EVTA Overview

New York's Electronic Value Transfer Initiative

In response to the growing demand for greater convenience in conducting business and interacting with government, New York enacted legislation authorizing State agencies to collect fines, fees, rates, charges, taxes, interest, penalties, and other revenues and financial obligations through electronic payments, including card-based (e.g., credit cards) and non-card (e.g., electronic fund transfers) transactions. To provide a statewide approach to implementing electronic value transfer programs, this legislation established the Electronic Value Transfer Administrator (EVTA).

Role of the EVTA

The Department of Taxation and Finance has been designated as the EVTA and is responsible for:

• establishing policies and direction for the State's electronic value transfer programs,
• facilitating and overseeing the State's electronic value transfer programs,
• developing and administering a program approval process, 
• negotiating agreements with financial services processors, and
• determining the cost benefit to the state for utilizing alternative payment mechanisms.

Approval Process

State agencies must receive approval from the EVTA and the Division of the Budget (DoB) prior to implementation of electronic value transfer programs.  The EVTA, in conjunction with the DoB, has developed the following streamlined approval process:

• agencies complete a Form EVTA-1, Program Plan Application for each payment program,
• the EVTA evaluates Form EVTA-1 Applications,  forwarding approved applications to the DoB,
• the DoB evaluates applications forwarded by the EVTA, and informs EVTA of outcome, and
• the EVTA notifies agency of approval or disapproval.

For more information and a downloadable version of the application and instructions, visit the Approval Process page in this site.

EVT Contracts

The Office of General Services (OGS), in conjunction with the EVTA, has developed statewide contracts to provide State agencies with the financial processing services, equipment and software necessary to implement electronic value transfer programs. These contracts will support the acceptance of the four major nationally branded credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover) as well as debit cards and other electronic funds transfer transactions.  

The Office of General Services has approved contracts with:

• Global Payments Direct, Inc. (Global, which includes processing of Visa and MasterCard cards),
• American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (American Express) and
• Discover Financial Services, Inc. (Discover).

The contract with Global provides all processing services for Visa and MasterCard transactions and for the front-end authorization of American Express and Discover cards.  Separate contracts with American Express and Discover are required to receive back-end settlement from these issuing entities.

For more information about these contracts, visit the EVT Contracts page in this site.  The "Process for Utilizing EVT Contracts" diagram provides a high level overview of the contract process. 

EVT Guidelines

The EVTA, in conjunction with Global, American Express and Discover, is developing the EVT Guidelines to assist State agencies and other authorized users of OGS contracts in designing, developing and implementing electronic value transfer programs.  These guidelines will address:

• the functioning of various payment devices (e.g., credit cards),
• elements agencies should consider in designing electronic value transfer programs,
• the financial services, equipment and software available through the EVT Contracts, and
• operational guides for use by agency in accepting electronic payment transactions.

For more information about this resource, visit the EVT Guidelines page in this site.

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Last Modified December 3, 2002