New website demonstrates GPC Visa savings

OGCbuying.solutions has refreshed a dedicated website - www.purchasingcard.info - in partnership with Visa Europe and developed by Purchasing Card Consultancy Ltd (PCCL), designed to help public sector bodies and their suppliers better understand the financial savings that can be made by using GPC Visa and how to make the most of it as a procurement tool.

The new website, launched at the beginning of the summer, is an invaluable information source and includes benchmarking tools, news, contacts, case studies and access to the Visa Purchasing merchant database. Originally launched two years ago, the new improved site has attracted over 300,000 hits over the past 12 months with the number of hits now averaging in excess of 50,000 per month from the UK, Europe, USA and Asia Pacific region. A key feature of the site is the benchmarking tool. This is an interactive tool to help buyers and suppliers identify how much time and paper they can save by using or accepting GPC Visa.

Comments Jim Parkinson from OGCBuying.solutions: "Either as a buyer or a supplier, users can enter into the site the amount of time they would expect to spend on common procurement tasks, such as raising an order or approving an invoice for payment. They then enter the time it would take to complete the equivalent procurement task if they were to use GPC Visa. By multiplying the time involved to execute the task by the number of invoices that would need to be raised, the benchmarking tool calculates how much time they would save by using GPC Visa across the whole organisation. On this basis it is a formidable tool to support the Efficiency agenda."

Clearly, the value of the reporting generated by the Benchmarking Tools depends on the accuracy of the data entered into the system. The best results are obtained by researching the procurement procedures within the organisation before using the tool. In particular staff need to have at their finger tips details of the time taken to perform key tasks and the amount of invoices and orders that are being processed annually. By taking the time to gather the relevant information together, they will be able to use the tool to create a fully formatted and usable business case.

Concludes David Harrison, Head of Visa Europe's Government Services team:
"GPC Visa has to date delivered over £300 million in savings for the UK public sector. On this basis it is one of the most powerful tools that the public sector has at its disposal to help release resources, previously spent on time consuming procurement processes, to improve front line services. We hope that the new website will play a vital role to help public sector organisations make the most of the GPC Visa system."

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Note to editors

OGCbuying.solutions is the trading arm of the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), which is itself an office of HM Treasury. OGC was launched on 1 April 2000 as a result of a review of civil procurement in Central Government. Its aim is to achieve substantial value for money improvements in the Government's procurement budget. OGCbuying.solutions, launched in April 2001, provides public sector procurement professionals with a route to the products and services they need to maximise procurement efficiency and value for money. Its contracts and framework agreements offer substantial savings through significant buying power, economies of scale and strategic partnerships. Rigorous tendering and evaluation processes ensure that products and services are checked for quality, price competitiveness, fitness for purpose and compliance with statutory requirements. These products and services are available through OGCbuying.solutions Catalist framework agreements and Managed Services.

Purchasing Card Consultancy Ltd (PCCL) is regarded as one of Europe's leading companies in the electronic purchase order and payment industry. From its very beginnings, PCCL has pioneered many of the processes and procedures currently used in the industry today. It understands the issues organisations face in improving procurement processes based on many years experience and a depth of knowledge acquired from working with over 500 public and private sector organisations.

About Visa Government Services (Visa Commercial)
The Visa Government Services team, part of Visa Commercial, helps Public Sector organisations improve the efficiency of their payment systems through the use of the Government Procurement Card (GPC Visa). Traditional purchasing processes can cost more than the goods and services themselves. GPC Visa enables the budget to go further by cutting out traditional paperwork.

First launched in 1997, GPC Visa was recognized as the Best Commercial/Corporate Card Product at the European Cards and Payments Awards. To date over £310 million in savings have been generated for the UK taxpayer. There are now more than 80,000 GPC Visa cards in circulation and more than 11 million transactions have taken place to date.

For more information about GPC Visa visit www.purchasingcard.info or email GPC@visa.com.