Banking services

Tender description

This tender is for the provision of day-to-day banking and card acquiring services to Ulster University. The University is seeking to develop efficient and cost-effective arrangements which will be capable of meeting future market and technological changes, and which will meet, and often exceed, user expectations. It is looking for relationships which it can be confident will fulfil all the University’s current and future requirements. The tender is divided into 2 lots: Lot 1: Banking Services; Lot 2: Merchant Card Acquiring Services. In addition, the University has an ongoing strategy to move towards a cashless banking environment across all its campuses. The University is looking for partnerships with its house bank and card acquirer to help develop this strategy and is keen to explore new technology. 2.1 Scope: The main areas to be addressed in this Lot are broadly as follows: — the maintenance of bank accounts for Ulster University and its subsidiary at a suitable branch, — the effective management of funds of the University and its subsidiary with an appropriate rate of remuneration, — the disbursement of Sterling through BACS, Faster Payments, Cheques, CHAPS, Standing Orders, collection of automated direct debits, etc., — the investment of short-term Sterling funds (Ulster invests through various products and providers, in line with the University’s treasury management policy), — fully functional currency account arrangements, — cash and cheque collection arrangements across three campuses are currently provided by the incumbent bank, with G4S being the current security provider, — provision of stationary for lodgements and payments. The University prints cheques for the main nº 1 account, — “state of the art” Internet Banking service, — the provision of international payment services, — support for the University’s Cashless Campus strategy. 1) The University currently accepts card payments in the following ways: — via Chip and Pin terminals, — MOTO transactions are keyed into terminals or directly into payment gateways by University staff, — online transactions are processed through the WPM Education payment gateway, currently using Realex Payments as the Payment Service Provider (PSP), — Recurring Card Payments programmes are operated through WPM Education for both tuition fees and accommodation payments over 8 to 10 monthly payments, — car park equipment is provided by Skidata with CCV as the payment service provider (PSP), — Riverside Theatre ticketing system is provided by Toptix with Yespay as the payment service provider. 2) To enable it to fully evaluate potential across all tenderers, your tender response must include full information on your DCC capability and confirmation that your organisation can support online DCC in conjunction with WPM Education and Realex Payments: — the University currently has a total of circa 22 terminals, which are mostly fixed/countertop The number of terminals may change through the tender process. The University expects terminals supplied to be PCI DSS compliant terminal solutions, — your submission must explain how the terminals will be supported, including the process to replace faulty terminals and target SLA’s for fault resolution and the supply of new terminals, — terminal costs, minimum rental period applicable and the lead / turnaround time for delivery must be provided. 24/7 resilience is required during September and October; therefore, please also provide SLA’s for support and maintenance, — the University is close to becoming fully PCI-DSS compliant. Your response should advise the support you would provide the University in achieving and maintaining compliance, — support for the University’s Cashless Campus strategy.