SmartPay card usage increasing

Federal agency use of the General Services Administration’s SmartPay charge card is growing and may present opportunities for small businesses (see related story)

GSA SmartPay spending was $26.4 billion in fiscal 2014, up from $26 billion in fiscal 2013, the GSA reported.

The bulk of the spending was general spending by 265,000 authorized card holders, totaling $17.1 billion. That rose from $16.6 billion spent by 301,000 card holders the year before.

Another 2.4 million card holders spent $7 million on travel, and 608,000 fleet managers spent $2 million.

The top departments for using the card in fiscal 2015 to date are Veterans Affairs, $5.5 billion; Defense, $4.9 billion; U.S. Postal Service, $890 million; Justice, $562 million; Homeland Security, $534 million; Health and Human Services, $335 million; and Agriculture, $304 million.

However, the cards can be controversial. The VA recently was criticized for allegedly purchasing $1.2 billion worth of prosthetics with the cards (see related story).

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