Agenda item

[Report of the Director for Customers, Transformation and Resources. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Planning and Corporate Services.]

Award of contract for the provision of the Icon Managed Service & Mid Call solution.  Haringey operate the Icon payments system to process card payments from customers, both face to face and online, which then interfaces into line of business applications, to SAP and the banks. Mid Call solution which allows the customers services representative to stay on the line whilst payment is being made by the customer to help with any issues and deal with further queries they may have that are unrelated to the payment.

The Cabinet Member for Transformation and Public Realm Investment introduced the report, setting out the benefit of the proposed contract decisions for improving the efficiency of the Council’s electronic payment system and improving the customer journey for residents, businesses, and partners.

The Cabinet Member outlined that thecurrent contact was called off from a LASA framework that had since expired so further services could not be called off from it. The Council intended to purchase a mid call solution as part of the Customer First programme which allowed the customers services representative to stay on the line whilst payment was being made by the customer to help with any issues and deal with further queries they may have that are unrelated to the payment. The solution being purchased was PCI compliant and would prevent loss of income due to customers abandoning the call if they got stuck at any point and would improve the service offered to residents. The Council’s current payment processing contract did not expire until 2022 but the intention was to terminate this contract and to let a new contract for 5 years with options to extend for 2 further one-year periods and include the mid call solution at the same time. This new contract was to be called off from the DAS framework which replaces the LASA framework.

The Cabinet Member outlined that, as the current contract only has a year left to run, it seemed prudent that the new contract should be placed and that this should include the mid call element so that there is only one contract to manage, one invoice to pay.

A written response would be provided by the Director for Customers, Transformation and Resources to the following questions from Cllr Cawley – Harrison:

1. Whether the £170k cost per annum for the payment processing service was an all -inclusive cost or were there additional commissioning payments made to the provider per transaction?  Also, if there were any additional costs, were these made to the provider per transaction?

2. How many transactions were processed per annum by the Council?

Further to considering the exempt information at item 25,

RESOLVED

1.    To approve, in accordance with Contract Standing Order (CSO) 9.07.1d), the award to the supplier identified in the exempt report of a contract for the payment processing managed service including a mid call solution for an initial 5-year term valued at £1,095,160.00 with options to extend for 2 further one-year periods together valued at £405,876.00 with a total contract value of £1,501,036.00 over the maximum term of 7 years.

2.    To approve, under CSO 11.02, the early termination, with the consent of the supplier, of the current contract with the same supplier which started up on 1/6/2019 and was due to expire on 31/5/2022. This contract would be superseded by the one to be awarded under the paragraph above.

Reasons for decision

The current contact was called off from a LASA framework that has since expired so that further services cannot be called off from it.  The Council intends to purchase a mid call solution as part of the Customer First programme which allows the customers services representative to stay on the line whilst payment is being made by the customer to help with any issues and deal with further queries they may have that are unrelated to the payment.  The solution being purchased is PCI compliant and will prevent loss of income due to customers abandoning the call if they get stuck at any point and will improve the service offered to residents.  The Council’s current payment processing contract does not expire until 2022 but the intention is to terminate this contract and to let a new contract for 5 years with options to extend for 2 further one-year periods and include the mid call solution at the same time.  This new contract is to be called off from the DAS framework which replaces the LASA framework.  As the current contract only has a year left to run it seemed prudent that the new contract should be placed and that this should include the mid call element so that there is only one contract to manage, one invoice to pay and Cabinet can deal with all this in one go now.

Alternative options considered

Do Nothing – not an option as a mid call solution is required to ensure the Council is fully Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliant and to prevent customers losing income from abandoned calls.

Do a separate contract for a mid call solution to integrate with our current system - this would mean having two contracts with different end dates and could prove problematic when/if either contract expires.

Tender for a new contract - this would be a major piece of work, as the payment processing application integrates with many systems that take income, and could be disruptive. It is also not ideal during COVID when as little face to face contact is required as possible.

Research was carried out with a number of suppliers who could provide an alternative to the mid call solution but all were found to be more expensive. It was therefore decided to stay with the incumbent where integration is streamlined and compliant under PCIDSS.