for Merchant Acquirer Framework Agreement

69 Pages·2013·0.54 MB·English

Invitation to Tender (ITT) for Merchant Acquirer
Framework Agreement

(Credit and Debit Card Services)

OJEU reference 2011/S 96-157956
Contract Number: PS/09/93

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CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION
2. TENDER SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
3. CONTRACT DOCUMENTS
4. EVALUATION PROCESS AND CRITERIA
5. INFORMATION REQUIRED
6. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT AND ENVIRONMENTAL
INFORMATION REGULATIONS STATEMENT

SCHEDULES

1. SPECIFICATION
2. FORM OF TENDER
3. CERTIFICATE OF NON COLLUSION AND NON CANVASSING
4. FRAMEWORK TERMS AND CONDITIONS

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1. Introduction

This ITT outlines the requirement for a Framework Agreement on behalf of the
Secretary of State for Transport, through the DVLA (“the Authority”) for the
provision of merchant acquirer services for credit and debit card transactions for use
by all Central Government Departments, their Executive Agencies and Non-
Departmental Public Bodies, including local/unitary authorities (“Customers”). The
Authority will also itself be a Customer.

The Authority is intending to enter into such a Framework Agreement with one
supplier of merchant acquirer services (“Service Provider”).

The contents of this ITT and of any other documentation sent to you in respect of this
tender process are provided in the basis that they remain the property of the Authority
and must be treated as confidential. If you are unable or unwilling to comply with this
requirement you are required to destroy this ITT and all associated documents
immediately and not to retain any electronic or paper copies.

No Service Provider will undertake any publicity activities with any part of the media
in relation to the Framework Agreement or this ITT process without the prior written
agreement of the Authority, including agreement on the format and content of any
publicity.

This ITT is made available in good faith. No warranty is given as to the accuracy or
completeness of the information contained in it and any liability or any inaccuracy or
incompleteness is therefore expressly disclaimed by the Authority and its advisers.

The Authority reserves the right to cancel the tender process at any point. The
Authority is not liable for any costs resulting from any cancellation of this tender
process nor for any other costs incurred by those tendering for this Framework
Agreement.

You are deemed to understand fully the processes that the Authority is required to
follow under the relevant European and UK legislation, particularly in relation to the
Public Contracts Regulations 2006 (as amended).
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2. Tender Submission Requirements

The deadline for the receipt of questions on technical and contractual issues is 19
September 2011. The Authority will be unable to answer queries after this date. It is
not the Authority‟s intention to meet Service Providers face to face during the tender
process. All questions and answers will be provided in writing and must be addressed
to the following based within the DVLA‟s Commercial Services Group:-

Names removed.

All questions and answers will be anonymised and disseminated to all prospective
Service Providers who express an interest in providing the Merchant Acquirer service.

Other than those persons identified above, no Authority employee has the authority to
give any information or make any representation (express or implied) in relation to
this ITT or any other matter relating to the Framework Agreement.

The Authority reserves the right to issue supplementary documentation at any time
during the tendering process to clarify any issue or amend any aspect of the ITT. All
such further documentation that may be issued shall be deemed to form part of the
ITT and shall supplement or supersede any part of the ITT to the extent indicated.

Service Providers must obtain at their own expense all information necessary for the
preparation of their tenders.

Deadline for submission of ITT responses is 17 October 2011 at 17:00 hrs.

The ITT response can only be submitted by the Delta Tenderbox. The Authority
will safeguard all tenders received and open them once the tender deadline has
expired.

The ITT response must be received in accordance with the relevant instructions and
no later than the time and date indicated. The Authority may disqualify any Service
Providers from the process in the event that their ITT response is not received by the
deadline and/ or is not in accordance with the instructions in this ITT.

Tenders must be written in the English language, with all prices in Sterling (exclusive
of VAT).

Only one tender is permitted from each Service Provider. In the event that more than
one is submitted by a Service Provider, the one with the latest time of submission will
be evaluated and the others disregarded.

