Date of Award

Fall 11-1-2005

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Information Systems (MSIS)

First Advisor

Tom Farrell

Second Advisor

Omar El-Gayar

Third Advisor

Mike Jochim

Abstract

This paper will be discussing the implementation of an electronic payment card for the Division of Child Support Enforcement (DCS). The DCS was looking for an additional means to distribute monies to custodial parents through an electronic interface. They were already taking advantage of the benefits of direct deposit but still had many custodial parents that did not have banking relationships to make direct deposit as option for them . A Request for Proposal (RFP) was sent out in search of a vendor who could provide assistance with such a task. USBank was able to deliver and implement exactly what the DCS had been looking for. The next step of the project was to target the clients from the DCS system that would be offered the convenience of this new service. The clients were sent out numerous letters informing them of the advantages of using an electronic means to receive their payments. They were asked to either sign up for direct deposit or be enrolled in the electronic payment card program. The electronic payment card project consists of a batch file portion where files are transmitted from the DCS system to the vendor for card enrollment and demographics changes. There were also a few minor changes to the DCS online system to handle and work with custodial parents who are using the card or want to use the card. The author has also added in a Project Management section to the project. Project Management is not a standard at the Bureau of Information and Telecommunications where the author is employed. After studying Project Management in a couple of classes while enrolled in the Master of Science in Information Systems program at Dakota State University, the author has created several project management documents to go along with the project. The project was a huge success for the Division of Child Support. The number of warrants that the DCS created decreased by half during the first month and has further decreased to a mere 12% of the original monthly count. The decrease in number of warrants produced creates a huge cost savings for the DCS. Currently there are over 9500 active electronic payment cards that have received over 104,000 deposits that total over $14 million.

Comments

dsu-th-181

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