DWP Contingency Payment Services

The purpose of this Prior Information Notice is to invite representatives from potential supplier organisations to attend a closed virtual supplier engagement event which DWP intends to host week commencing 26 April 2021. This is an opportunity for interested suppliers to present to DWP, solutions which may meet our future payment contingency needs and inform potential procurement activity. DWP makes on average 2.5m customer payments per day, to a value of over £3bn per week. We are obliged to ensure that payments are credited to customer accounts on the due date, early or late payments cannot be tolerated. All solutions will be considered however; they must address one or both of the following scenarios: A situation. where issuance of a BACS payment file(s) has been delayed, preventing the Department's ability to credit customer accounts on the due date. A catastrophic event which prevents DWP from preparing and issuing payments files. This situation assumes DWP is either unable to access the information or infrastructure needed to create the payment file or unwilling to, for example, due to a cyberattack leaving the estate vulnerable. All potential solutions must be: able to meet Industry Standards for Security Best practice, as a baseline ISO 27001 and FSA Security secure and resilient to potential fraudulent activity; able to provide reporting for Management Information, reconciliation and audit purposes; compliant with UK payment scheme(s) rules and payment formats; capable of operating nationally and be available for other Government Departments including Department for Communities. The duration of the contract is expected to be 2-3 years The event is being held in advance of a potential future procurement however suppliers should be aware that DWP is not committed to, nor guarantees a procurement at this stage. A further Prior Information Notice will be issued should DWP proceed to a procurement. DWP reserves the right to withdraw or amend any intention to proceed to procurement stage at any time. Additional information: To register your interest in attending the engagement event, please contact Lydia Chung by e-mail, Lydia.chung@dwp.gov.uk by midnight 18 April 2021