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Response 943867

Response to request for information

Response date

5 October 2022

Request

  • Who provides the organisations BACS payments and Direct Debit collection software? 
  • How you came to the decision to choose these companies? 
  • Do you use a Tender process or do you contact suppliers directly? 
  • If you go out to tender, are you able to tell us your process for applying 
  • Please provide your current expenditure for your Bacs payment processing and Direct Debit collection. 
  • When does your current contract(s) with BACs payment and direct debit collection software expire? 
  • What is the total value of your current BACS payment and Direct Debit collection software contract(s) and over what period? 
  • Does the organisation, acting as a Bureau, provide Bacs processing on behalf on any other organisation?

Response

  • Who provides the organisations BACS payments and Direct Debit collection software? 

    • Our BACS/DD submissions are made using C-Series which is provided by Bottomline Technologies, This links with our bank account.

  • How you came to the decision to choose these companies? 

    • The original decision would have been made as part of a contracts review carried out by our IT Department.

  • Do you use a Tender process or do you contact suppliers directly? 
  • If you go out to tender, are you able to tell us your process for applying 

    • The information you need can be found on the procurement page of the councils website, I have included the link on the question above.

  • Please provide your current expenditure for your Bacs payment processing and Direct Debit collection. 

    • C-Series Bottom line annual maintenance and software £2000 + VAT.

      We do then have to pay transactional fees but these are to our banking provider and form part of our banking contract costs and vary depending on the number of files and items being submitted. We currently pay £3.50 per file submission for BACS & DD and then a 1p per transaction within the file.

  • When does your current contract(s) with BACs payment and direct debit collection software expire? 

    • We are currently in a rolling annual contract as it is cheaper for the authority to submit via this format than directly with our banking provider, However as part of our bank tendering process we would look at whether this would be cheaper or have other efficiencies to incorporate with that process.

  • What is the total value of your current BACS payment and Direct Debit collection software contract(s) and over what period? 

    • Annual contract £2000+ VAT.

  • Does the organisation, acting as a Bureau, provide Bacs processing on behalf on any other organisation?

    • No

FOI Responses Contracts and Procurement 2022