SmartPay

The Coalition for Government Procurement and the Naval Postgraduate School found agencies were getting better deals through GSA Advantage than through pilots using Amazon.

For years federal employees have used credit cards for agency-approved purchases. The current General Services Administration SmartPay 2 master contracts don’t expire until 2018. But the agency is wondering if there might be a better way for employees to pay for stuff. David Shea is the director of the Office of Charge Card Management at the Federal Acquisition Service. He joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to discuss the alternatives GSA is considering.

Host Mark Amtower discusses the SmartPay program with David Shea, director, Office of Charge Card Management at the General Services Administration. July 28, 2014

David Shea, director of GSA’s Office of Charge Card Management, gives us an update on the agency’s SmartPay program. June 3, 2013

David Shea, director of GSA’s Office of Charge Card Management, gives us an update on the agency’s SmartPay program. May 13, 2013

The annual SmartPay and FedForum conferences have been canceled this year due to cuts to agency travel and training budgets under sequestration.

The General Services Administration’s inspector general investigated the agency’s recent SmartPay Training Conference and found no wrongdoing or elaborate spending. But the approach taken by the GSA inspector has left some at the agency uneasy. According to a draft memo obtained by Federal News Radio, tactics used by the investigator included a late night awakening and interrogation of the GSA executive in charge of the conference.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee lawmakers were expected to ask the agency’s inspector general to look into the 14th Annual SmartPay conference happening this week in Nashville. GSA says all conferences must go through a multi-step approval process, including those already in the planning stages for 2012 and beyond.