C2B-Reject All Proposals Received Credit Card Merchant Processing Services--------------
COMMISSION ITEM SUMMARY
Condensed Title:
Request Approval To Reject All Proposals Received, Pursuant To Request For Proposals {RFP) 54-
11/12 For The Provision Of Credit Card Merchant Processin Services
Key Intended Outcome Sup~Jorted:
Improve the City's Overall Financial Health and Maintain Overall Bond Rating
Supporting Data (Surveys, Environmental Scan, etc.): The City's overall bond rating is Aa2 and AA-
according to Moody's and Standard and Poor's respectively.
Issue:
I Shall the City Commission reject all proposals and approve the issuance of the RFP?
Item Summary/Recommendation:
The City requires credit card merchant processing services in order to accept credit card payments from
City customers. The City currently has a month-to-month agreement with SunTrust Merchant Services,
LLC to provide the required credit card merchant processing services. In order to seek proposals for a
subsequent agreement, July 18, 2012, the City Commission approved the issuance of RFP 54-11/12,
for these services.
The RFP was issued on September 12, 2012, and proposals were received on October 11, 2012. On
October 25, 2012, the Committee convened to review and discuss the proposals. The Committee
expressed their concern in regards to the lack of clarity in the cost proposals received and agreed that it
was not possible to evaluate cost proposals because of the wide variation in the formats submitted. In
addition, around the same time period LTC 270-2012 was issued detailing the arrest of the former
Procurement Director and providing an affidavit in support of the arrest warrant (the "Affidavit"). The
Affidavit potentially impacted some of the proposals received in response to the RFP. As a result, the
City halted the evaluation process until such time as greater clarity on the impact of the Affidavit on
proposals received was available. At this time, the City is still attempting to complete its review of the
Affidavit's supporting documentation received from the State Attorney's Office to determine a course of
action to be undertaken relative the matters outlined in the affidavit.
Proposals were required to be valid for a period of ninety (90) days; therefore, the proposals received in
response to the referenced RFP are no longer valid. As a result, the Administration is recommending a
rejection of all proposals received. Subsequent to the approved rejection of proposals received, an
industry review meeting will be conducted to address the Evaluation Committee's concern regarding the
comparability of the cost proposal formats. It is the Administration's intent to submit a revised RFP to the
City Commission at its October meeting for approval to issue so that proposals for credit card merchant
processing services can be received and evaluated.
Recommendation
After considering the review and recommendation of City staff, the City Manager exercised his due
diligence and carefully considered the specifics of this RFP process. As a result, the City Manager
recommends to the Mayor and City Commission to reject all proposals received in response to the
referenced RFP.
Advisory Board Recommendation:
IN/A
Financial Information:
Source of Amount
Funds: 1 N/A
Total N/A
Financial Impact Summary: N/A
MIAMI BEACH
73
Account
AGENDA ITEM ....__.,C,....---~_,6"'----
DATE f-//-13
lD MIAMI BEACH "="'
City of Miomi Beach, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, Florida 33139, www.miamibeochfl.gov
N MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor Matti H. Bower and Membe
FROM: Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager \,...--::--t-__;~~oo:::::=::~
DATE: September 11, 2013
SUBJECT: REQUEST APPROVAL TO: 1) RE ECT ALL PROPOSALS RECEIVED, PURSUANT
TO REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) NO. 54-11/12 FOR THE PROVISION OF
CREDIT CARD MERCHANT PROCESSING SERVICES TO THE CITY OF MIAMI
BEACH FOR A FIVE-YEAR PERIOD WITH FIVE ONE-YEAR RENEWAL OPTIONS;
AND, 2) ISSUE A RFP FOR THE REQUIRED SERVICES.
ADMINISTRATION RECOMMENDATION
Reject all proposals received and authorize the issuance of the RFP.
BACKGROUND
The City issued Request for Proposals (RFP) 37-06/07 seeking competitive pricing for various
banking services involving the general operating, general depository, and payroll accounts
(among several others). These banking services have normally included credit card merchant
processing services as part of the scope of work. At the end of the first five-year term of the
SunTrust Agreement the credit card merchant services function was removed from the banking
agreement and established as a separate agreement on a month-to-month basis until such time
as a solicitation for the services could be completed and awarded.
