Citywide Payment Modernization, Mobile Wireless Payment Systems, Unified Cash Management, and Treasury Integration

The City of New Haven is soliciting proposals through a Request for Proposal (RFP 2025-RFP-CNH-293) for a comprehensive citywide payment modernization initiative aimed at unifying and digitizing its current fragmented payment systems. Existing payment acceptance methods are diverse and inconsistent, including legacy terminals, department-specific systems, overlapping vendor portals, manual and paper-based processes, and third-party web tools, which lead to service disruptions, high fees, delayed reconciliations, audit risks, vendor lock-in, and administrative inefficiencies. The City’s objective is to centralize and streamline these payment operations into a single, integrated digital platform that supports mobile wireless payment systems, a universal transaction fee capped at 2.5%, acceptance of all major card brands and digital wallets, text-to-pay functionality, online portals, and robust treasury-level reporting fully integrated with the City’s Munis ERP system. The project entails a fixed-term professional services contract with an initial one-year period and two optional one-year extensions. Vendors are required to submit pricing through a transparent Price Proposal Form specifying all-inclusive transaction fees covering backend costs such as processing, network fees, software licensing, hosting, and professional services, with no tiered pricing allowed. The contract framework emphasizes compliance with federal and state regulations including ARPA funding requirements, audit rights, affirmative action and nondiscrimination mandates, and the City’s standards for staff qualifications and conduct. The professional services agreement details scope of work, deliverables submission and acceptance procedures, indemnification, governing law, and administrative terms. Evaluation of proposals will be based on a multi-criteria trade-off approach focusing on scientific and technical merits, feasibility, management capabilities, and costs, guided by a structured rating scale and standardized evaluation criteria. Awarded vendors must comply with SAM registration, reporting obligations, and are subject to oversight by the City’s Finance Department. Submissions must be made electronically via the City’s OpenGov eProcurement Portal by the January 6, 2026 deadline, with a question deadline set for December 22, 2025. The contract does not specify package or delivery terms but mandates City review and approval of all deliverables. Attachments to the contract include detailed scopes of work, certification forms related to lobbying and ARPA compliance, and pricing templates, ensuring clarity and transparency throughout procurement and contract performance.