Notice Information
Notice Title
Prepaid Card Services
Notice Description
The contract covers the provision of long-term prepaid card services to support various council operations including Adult Social Care, Children's Services, NRPF, and Client Finance. Prepaid cards enable fast electronic fund transfers, reduce manual payment processes, and allow real-time expenditure monitoring. The service supports cashless operations and protects vulnerable clients from financial abuse.
Lot Information
Lot 1
The procurement covers the provision of long-term prepaid card services to support multiple council operations including Adult Social Care, Children's Services, NRPF, Client Finance, and Education. The council currently manages approximately 2,000 prepaid cards across eight payment platforms. The service enables fast electronic fund transfers, reduces manual payment processes, and allows real-time expenditure monitoring. It supports a largely cashless operation and protects vulnerable clients from financial abuse. The contract includes a fixed monthly fee based on card volume (currently in the 1,001-3,000 bracket), plus additional charges for setup, replacement cards, reporting, and platform-specific changes. The successful provider, Prepaid Financial Services (PFS), was selected via direct award under the NEPO framework due to their ability to meet all requirements, including robust reporting, joint account functionality, and continuity of service.
Procurement Information
The contract was awarded without prior publication in accordance with Regulation 32 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. This is lawful because the procurement is a direct call-off from an existing framework agreement (NEPO505 - Payment Solutions). The framework permits direct award and includes Prepaid Financial Services (PFS) as an eligible supplier. The council selected PFS based on continuity of service, value for money, and their ability to meet all technical and operational requirements. No further competition was required under the terms of the framework.
Notice Details
Publication & Lifecycle
- Open Contracting ID
- ocds-h6vhtk-05a991
- Publication Source
- Find A Tender Service
- Latest Notice
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/062881-2025
- Current Stage
- Award
- All Stages
- Award
Procurement Classification
- Notice Type
- Award Notice
- Procurement Type
- Standard
- Procurement Category
- Services
- Procurement Method
- Limited
- Procurement Method Details
- Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
- Tender Suitability
- Not specified
- Awardee Scale
- Large
Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)
- CPV Divisions
66 - Financial and insurance services
-
- CPV Codes
66172000 - Financial transaction processing and clearing-house services
Notice Value(s)
- Tender Value
- Not specified
- Lots Value
- Not specified
- Awards Value
- Not specified
- Contracts Value
- £450,000 £100K-£500K
Notice Dates
- Publication Date
- 7 Oct 20254 months ago
- Submission Deadline
- Not specified
- Future Notice Date
- Not specified
- Award Date
- 7 Feb 20251 years ago
- Contract Period
- Not specified - Not specified
- Recurrence
- Not specified
Notice Status
- Tender Status
- Complete
- Lots Status
- Cancelled
- Awards Status
- Active
- Contracts Status
- Active
Buyer & Supplier
Contracting Authority (Buyer)
- Main Buyer
- LONDON BOROUGH OF ISLINGTON
- Contact Name
- Strategic Procurement
- Contact Email
- procurement@islington.gov.uk
- Contact Phone
- Not specified
Buyer Location
- Locality
- LONDON
- Postcode
- N1 2UD
- Post Town
- North London
- Country
- England
-
- Major Region (ITL 1)
- TLI London
- Basic Region (ITL 2)
- TLI4 Inner London - East
- Small Region (ITL 3)
- TLI43 Haringey and Islington
- Delivery Location
- TLI London
-
- Local Authority
- Islington
- Electoral Ward
- St Mary's & St James'
- Westminster Constituency
- Islington South and Finsbury
Further Information
Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)
View full OCDS Record for this contracting process
The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.
