about the north carolina office of the state controller

SECP Quick Facts
   

Electronic Funds Transfer
  • OSC has a Master Services Agreement (MSA) with Wachovia Bank, a five-year contract, which became effective October 01, 2005.
  • The vendor-levied cost of an EFT transaction is less than one penny.
  • The biggest user of EFT for inbound payments is the Department of Revenue. During FY 2007-08, 2.3 million transactions were received electronically from 130,000 taxpayers, totaling $18.2 billion (68% of taxes received).
  • The biggest users of EFT for outbound payments are the various payroll centers, with a participation rate of 96%.
  • Including payroll and vendor payments, approximately 6 million disbursements totaling $16 billion in electronic payments are disbursed by the State annually.
  • The Common Payment Service gateway (CPS) processes 22% of the State's EFT transaction activity, totaling $6.1 billion annually.
  • Paper check disbursements decreased by 4 million warrants during FY 2007-08 (30% decrease), equaling the percentage rate reduction of the previous five years combined.

Merchant Card Processing
  • OSC has a Master Services Agreement (MSA) with SunTrust Merchant Services, LLC, a five-year contract, which became effective August 01, 2006.
  • The vendor-levied cost of a merchant card transaction is $.04. This is in addition to the pass-through fees charged by Visa and MasterCard, generally known as interchange fees.
  • There are 95 participants in the State Controller's MSA - 21 agencies, 15 universities, 28 community colleges, 30 local units of government, and 1 local school system. (900+ merchant numbers)
  • During FY 2007-2008, there were 6 million merchant card transactions processed, totaling $646 million.
  • The Common Payment Service gateway (CPS) processes 33% of the State's merchant card transaction activity, totaling $136 million annually.
  • The biggest user of merchant card services is DMV Vehicle Registration, with 1.5 million transactions totaling $45.3 million annually.
  • The State's merchant card activity increases approximately 30% annually.
  • OSC has a contract with Trustwave, a Qualified Security Assessor to provide PCI Security Validation Services to agencies accepting credit card payments