RFP PROCESS
On July 18, 2012, the City Commission approved the issuance of RFP 54-11/12. The RFP was
issued on September 12, 2012, with an opening date of October 11, 2012. The pre-bid
conference was held on September 24, 2012. During the pre-bid conference, prospective
bidders were instructed on the procurement process and the information their respective
proposals should contain.
Bidnet issued bid notices to 22 prospective proposers of which 4 accessed the advertised
solicitation. In addition, 58 vendors were notified via email, which resulted in the receipt of the
following ten (10) proposals:
• All County ATM, Inc.
• Bank of America Merchant Services, LLC
• Elavon, Inc.-Next Wave
• Elavon, Inc. -Regions Bank
• Elavon, Inc.-US Bank
• Merchant Data Systems
• Payment Service Network, Inc.
• SunTrust Merchant Services
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City Commission Memorandum -Credit Card Merchant Processing Services
September 11, 2013
Page 2 of3
• TransFirst Corporate Sales, LLC
• Value Payment Systems, LLC
On October 1, 2012, the Interim City Manager via Letter to Commission (LTC) No. 249-2012,
appointed an Evaluation Committee (the "Committee") consisting of the following individuals:
• Mario Coryell, Resident and Loan Review Committee Member
• Jacqueline Lalonde, Resident and Budget Advisory Committee Member
• Joe Londono, Resident and Leadership Academy Graduate
• Juan Rodriguez, Treasury Manager, Finance Department
• Allison Williams, Chief Accountant, Finance Department
In addition to those noted, the following individuals were proposed as alternates:
• Georgette Daniels, Senior Management and Budget Analyst, OBPI
• Mayra Diaz-Buttacavoli, Resident and Loan Review Committee Member
• John Gardiner, Resident and Budget Advisory Committee Member
• David Lancz, Resident and Budget Advisory Committee Member
• James Sutter, Internal Auditor, OBPI
• Juan Torres, Resident and Loan Review Committee Member
On October 25, 2012, the Committee convened to review and discuss the proposals. The
Committee expressed their concern in regards to the lack of clarity in the price proposals
received and agreed that it was not possible to evaluate them fairly.
In addition, around the same time period LTC 270-2012 was issued detailing the arrest of the
former Procurement Director and providing an affidavit in support of the arrest warrant (the
"Affidavit"). The Affidavit potentially impacted some of the proposals received in response to the
RFP. As a result, the City halted the evaluation process until such time as greater clarity on the
impact of the Affidavit on proposals received was available. At this time, the City is still
attempting to complete its review of the Affidavit's supporting documentation received from the
State Attorney's Office to determine a course of action to be undertaken relative the matters
outlined in the affidavit.
Proposals were required to be valid for a period of ninety (90) days; therefore, the proposals
received in response to the referenced RFP are no longer valid. As a result, the Administration
is recommending a rejection of all proposals received. Subsequent to the approved rejection of
proposals received, an industry review meeting will be conducted to address the Evaluation
Committee's concern regarding the comparability of the cost proposal formats. It is the
Administration's intent to submit a revised RFP to the City Commission at its October meeting
for approval to issue so that proposals for credit card merchant processing services can be
received and evaluated.
CITY MANAGER'S DUE DILIGENCE
After considering the review and recommendation of City staff, the City Manager exercised his
due diligence and carefully considered the specifics of this RFP process. As a result, the City
Manager recommends to the Mayor and City Commission to reject all proposals received in
response to the referenced RFP.
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City Commission Memorandum -Credit Card Merchant Processing Sen;ices
September 11, 2013
Page3of3
CONCLUSION
The Administration recommends that the Mayor and Commission reject all proposals received
pursuan~~FP 54-11/12, for the provision of credit card merchant processing services.
JLM/K6sfpoW/AD
T:\AGENDA\2013\September 11\RFP 54-11/12 Rejection and RFP Issuance for Credit Card Services-MEMO.doc
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