Amended City Council Regular

AWARD OF RFP 21-02 AND AUTHORIZATION TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH CDS GLOBAL, INCORPORATED, FOR REMITTANCE PROCESSING SERVICES
Presented by: Lisette Camacho, Director, Budget and Finance

This is a request for City Council to authorize the City Manager to award RFP 21-02, enter into an agreement with CDS Global, Inc. for remittance processing services for utility bill payments in an amount not to exceed $214,000 for the entire term of the agreement, and to authorize the City Manager to renew the agreement, at his discretion, for an additional three (3) years, renewable on an annual basis. The initial term of the agreement is two (2) years.

The city offers many options for customers to pay their utility bills including online, self-service over the phone, auto-debit (Sure-Pay), walk-in counter payments, Customer Service Representative (CSR) assisted phone payments and mail-in to the city’s post office box. Currently, the city receives and processes approximately 16,000 water bill payments received by mail every month.

The Procurement Division solicited responses to Request for Proposals (RFP) 21-02 for utility bill remittance processing services. An evaluation committee reviewed two proposals. CDS Global, Inc. was determined to have met all requirements of the RFP and offered the most responsible and responsive proposal. Additionally, CDS Global, Inc. submitted pricing lower than what the City currently pays for these services.

The operations center for CDS Global, Inc. is located in Prescott, Arizona. However, Glendale utility customers will still mail their payments to the same post office box address they currently use in Glendale. The post office will forward the mail automatically using overnight express service and deliver them to Prescott to be processed daily by CDS Global, Inc. CDS Global, Inc. processes payments for other valley cities and also other utility companies. Their custom software will capture the check images, account numbers and dollar amount of the payments and create the files that electronically deposit the payments into the city’s bank account.

Customers will still contact the city with any questions about their bills or payments. City staff will be able to locate payments, check images, and bank deposit information the same way they do today to assist customers over the phone and in-person as needed. Outsourcing these services is cost effective and seamless to the customer.

The electronic processing of utility bill payments by a third party is cost effective and seamless to the customer. This allows for timely payment processing and updates to customer’s accounts.