Managing Your American Express Charge Card Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 14:59:41 -0400 To: "USGS Employees" From: Susan Smith Subject: Managing Your American Express Charge Card This is being resent, hopefully correcting problems some have with reading the text. Thank you for your patience. Supervisors: Please ensure that employees without access to e-mail receive a copy of this message. In Reply Refer To: Mail Stop 270 MEMORANDUM To: All Employees From: Barbara J. Ryan Associate Director for Operations Subject: Managing Your American Express Charge Card The purpose of this memorandum is to outline responsibilities for managing your American Express (AMEX) charge card. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) currently has one of the highest rates of delinquent AMEX accounts within the Department of the Interior and as Chief Financial Officer I am tasked with significantly reducing the number of account delinquencies and incidents of misuse of the charge card in the USGS. To do so, I need the assistance of supervisors and employees alike. The attachment describes specific ongoing actions. I encourage you to become familiar with these action. If you have questions about the AMEX program, they may be addressed to the USGS AMEX Coordinator, Susan Sheely, at (703) 648-7602 (email ssheely@usgs.gov) or to Kathy Keillor at (703) 648-7621 (email kkeillor@usgs.gov). For more information about USGS AMEX policies, see http://www.usgs.gov:8888/usgs-manual/im/ofm-96-4.html on the USGS Intranet. Thank you, in advance, for taking your responsibilities seriously. I look forward to reduced rates of delinquencies at the next Bureau and Departmental quarterly review. Attachment ___________________________________________________________ Attachment Managing American Express Charge Cards Review of all AMEX Cardholders Division managers are asked to review the names of cardholders to determine which employees actually need the card for official government travel. If an employee does not need the card for official travel, the card should be canceled. This review will be conducted periodically to ensure that only employees with a valid need receive the AMEX card. Division-Level Report Monitoring The Office of Financial Management (OFM) is providing each division with monthly reports on AMEX card usage. Monitoring tools include a report which identifies, by employee name, amounts owed for accounts that are 60 or more days delinquent. The divisions also receive a report from AMEX which itemizes all transactions and which can be used to detect employee misuse of the charge card. Through division channels, the supervisor of the identified employee will be immediately notified either of delinquencies or apparent misuse. Supervisory Actions to Counsel Employees: Supervisors are expected to take the following actions when alerted to possible card misuse or delinquent AMEX debt: o Unauthorized Use of the AMEX Card The supervisor will promptly advise the employee that their AMEX card will be canceled if payment in full for the unauthorized purchase is not made within 10 calendar days of notification. Depending on the circumstances, suspension or cancellation of the card may be immediate. The employee will also be advised of the consequences of losing charge card privileges; i.e., travel advances remain limited to only the amount allowed for meals and incidental expenses (M&IE). In addition, the employee will be responsible for covering any remaining expenses, to be reimbursed after the travel voucher is filed. An employee's card will be immediately suspended for a minimum of 120 days for a second instance of misuse. Employees will be subject to disciplinary action, including removal from the Federal service, for confirmed use of the AMEX card for personal purchases or for cash withdrawals for purposes other than official government travel. The supervisor should consult with their servicing employee relations staff for appropriate disciplinary action. o Failure to Pay AMEX Account Debt 60 Day Delinquency Report - The supervisor must promptly notify the employee of the delinquent debt report and should determine whether the employee has paid the debt since the report was generated. If the debt has not been paid, the supervisor should verify with the employee that travel vouchers have been submitted as appropriate and that reimbursement for travel-related expenses has been received. The supervisor will advise the employee to pay the debt immediately, or to contact AMEX to arrange a payment plan. Employees should also be advised that their card will be suspended as soon as the debt becomes 70 days overdue, and will remain suspended for a minimum of 120 days after the debt is paid. Reinstatement of a suspended card will only be made upon supervisory request and with designated division approvals. 90 Day Delinquency Report - The supervisor will promptly notify the employee that AMEX has canceled the charge card for nonpayment, and that such action is likely to affect their personal credit rating, since AMEX reports to the national credit reporting bureaus those government cardholders who have been canceled because of delinquencies. Cards will remain canceled for a minimum of one year; employees should realize that reinstatement is not automatic and may be denied by AMEX. The supervisor will again stress that the employee must pay the debt or make arrangements for a payment plan. The supervisor should consult with their servicing employee relations staff for appropriate disciplinary action. Employees should be notified by the supervisor that in the case of cancellation or suspension of card privileges, the employee remains entitled only to an advance for meals and incidental expenses, and will be responsible for covering other travel charges from personal funds until reimbursed through submitting a travel voucher. The use of imprest fund, Third Party Draft, or Treasury advances to circumvent this limitation is prohibited.