NLC Procurement Card Program
The NLC Procurement Card (P-Card) Program, administered by Public Financial Management Services LLC (PFM), is a cost-free payments mechanism that simplifies the traditional requisition process and lowers costs associated with purchasing products and services. The P-Card is available to all cities and other government entities.
With declining revenues and tight budgets, the NLC P-Card is an alternative, easy-to-use payments solution that will create new efficiencies for your city and any supplier that accepts MasterCard. P-Cards substantially reduce administrative costs by:
- streamlining the purchase order process
- reducing check writing
- eliminating petty cash
- reducing manual data entry
Other benefits include enhancing internal controls, protecting against fraud and misuse, and expediting payments to vendors.
Your city can save approximately $70.58 per transaction1 by using the card for any purchase in lieu of cash, check or ACH payments. The P-Card can be used for most items if not all items requiring payment. Once the supplier agrees to accept the NLC P-Card, your city can pay for office supplies, janitorial supplies and services, courier services, computers and peripherals, uniforms, furniture, industrial supplies, and other overhead expenses, equipment and service purchases, such as travel and food services.
What is a P-Card?
The P-Card is a special type of credit card that is issued to staff for authorized business purchases only. It is a tool to reduce administrative costs, save time and provide convenience and flexibility to employees. P-Cards are issued with a credit limit based on the cities' credit worthiness. Cities can implement restrictive control features for any employee or staff member issued a card. There is no liability for fraudulent or employee misuse.Cash Rebates
All cities are eligible for cash rebates on total purchases if the annual "spend" equals or exceeds $50,000. The greater the dollar volume, the greater the rebate percentage; there are no exclusions for high dollar transactions.What makes the NLC P-Card Program unique?
There are many factors to consider when choosing a P-Card program that is right for your city. We will work with you to seamlessly implement your program and provide on-going consultative advice to help maximize the value of your program. A feature that will benefit most large city governments is that the NLC P-Card program will not exclude any transactions from the rebate calculation. If you have an existing P-Card program, the NLC P-Card can be used, at a minimum, as a second purchasing card. This program is also available to nonprofit organizations.
1Saving realized by converting from checks to P-cards RPMG 2010 Purchasing Card Benchmarking Survey.
About PFM Financial Services LLC
Public Financial Management, Inc., PFM Asset Management LLC, PFM Financial Services LLC and PFM advisors (PFM) offer financial and investment advisory and consulting services to public entities such as municipalities and school districts.
Disclaimer: The NLC Procurement Card program is not available in Pennsylvania. Call the Pennsylvania League of Cities and Municipalities for more information at (800) 922-8063.
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