{
"tag": [
"compiled"
],
"id": "ocds-h6vhtk-05a991-2025-10-07T13:48:08+01:00",
"date": "2025-10-07T13:48:08+01:00",
"ocid": "ocds-h6vhtk-05a991",
"initiationType": "tender",
"tender": {
"id": "2425-0256",
"legalBasis": {
"id": "32014L0024",
"scheme": "CELEX"
},
"title": "Prepaid Card Services",
"status": "complete",
"classification": {
"scheme": "CPV",
"id": "66172000",
"description": "Financial transaction processing and clearing-house services"
},
"mainProcurementCategory": "services",
"description": "The contract covers the provision of long-term prepaid card services to support various council operations including Adult Social Care, Children's Services, NRPF, and Client Finance. Prepaid cards enable fast electronic fund transfers, reduce manual payment processes, and allow real-time expenditure monitoring. The service supports cashless operations and protects vulnerable clients from financial abuse.",
"lots": [
{
"id": "1",
"description": "The procurement covers the provision of long-term prepaid card services to support multiple council operations including Adult Social Care, Children's Services, NRPF, Client Finance, and Education. The council currently manages approximately 2,000 prepaid cards across eight payment platforms. The service enables fast electronic fund transfers, reduces manual payment processes, and allows real-time expenditure monitoring. It supports a largely cashless operation and protects vulnerable clients from financial abuse. The contract includes a fixed monthly fee based on card volume (currently in the 1,001-3,000 bracket), plus additional charges for setup, replacement cards, reporting, and platform-specific changes. The successful provider, Prepaid Financial Services (PFS), was selected via direct award under the NEPO framework due to their ability to meet all requirements, including robust reporting, joint account functionality, and continuity of service.",
"awardCriteria": {
"criteria": [
{
"type": "price"
}
]
},
"hasOptions": false,
"status": "cancelled"
}
],
"items": [
{
"id": "1",
"deliveryAddresses": [
{
"region": "UKI"
}
],
"relatedLot": "1"
}
],
"procurementMethod": "limited",
"procurementMethodDetails": "Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition",
"coveredBy": [
"GPA"
],
"procurementMethodRationaleClassifications": [
{
"scheme": "TED_PT_AWARD_CONTRACT_WITHOUT_CALL",
"id": "D_OUTSIDE_SCOPE",
"description": "The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the directive"
}
],
"procurementMethodRationale": "The contract was awarded without prior publication in accordance with Regulation 32 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. This is lawful because the procurement is a direct call-off from an existing framework agreement (NEPO505 - Payment Solutions). The framework permits direct award and includes Prepaid Financial Services (PFS) as an eligible supplier. The council selected PFS based on continuity of service, value for money, and their ability to meet all technical and operational requirements. No further competition was required under the terms of the framework."
},
"awards": [
{
"id": "062881-2025-1",
"relatedLots": [
"1"
],
"status": "active",
"suppliers": [
{
"id": "GB-COH-06337638",
"name": "Prepaid Financial Services"
}
]
}
],
"parties": [
{
"id": "GB-FTS-163201",
"name": "London Borough of Islington",
"identifier": {
"legalName": "London Borough of Islington",
"noIdentifierRationale": "notOnAnyRegister"
},
"address": {
"streetAddress": "Islington Town Hall, Upper Street, Islington",
"locality": "London",
"region": "UKI43",
"postalCode": "N12UD",
"countryName": "United Kingdom"
},
"contactPoint": {
"name": "Strategic Procurement",
"email": "procurement@islington.gov.uk"
},
"roles": [
"buyer"
],
"details": {
"url": "http://www.islington.gov.uk",
"buyerProfile": "https://www.islington.gov.uk/business/opportunities/selling_council/procurement-opps",
"classifications": [
{
"scheme": "TED_CA_TYPE",
"id": "REGIONAL_AUTHORITY",
"description": "Regional or local authority"
},
{
"scheme": "COFOG",
"id": "01",
"description": "General public services"
}
]
}
},
{
"id": "GB-COH-06337638",
"name": "Prepaid Financial Services",
"identifier": {
"legalName": "Prepaid Financial Services",
"id": "06337638",
"scheme": "GB-COH"
},
"address": {
"locality": "London",
"region": "UKI",
"countryName": "United Kingdom"
},
"roles": [
"supplier"
],
"details": {
"scale": "large"
}
},
{
"id": "GB-FTS-1412",
"name": "High Court of Justice",
"identifier": {
"legalName": "High Court of Justice"
},
"address": {
"locality": "London",
"countryName": "United Kingdom"
},
"contactPoint": {
"email": "enquiries@justice.gov.uk"
},
"roles": [
"reviewBody"
]
}
],
"buyer": {
"id": "GB-FTS-163201",
"name": "London Borough of Islington"
},
"contracts": [
{
"id": "062881-2025-1",
"awardID": "062881-2025-1",
"status": "active",
"value": {
"amount": 450000,
"currency": "GBP"
},
"dateSigned": "2025-02-07T00:00:00Z"
}
],
"bids": {
"statistics": [
{
"id": "1",
"measure": "bids",
"relatedLot": "1",
"value": 1
}
]
},
"language": "en"
}