The tender (including price) should remain valid for a minimum period of 120
calendar days from the Tender Deadline.

The tender must not be qualified in any way.

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Any signatures must be made by a person who is authorised to commit the Service
Provider to the Framework Agreement.

Service Providers must provide the full business name on all documents.

Transparency
If your tender is successful, you must be able to provide (in addition to your original
submission) a complete and unedited electronic version of your bid in a format suitable
for publication on Contracts Finder within 20 days of acceptance.
http://www.dft.gov.uk/about/procurement/dft/formatting-submissions.

Government Transparency Agenda
As an organisation bidding for public sector contracts you should be aware that as part
of the government‟s transparency agenda tender documentation issued by government
departments for contracts over £10,000 will be published on a single website, and
made available to the public. You should also be aware that if your bid is successful,
the resulting contract between you and the Agency will be published. In some
circumstances, limited redactions, in accordance with the FOIA, will be made to
tender documentation and/or contracts before they are published in order to comply
with existing law, to protect commercial interests, and for the protection of national
security.

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3. Contract Documents

Any resulting Framework Agreement will consist of the Terms and Conditions set out
at Schedule 4 and the Specification set out at Schedule 1.

The Authority is bound by the procurement rules and cannot enter into any
negotiations on the contents of this ITT, the Specification or the Terms and
Conditions.

Any award of the Framework Agreement will be conditional on the Framework
Agreement being approved in accordance with the Authority‟s internal procedures
and the Authority being generally able to proceed.

The Authority will allow the statutory standstill period of a minimum of 10 calendar
days to elapse before sending confirmation of award to the successful Service
Provider.

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4. Evaluation Process and Criteria

The Framework Agreement will be awarded on the basis of the most economically
advantageous tender. Tenders will be evaluated against the award criteria and
weightings set out below.

The Authority does not undertake to accept the lowest or any tender.

Service Providers should note that the rates submitted, as part of Appendix B will
form a part of a pricing matrix for the Framework Agreement and subsequent call-off
arrangements.

Each tender will be checked initially for compliance with all requirements of the ITT.

During the evaluation period, the Authority reserves the right to seek clarification in
writing or by means of a clarification meeting from any or all of the Service Providers
to assist it in its consideration of tenders.

Evaluation will take the form of a two stage process:

Part One – Mandatory Submissions

This will comprise a checklist of requirements which MUST be submitted as part
of the Service Provider’s submission. Failure to submit evidence/ confirmation as
requested below will mean that the Service Provider’s tender response will not
proceed to the next phase of the evaluation process.

Service Providers should note that some information requested under Part One of this
section is also included under Part Two of this section. Part One will test on a
pass/fail basis whether Service Providers can provide the basic information requested.
Part Two will evaluate the content of the information submitted on a qualitative basis
in accordance with the technical scoring mechanism below.

Document PART ONE: Mandatory Submissions PASS/FAIL
Ref
The Service Provider must provide assurances that they
OJEU are able to deliver the potential transactional volumes as
outlined in section II.2.1 of the the OJEU notice.
Appendix B The Service Provider has confirmed that they are able to
& 2.7 of provide all three charging mechanisms listed in Appendix
Schedule 1 B with the relative rates accordingly.
the
Specification
Appendix B The Service Provider must confirm that they are able to
& 2.2 of accept all of the cards listed in Appendix B.
Schedule 1 of
the
Specification

