FOI request (FOIR-247584518)

Payment Systems

Requested Wed 09 September 2020
Responded  Wed 23 September 2020

A. I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to respectfully request the following information regarding your current contractual and supply chain arrangements for the following categories, where applicable:

1. Provision of online payment acceptance - e.g. to make payments for bins, council tax etc.

2. Provision of point of sale card/EPOS machines - e.g. as found in leisure centres, shops etc.

3. Provision of MOTO (Mail Order and Telephone Order) payment acceptance

4. Merchant Acquirer services

5. Payment Gateway Services

B. I would greatly appreciate you providing me information on:

1. Current supplier/s names

2. Scope of current Contract

3. Contract Start Date

4. Contract End Date

5. Any Contract extension option details

6. Approximate timescales for next sourcing/tender exercise

7. How the contract was originally awarded, to include any weighting criteria applied

8. Annual Value of the Contract

9. Annual transaction volume through contract, where known

Please provide the information in the form of an email or Excel document.

Response

PART A

1. Provision of online payment acceptance - e.g. to make payments for bins, council tax etc.

We are currently migrating from Capita to Unit4

2. Provision of point of sale card/EPOS machines - e.g. as found in leisure centres, shops etc.

We are currently migrating from Capita to Unit4

3. Provision of MOTO (Mail Order and Telephone Order) payment acceptance

We are currently migrating from Capita to Unit4

4. Merchant Acquirer services

We are currently migrating from Capita to Lloyds Cardnet

5. Payment Gateway Services

We are currently migrating from Capita to MasterCard

PART B

NOTICE OF REFUSAL

The information you have requested regarding the contract details is commercially sensitive and falls under Section 43 of the Freedom of Information Act - Commercially Sensitive Information.

Information prejudicing commercial interests - commercial interest relating to an organisations commercial activity and may include trading activity procurement and relationships with third parties.

The exemption afforded by Section 43 is subject to what is known as the 'public interest test'. When applying the test in a particular case a public authority is deciding whether the public interest is better served by non-disclosure than by disclosure.

Although the Freedom of Information Act does not define 'in the public interest', there is a presumption under Freedom of Information that openness is in the public interest. In applying the public interest test a public authority will take into account the distinction that has been often made by courts between things that are in the public interest, and things that merely interest the public. Where applicants have not identified public interest considerations succinctly or accurately, the public authority has a responsibility under the Act to make their own assessment of the public interest considerations in the particular case.

We have identified the following public interest factors that may be seen as encouraging the disclosure of information:

a) accountability of public spending

We consider these factors to be of limited relevance in relation to the information in question.

Public interest factors seen as encouraging non-disclosure are, generally, the exemptions themselves. In consideration of this matter we came to the following conclusions:

a) ensuring that companies are able to compete for business fairly

b) damage to reputation and/or financial interests

In weighing the factors for and against disclosure we have concluded that the likely benefit to the applicant and the wider public of disclosure is outweighed by the likely prejudice caused by such disclosure and that therefore the public interest is better served by non-disclosure.

For the reasons given above we will not be communicating to you the information you have requested.