Agencies estimate that using purchase cards saves hundreds
of millions of dollars in administrative costs, but
cardholders don’t always get the best deals, partly because
purchase card use isn’t top on the list of management
concerns, the General Accounting Office has said.
It said that card purchases at the Departments of Agriculture,
Army, Navy, Air Force, Interior, Justice, Transportation,
and Veterans Affairs show that most agencies do not identify
and take advantage of opportunities to get better deals on
purchase card buys, something that could yield hundreds of
millions of dollars. If they managed to get discounts of
just 10 percent with major vendors, it could mean annual
savings of up to $300 million.
Most agencies have established some discount agreements with
vendors with which they do over $1 million of business per
year, but the agreements cover only a handful of vendors and
a limited number of products, said GAO.
It also said card training programs lack practical
information to help cardholders take advantage of existing
discount agreements or GSA’s federal supply schedule
contracts.
Some of the agencies maintained that additional requirements
would limit the program’s ability to streamline purchasing
and that pursuing discount agreements with large suppliers
would limit their ability to provide opportunities to small
businesses. GAO recommended stricter accounting practices
and increased attention to already negotiated government
discounts.
