future State accounting systems 24/7 access to real time financial reports Relinquishment of PCI compliance and costs Additional payment gateways previously not offered, including point-of-sale, kiosk and interactive voice response 4

5 Plans for ongoing enhancements and updates to continually exceed requirements for security, performance and innovation Significant reduction in implementation time due to consistent integration process Increased customer service as payment questions are handled by the solution provider While the majority of Mississippi s egovernment services are self-funded, whereby processing fees are passed on to the end user for the convenience of the online service, taxpayers and business have benefited from the standardized processing through: Significantly lower processing fees Secure online handling of sensitive payment information Instant payment authorization and capture Same day refunds back to the charged account State branded common look and feel The new Enterprise Payment Portal will also provide opportunities for expanding payment choices for government services, such as current efforts underway to utilize smartphone and tablet card swipe accessories for use in the field or to integrate the payment interface with mobile apps. A key reason Mississippi chose to utilize the MSI payment engine was their selffunded pricing model. Through this model the development, hosting, maintenance, customer service and ongoing enhancements of the Enterprise Payment Portal are provided at no direct cost to the State. The initial conversion costs incurred by MSI and valued at over $50,000 were covered under the self-funded model resulting in a $0.00 cost to the State. The State incurred nominal one-time costs paid to existing third party vendors for the conversion of their existing business process solutions. 5