Postal Service travel card coordinators need to more effectively monitor cash advances, the USPS inspector general has said.
It selected 1,832 cash advances for review based on noncompliance with Postal Service travel policy and found that travel coordinators did not identify for further review 1,260 transactions, totaling $215,466, that potentially did not comply.
Further, travel card coordinators for the Postal Inspection Service and postal headquarters need to better monitor purchases, and USPS does not process cardholder personnel changes in a timely manner to allow coordinators to monitor travel card transactions, according to the IG.
It called on the USPS to develop and implement written criteria for travel card coordinators to monitor travel card transactions and take action as appropriate, as well as to establish procedures to ensure cardholder personnel changes are updated timely.
The IG did note however that the USPS recently implemented changes to its travel policy to better manage travel card use by eliminating the use of the travel card for cash advances by officers, senior executives, the Inspection Service, and non-bargaining employees.