Agenda item

With reference to article 20 of the minute of its previous meeting the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Corporate Governance which provided an update on the development of adding the sQuidcard electronic cash purse functionality to the Accord card.  

By way of background the report advised that the long term strategy for the Accord card (National Entitlement Card) was to provide a variety of services to customers, and that one way in which this could be achieved was through the utilisation of an electronic cash purse, providing a convenient way for citizens to pay for small value goods.   The National Entitlement Card Programme office had identified a product, sQuidcard, that would deliver this functionality, and met the desired criteria for such a scheme (which included being independent of bank schemes, being socially inclusive, having multi purse capability and an online payment facility available to it).   Now that this functionality had been incorporated into the National Entitlement Card, and with the product having been successfully trialled and implemented in Dundee, it was available to any local authority which wished to offer this service.

The report explained that the sQuidcard product enabled citizens to place money on their card and spend those funds at participating outlets, which could include Council premises and other retailers. As monies would be loaded and spent electronically, the need for retailers and Council facilities to take payment by cash would be reduced, thereby, reducing cash handling issues (including costs). The card would require no pin number and transactions would typically be for amounts under £10. The product would be available to all card holders of all ages offering a fast, convenient and secure alternative to cash payments, that would be socially inclusive. Card holders would not require a bank account to utilise the Accord Card, the card would be free, and it would not cause any user financial difficulties, due to its prepaid nature. 

The report highlighted that there was also an opportunity to investigate the individual use of the card for other low value local services, for example payment of bus fares, and that this had already been achieved in other local authority areas.   It was hoped that by adding an electronic purse to the Accord card for use in the wider community, this would develop the card and increase the usefulness and attractiveness of the card to the citizens of Aberdeen.

The report concluded that a Reciprocal Licence Agreement had been drafted between sQuidcard and the Council and that should this project progress, the next step would be to work with sQuidcard in order to agree an implementation plan for the city which would involve sQuidcard contacting local retailers to promote the product with a view to the retailer accepting payment via sQuid, Council sites being identified where it would be of benefit to take payment via sQuid and the marketing and promotion of the product across the city.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to approve the adoption of the sQuidcard Limited electronic cash purse on the Accord Card;   and

(ii)        to approve the expenditure associated with the three year agreement as follows:-

·        the sQuid annual license fee of £5,000 for a three year period, the first year to be met by the National Entitlement Card Programme Office;

·        sQuidcard equipment (single terminal, reader and installation) of £460 per site, with an estimated maximum cost of £7,820 to cover all 14 leisure sites, two cultural sites and a library;

·        the transaction fees of approximately £1,500 over the initial three year period;  and

·        £25,000 towards sQuid marketing programmes;

(iii)       to note that the National Entitlement Card Programme Office Board was currently considering extending their funding contribution for the licence fee to cover all three years;

(iv)       to note that it was anticipated that not all leisure sites would be included in the project initially;  and

(v)        to note that costs associated with the sQuidcard project would be met from Modernising Government Funds already allocated to the Accord card scheme, therefore there would be no impact on the Accord operational budget.