Before Using Your Purchase Charge Card

Verifying Your Card

The purchase charge card is given to you, the cardholder, in trust that it will be kept safe. Unauthorized use of the card due to your failure to secure the card may result in disciplinary action. After receipt of the card the following steps should be taken:

1. Verify the accuracy of your name and address
2. Call the toll-free number provided by the purchase charge card contractor to confirm receipt of your card and to activate your account
3. Sign your card
4. Review cardholder guide provided by the purchase charge card contractor

Plan Your Monthly Purchases

Decide which items are best handled with the purchase charge card, and decide when to actually buy. When you plan your purchases, you can combine requirements in order to qualify for volume discounts as long as you remain within the authorized per transaction and monthly spending limits. Similarly, you can make small-scale purchases to avoid wasteful stockpiling. Your planning ensures that you are able to most effectively accomplish your mission by purchasing higher priority items before lower priority items.  Some agencies require cardholders to obtain management approval before each purchase.

Ensure Availability of Funds

You must establish the amount of your available funds BEFORE making any purchases with the purchase charge card. Some agencies require cardholders to verify the amount of their available funds before each purchase.

You must track purchases during the month to ensure that there are sufficient funds available to make all required purchases. Cardholders should use a log system to record purchases and the dollar amounts committed. Then they know at a glance the amount of their unobligated funds or certified fund availability.

Conduct Market Research

How can your contracting activity help in market research? Your contracting activity can provide information on required sources of supply, existing contracts, good merchants and many other areas.

Market research allows you to make an informed, responsible, reasonable purchase. Do enough market research to ensure that the government gets a good value for its money in terms of reasonable price and timely/reliable/quality service. The purchase should represent the best buy that meets the government's minimum requirements.

Compare prices and check with your contracting activity to see if there are existing contracts that offer you a good price, service, and quality. These existing contracts have been negotiated at your agency or by other agencies and can sometimes offer advantages in time and money savings. Check with the merchant to determine if they accept the purchase charge card.

• Price
• Whether the price includes shipping
• Time of delivery
• Discounts for government purchases
• Merchant's return policies (if different)

When you have all the necessary information, make the purchase.

• A merchant may never charge a fee for using the purchase charge card. Report any merchant who asks you to pay a fee to your A/OPC
• A merchant may never establish a minimum or maximum transaction amount as a condition for honoring a purchase charge card
• A merchant may never require the cardholder to complete a postcard or similar device that includes the cardholder's account number, card expiration date, signature, or any other card account data in plain view when mailed

What Are Point of Sale Discounts?

Certain merchants offer automatic discounts when you use your purchase charge card to make purchases. These merchants recognize the government purchase charge card and apply a discount at the time of the sale.

Is It Necessary to Distribute Purchases?

If you are not required to get quotations, can you always buy from the same source?

Part 13.202(a) of the Federal Acquisition Regulations recommends that micro-purchases be equitably distributed among qualified merchants to the extent practicable.

Determine Dollar Limits

There are generally two types of dollar limits applied to your purchase charge card:

• Single purchase limit
• Monthly purchase limit

Single purchase limits and monthly purchase limits are established when your account is set up. They are based on your delegation of authority and the budgetary limits of your office. The single purchase limit is the dollar limit for an individual purchase charge card transaction. For micro-purchases, the single purchase limit may be set up to $3,000 for supplies. The monthly limit represents the cumulative dollar limit for your purchases in one month. It may be set to any dollar amount equal to or greater than the single purchase limit. Verify both of your limits with your AO or A/OPC. Other restrictions such as number of transactions and merchant category codes (MCC) may apply.  MCCs are codes that businesses use to describe the products or services they provide.  Certain MCCs are blocked by agencies to prevent fraud and misuse. 

Exceeding Your Dollar Limit

Prior to processing your purchase the merchant will check to see if it exceeds any of your dollar limits. All attempted transactions that exceed your single or monthly limit will be automatically declined at the point of sale. It is your responsibility to know how much you’ve spent against your limits before you purchase. Do not rely on the authorization system to do this for you. Contact your A/OPC or contractor issuing bank immediately if your card is declined.  The contractor bank customer service phone number is listed on the back of your charge card.

1. Except as required by 8.003, or as otherwise provided by law, agencies shall satisfy requirements for supplies and services from or through the sources and publications listed below in descending order of priority—
1. Supplies.
1. Agency inventories;
2. Excess from other agencies (see Subpart 8.1);
3. Federal Prison Industries, Inc. (see Subpart 8.6);
4. Supplies which are on the Procurement List maintained by the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled (see Subpart 8.7);
5. Wholesale supply sources, such as stock programs of the General Services Administration (GSA) (see 41 CFR 101-26.3), the Defense Logistics Agency (see 41 CFR 101-26.6), the Department of Veterans Affairs (see 41 CFR 101-26.704), and military inventory control points;
6. Mandatory Federal Supply Schedules (see Subpart 8.4);
7. Optional use Federal Supply Schedules (see Subpart 8.4); and
8. Commercial sources (including educational and nonprofit institutions).
2. Services.
1. Services which are on the Procurement List maintained by the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled (see Subpart 8.7);
2. Mandatory Federal Supply Schedules (see Subpart 8.4);
3. Optional use Federal Supply Schedules (see Subpart 8.4); and
4. Federal Prison Industries, Inc. (see Subpart 8.6), or commercial sources (including educational and nonprofit institutions).
2. Sources other than those listed in paragraph (a) of this section may be used as prescribed in 41 CFR 101-26.301 and in an unusual and compelling urgency as prescribed in 6.302-2 and in 41 CFR 101-25.101-5.
3. The statutory obligation for Government agencies to satisfy their requirements for supplies or services available from the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled also applies when contractors purchase the supplies or services for Government use.

Agencies shall satisfy requirements for the following supplies or services from or through specified sources, as applicable:

1. Public utility services (see Part 41);
2. Printing and related supplies (see Subpart 8.8);
3. Leased motor vehicles (see Subpart 8.11);
4. Strategic and critical materials (e.g., metals and ores) from inventories exceeding Defense National Stockpile requirements (detailed information is available from the—
   
   
   Defense National Stockpile Center
   8725 John J. Kingman Rd., Suite 3229
   Fort Belvoir, VA 22060-6223; and
   
   
5. Helium (see Subpart 8.5—Acquisition of Helium).

• Use GSA Advantage! ® TM to conduct quick and easy market research and to order already negotiated low-price items;
• Take advantage of the Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs) your agency has negotiated to get better prices;
• Always ask for discounts at the register - whether or not point-of-sale discounts are given;
• Locate merchants that accept MasterCard and VISA by visiting http://www.mastercard.com/ and http://www.visa.com/ to use their merchant/supplier locator tools.