Banking Services RFP Questions and Answers

Transcription

1 Banking Services RFP Questions and Answers I. Introduction Questions and Responses Q1. Evaluation Criteria; what is the total of points in scoring this banking RFP? What is the value of points for each scored area? A1. See the RFP, Section J for the evaluation criteria. All the evaluation criteria are important but as noted in the proposal the ability to provide all the services requested at the lowest cost to the City will be critical. The City will not be releasing point counts. III. City Overview Questions and Responses Q2. Please clarify the number of employees and payroll $ amount? A2. As noted in the RFP the City averages 4,500 employees with seasonally higher levels with temporary workers in the summer which can include approximately 1,500 workers. The payroll averages $14 million a month of which 93% are paid by direct deposit. The City intends to move to stored value cards for employees not willing to accept direct deposit. Exact figures vary monthly but the 12-month average has been provided. Q3. What is the average pay per pay period for summer workers, what is the frequency weekly or bi-weekly and the average number of weeks worked? A3. The City uses approximately 1,500 summer workers each year averaging 8 to 12 weeks of work. They are paid on average between $500 and $800 per pay period. IV. Bank Overview Questions and Responses Q4. The Bank does not have local branches and cannot provide several of the services envisioned by the RFP however we do have a local vault, offer remote deposit services and a stored value card product. Will the inability to provide all required services disqualify us from consideration? A4. Yes. Q5. In question #f of the Overview regarding the bank s approach to its service automation and support of new and ongoing automation needs. Is the City referring to Product/Service automation, or Customer Service related automation? A5. Both, but directed more to product/service automation. Both critically impact the service available to the City. 1

2 V. Required Services Questions and Responses Q6. Does the City currently use an overnight sweep vehicle? If yes, please provide average monthly sweep balances. A6. As noted on page 11, the City does not currently use sweep accounts. All but two accounts are ZBA and in a sweep, when rates increase, theoretically the entire balance would be swept. Q7. Please provide a list of the City departments and their addresses. A7. City departments and their locations are listed on the City s website ( Q8. Under the section on remote deposit, can the city explain what is meant by E- Receivables? A8. E-receivables is a generic banking term for advanced services in which receivables are received electronically and ultimately collected by the bank and forwarded to the City in one EDI file capturing both financial and back-up information. Q9. Under the section on remote deposit (question e), please expand on what is expected as full liability for the checks deposited. A9. Once the check is deposited through the scan and deposit procedures using remote, does the bank assume the same responsibility for the checks as if they were physically deposited with the bank. (The City of course agrees to retain the physical check for the assigned time period.) Q10. In the section on standard disbursing services, please clarify what is meant by defining and illustrating the payee information for single and multiple payments. A10. This question should have been in the collection section. The City wants to know if the payee information is available to the City on line and on reports. Does the bank capture and report on a detail basis intra-day or next-day. Q11. In the standard disbursing services section (question f): Please clarify the handling of exception or non-standard items through the payment consolidation 2

3 process, error tolerance limitations and subsequent handling requirements. what types of items are considered exception or non-standard. A11. Examples would include irregular tracking numbers, set dollar limits, automated rejections or upfront file validation errors. Q12. Regarding stored value cards (pay cards),what fees would the City envision passing on to the employee/user/cardholder and why? A12. Fees might include replacement cards. Normal processing costs would not be passed through to the card holder. Q13. How many outgoing wires are processed on a monthly or annual basis? (Please specify timeframe provided) A13. Wires and transfers are processed on an as-needed basis and not a schedule. As shown on Attachment A, the City averages three (3) outgoing domestic and an occasional international wire. Are wires are online transactions from the City. Q14. How many outgoing ACHs (debits) are processed on a monthly or annual basis? (Please specify timeframe provided) A14. As shown on Attachment A, the City averages 27,134 one-day and 16,245 two day ACH debits on average monthly with 2,877 credits. Further detail is not available from the historical account analyses. Q15. On the Section on custodial services, please confirm that the City maintains nine (9) custody accounts today. A15. Yes. The City currently maintains nine custody accounts. These are maintained to facilitate separate transactions from the City s investment managers. Q16. Please confirm that there are seven (7) outside money managers and the City self directs two (2) portfolios. A16. Yes. Q17. Please provide the total security asset value held in the custody accounts and provide a list or summary of the holdings A17. As noted on page 20in the RFP, the City averages 330 securities in the FRB or DTC at any one time. These securities are primarily Federal Treasuries and Agencies and Municipals. A specific list of securities will not be provided. 3