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2.4 of The Service Provider has the ability to supply card bin
Schedule 1 of ranges and numbers.
the
Specification
2.5 of The Service Provider has confirmed that they can provide
Schedule 1 of support in the following areas:-
the a) Service Desk Support;
Specification b) Set-up of Merchant ID/Chain numbers;
c) Chargebacks;
d) Changes in Card Rates;
e) Alternative Card Charging Mechanisms;
f) Information on Changes in Legislation;
g) Technical Support;
h) Ad-hoc Queries.
2.8 of The Service Provider has confirmed that they can supply
Schedule 1 of terminals on demand and within the following maximum
the lead times:-
Specification
A terminal for an existing business – 24 – 48 hours;
A terminal for a new business – 7 – 10 working days
2.12 of The Service Provider has provided their Environmental
Schedule 1 of and Sustainability Policies.
the
Specification
3.3 of The Service Provider has confirmed they can meet
Schedule 1 of established industry practices in their process for dealing
the with Chargebacks/RFIs.
Specification
3.5 of The Service Provider has provided a process map of the
Schedule 1 of end to end transaction process that includes all requested
the information.
Specification
4.3 of The Service Provider has confirmed that their host and
Schedule 1 of communications networks will be available 24 hours a
the day, 365 days a year (366 days in a leap year).
Specification
4.4 of The Service Provider has provided their methodology and
Schedule 1 of approach to any future re-branding schemes.
the
Specification
4.5 of The Service Provider has confirmed that they will be
Schedule 1 of fully accountable for all funds they process on behalf of
the customers. Any loss will be satisfied in full by the
Specification Service Provider.
5 of Schedule The Service Provider has provided their relevant levels of
1 of the security accreditation, along with the processes and
Specification controls they have in place to manage data and ensure its
safe and secure transfer between the parties to the
Framework Agreement.
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Part Two – Scored Submissions

This will comprise an evaluation of the responses submitted to the Pricing and
Technical Requirements criteria below. Responses will be scored in accordance with
the Technical/Pricing Scoring Mechanism and weighted accordingly.

For example, a maximum score of 4 for a response to section 2.6 of the Specification
would lead to the Service Provider being awarded a mark of 10 for that section.

Document Evaluation Criteria Maximum Weighting Mark
Ref Score (%)
Available
PART TWO

PRICING 60

Appendix B Evaluation of whole life costs for the service See
including card rate evaluation using interchange sensitivity 60
plus plus charging method. analysis
model

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS 40
Schedule 1 of Evaluation of the Service Provider‟s evidence
the against each requirement identified under the
Specification following sections

2.5 Support Services; 4 6

2.6 Management Information 4 10

2.10 Transition of Service; 4 3

3.2 Charges for Transactions; 4 2

3.4 Settlements; 4 2

4.1 Fault reporting; 4 3

4.2 Response Times/Business Continuity/Disaster 4 6
Recovery;

4.3 System Availability/Service Desk Support; 4 6

4.6 Account Management. 4 2

Total 100%

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Service Providers should note the Technical Scoring and Cost Scoring Mechanisms
below. The descriptions listed provide an insight on how scores are achieved by the
Service Provider.

Technical Scoring Mechanism

Score Criteria
0 Major reservations. Considerable reservations of the Service
Provider‟s relevant ability, understanding, experience, skills, resource
and quality measures required to provide the service. Little or no
evidence to support the response.
1 Minor reservations. Some minor reservations of the Service
Provider's relevant ability, understanding, experience, skills, resource
and quality measures required to provide the service. The limited
evidence provided makes it difficult to determine if the solution can
meet the requirement wholly, or in part.
2 Acceptable. Satisfies the requirement. Demonstration of the Service
Provider‟s relevant ability, understanding, experience, skills, resource
and quality measures required to provide the service. Evidence
supports the response.
3 Above acceptable response. Satisfies the requirement with minor
additional benefits. Enhanced demonstration by the Service Provider
of the relevant ability, understanding, experience, skills, resource and
quality measures required to provide the service. Response identifies
factors that will offer potential added value, with evidence to support
the response.
4 Exceeds the requirement. Exceptional demonstration by the Service
Provider of the relevant ability, understanding, experience, skills,
resource and quality measures required to provide the service.
Response identifies factors that will offer potential added value, with
evidence to support the response.

The Technical Scoring Mechanism will then be incorporated into the formula below
as part of the scoring mechanism.

Technical Mark = Service Provider‟s scored response x Weighting
Maximum Score available

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