Section III: A/OPC Responsibilities

How are new accounts set up?

As an A/OPC, you are responsible for setting up and maintaining all cardholder accounts. There are three documents you should have prior to setting up a new account:

• Delegation of Procurement Authority. With few exceptions, U.S. Government agencies are required to adhere to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) when purchasing supplies or services. FAR 1.603-3(b) states:
• "Agency heads are encouraged to delegate micro-purchase authority to individuals who are employees of an executive agency or members of the Armed Forces of the United States who will be using the supplies or services being purchased. Individuals delegated this authority … shall be appointed in writing in accordance with agency procedures."
• You should have a legible copy of the Delegation of Procurement Authority (DPA) for each prospective cardholder prior to creating an account. Your agency/organization policy will dictate what the contents of the DPA should be and who has authority to issue it.
• Training. The cardholder should understand the responsibility and duties associated with having a Purchase Charge Card. This knowledge is usually obtained through training. Your agency/organization will likely have specific policies in regard to cardholder training, and you should ensure that the cardholder is in compliance with those requirements prior to creating an account.
• Account Set-Up Form. Each prospective cardholder must complete and submit an accurate account set-up request form to you. You can acquire the account set-up forms from your official bank A/OPC guide or from the bank's Web site or EAS.

Once you are in receipt of the DPA, the training certificate, and the completed account set-up form, you will review and approve/disapprove the request and likely will set up a file to retain copies of the necessary paperwork. If you approve a request, you will then contact the bank so they can issue the card to the cardholder. Your agency/organization may have different requirements that must be met before a purchase card can be issued, so be sure to familiarize yourself with those and follow them at all times.

Completed account forms can be sent to the bank via fax, mail, e-mail, or the bank's EAS. In cases where there is an emergency, an A/OPC can give verbal directions to the bank to set-up an account with electronic/written confirmation to the bank within three business days.

You will also create an account for the cardholder in the bank's EAS. At the time of account set-up, you will set authorization controls. You can change authorization controls at any time in case you determine that some are too restrictive (or not restrictive enough). Here are some typical authorization controls:

• Dollars per transaction limit
• Dollars per month limit
• Transactions per day limit
• Transactions per month limit
• Merchant Category Code (MCC) restrictions