A new agreement between U.S. Bank and cooperative purchasing group WSCA-NASPO offers states, cities and public educational entities streamlined access to more U.S. Bank commercial fuel-card programs at preferred prices, the bank announced today.

The contract extends the bank’s existing partnership with WSCA-NASPO for up to seven more years and expands it to include U.S. Bank Fleet Card in addition to the purchasing, travel and One Card options available under the previous contract.  

“Through a competitive procurement process, they have earned the right to expand their offering to include Fleet Card as well as purchasing, travel and One Card for the new contract," said Douglas Richins, CEO for WSCA-NASPO. "We are confident they will continue to provide our members with world-class programs that drive efficiencies and help them to properly manage their budgets.”

Using card programs for procurement, travel and fueling helps public agencies better manage their purchasing processes. They can issue one payment per month to cover all purchases on each card type, instead of processing multiple purchase orders and payments. Transactions can be monitored online almost immediately, rather than waiting for end-of-month invoices. U.S. Bank’s Voyager network tracks fuel purchases.

Suppliers can benefit from card-based purchasing by receiving immediate payment. With more traditional transaction methods, public agencies typically make a payment 30 days after a purchase.