4 Q18. In the section on custodial services, please provide the number of DTC and repo collateral transactions, on a monthly or annual basis (pleases specify timeframe provided) A18. The average number of trades per month is 76 (DTC 35, FED 41) Q19. In the section on custodial services, please provide the number of mutual fund transactions on a monthly or annual basis (please specify timeframe) A19. The City has no mutual fund exposure other than money market vehicles for idle cash and sweep purposes. Q20. In the Custodial services section, are there any global (non-us dollar dominated assets), please provide the market value by country and an estimate of the trading volumes by country A20. All securities are dollar denominated per the Investment Policy of the City. Q21. Regarding custodial services, the fees do not appear on Attachment A. Is there a format and volumes that you want all bidders to use to price the custody services so that they are consistent from provider to provider? A21. Thank you this was an oversight on Attachment A. The fees charged by each bank should be provided on the bottom of Attachment A and should cover (a) monthly maintenance, (b) clearing FRB and DTC, (d) safekeeping and the basis for that safekeeping (cusip or par, etc.) and (e) distribution of income (maturities, calls, coupons, etc.) All fees should be included please. Q22. Regarding collateral requirements local debt obligations rated A or better are listed as qualified collateral. Does local reference any municipal bond, or only municipal bonds issues in the state of Minnesota? A22. Local refers to any municipal general obligation debt from any state in the US. (MN State Statute 118A.03(Subdivision 2.) Q23. Regarding collateral requirements, will the City accept a By-Laws certification confirming an individual s authority to enter into a binding depository contract rather than a resolution of the bank s Board or Loan Committee to confirm and execute a depository agreement. A23. No. In order to perfect the depository agreement and assure compliance under the FIRREA provisions of the FDIC, the City demands a Bank Board or Loan Committee resolution authorizing the depository agreement. 4

5 Q24. Regarding image lockbox, at what time is the daily lockbox transmission containing current day deposit and remittance information to be sent to the City of Minneapolis? A24. Currently the files are transmitted by 9:30am each morning. IX. City Contract Questions and Responses Q25. Can the City accept legal documentation in an online link? A25. All contracts must be in hard or paper copy. The City is bound by statutory data retention and management requirements. VII. Alternative Services Questions and Responses Q26. Are there any special reporting needs? If yes, please provide the details. A26. Not at this time. Attachment A Q27. Can the City please provide Attachment A in an Excel format? A27. Yes. It is has been posted to the RFP website. Q28. What is a CEO Cycled Statement Sub report? A28. That is a bank specific name for a statement subsidiary report. Q29. What is E-Box monthly maintenance? Is this a service that allows residents to pay bills online via ACH or Credit/Debit Card related to bill payment service payments? How is that payment detail delivered? Are the transactions reported in EDI Payment Service section? A29. The E-Box service processes payments received from internet bill pay services using the City s business rules and comparison data to consolidate payments that pass validation and reject or suspend as exceptions those that fail. The E-Box service provides a consolidated electronic file of payments from various sources. Q30. Can the City update the lockbox line items from the current Retail to Wholesale charges based on recent bank changes? A30. A change in the retail to wholesale nomenclature occurred only in June Differentiation is not possible. 5

