Council approves participation agreement for JPMorgan procurement card program

The Mineral Wells City Council voted 6-0 to authorize the city manager to execute a participation agreement with JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. to implement a procurement card program through the Texas Procurement Card consortium administered by the City of Fort Worth. Staff told council the procurement card program is expected to reduce operating and processing costs associated with accounts-payable and check issuance by an estimated 76%, provide improved cash-flow timing, eliminate fraud liability to the city for cardholder transactions and reduce 1099 reporting burdens. Staff said JPMorgan agreed to waive fees and provide the software at no cost for implementation. The presenter said the program provides cardholder controls — including merchant-category restrictions, transaction limits, daily and monthly caps — and that a finance department card administrator would have the ability to temporarily override limits when operationally necessary. Staff estimated the program rebate could range from about $5,000 to $15,000 annually depending on aggregate spend across participating entities. If approved, staff said a draft procurement card policy will be presented to council at the Aug. 5 meeting and the rollout would be gradual to ensure technology and procedures are in place. Council approved the participation agreement 6-0 and directed staff to return with the formal policy and implementation timeline.