6 Q31. How are Lockbox images delivered today? Please provide detail around the Custom Report required per Attachment A.Is Retail Lockbox Custom Report a hard copy or a transmitted report? A31. Lockbox images are electronically transmitted to the City. Custom Reports are reports displaying user-defined data. The City currently receives three customized reports for each lockbox that are transmitted electronically. (Data Report, CSV Report, Summary Report) Q32. Please describe a Retail Lockbox Check and List? What is Retail LB Manual Address Change? A32. Check and List provides a full listing of the checks received. Some of our Lockbox coupons have a change of address form on the back of the coupon. Q33. Please describe the CEO Returned Item Service Monthly Base? Are ACH CEO Return Subscription charges related to same service? A33.CEO is a bank specific designation. The return item service provides for the return of depository items either physical or ACH. Q34. What ARP Optional Reports are you receiving?describe ARP Aged Issue Record on File per Item. A34. The City receives 18 ARP reports for thecity s checking accounts. The Aged Issue Records are archived aged items maintained by the bank. Q35. What is Smart Decision Vault ACH Transit? A35. These are remote deposit ACH transactions handled through the vault. Q36. Describe ACH Customer Reports. What is difference between ACH CEO Fraud Filter Stop and ACH CEO Fraud Filter Base monthly maintenances? A36. ACH reports are various listings of transactions. The fraud filter stop is basically a debit or credit stop on an account. The Fraud filter monthly maintenance is referred to as the monthly base fee Q37. What is ACH Fax Service? A37. Notification by fax. A38. What data is included in Electronic Commerce Direct Transmission? 6

7 A38. The City sends an ACH file daily from our PeopleSoft Accounts Payable system. Q39. What is Payment Manager? Payment Manager ACH Addenda? Payment Manager ACH Confirmations? Payment Manager Domestic ACH Transactions? Payment Manager Monthly Base? A39. Payment Manager is a bank specific name for accounts payables consolidated payment file processing. The Payment Manager provides the complete ACH addenda. It also includes confirmations of receipts, and domestic as well as international ACH transactions. The base is the monthly maintenance fee. Q40. Do accounts have both CEO information reporting and a separate BAI reporting transmission sent directly outside of CEO? A40. Both are provided through CEO. Q41. What does the cash vault transaction recap report by provide? How often is it sent to the City? A41. The transactions coming through the vault are summarized and reported to the City via . The reports are not scheduled and are only requested by the City when further research is required. Q42. What is Cash Vault Envelope Verification? A42. Deposit Envelopes are processed and verified by the cash vault and consolidated into on Deposit. Currently this process only applies to our Impound Lot. Q43. Please explain Printing and Supplies Vendor? A43. This item refers to check and deposit slip printing provided by a bank vendor but charged through the account analysis. Q44. What is Controlled Disbursement Cashed Check Float Fee? A44. A check processed OTC at the controlled disbursement account is charged for the float which normally would have occurred through CD. Q45. What are Receivables Manager Outgoing Transmission and Monthly Base? A45. Receivables Manager is a bank specific name for receivables consolidated file processing. All the various avenues of receivables are filtered 7

8 through one central Manager and then transmitted to the City. The Monthly Base is the monthly maintenance fee. Attachment C Questions and Responses Q46. Do we need to respond again with Attachment C if we responded in July on a separate question for the City? A46. No Exhibit D Questions and Responses Q47. The file spec appears to accommodate more than one payment type. Is the city looking to include anything else in this payment file, or is this just for checks? A47. The file spec was created for flexibility. This RFP refers only to payments. Q48. How many accounts are you printing checks from? A48.The vendor checks will be printed by the Bank. The City intends for check printing to be replaced by PayCard or merged with the vendor account for the other three checking accounts. (See page 7 of the RFP) Q49. How many unique remittance layouts are you using for the checks? A49.There will be one unique remittance layout for the vendor account. Q50. Can you provide a sample of each check and remit document? A50. Yes see attached. Q51. Do you have special handling? A51. Yes, we have requested some of the Bank Printed checks be overnighted back to the City. Q52. Can you provide an overview of your current system and process? A52. The check files are generated through the PeopleSoft system and printed in house. Q53. How is the city generating the Payroll Checks? A53. The check file is generated through the PeopleSoft HR system and printed in house. 8