The General Services Administration (GSA) is planning the next iteration of its massive SmartPay charge card program, which supports roughly 4.2 million federal cardholders and nearly $40 billion in annual spending.
In a recent request for information (RFI), GSA said it wants input from banks, financial technology firms, and other payment providers ahead of competing the SmartPay master contract.
GSA’s current SmartPay 3 contracts with Citibank and U.S. Bank run through 2031 if they exercise all option periods.
In its listing, GSA said it wants proposals that align the program with current commercial standards to “significantly improve customer and user experience, strengthen operational controls, boost efficiency, and integrate advanced business intelligence features.”
“GSA is taking SmartPay to the next level,” said GSA Administrator Edward Forst in a statement. “With SmartPay 4 handling tens of billions of dollars in transactions, our objective isn’t incremental improvement – it’s a data-rich, highly secure platform built to maximize the U.S. government’s purchasing power.”
GSA said it is also exploring how nontraditional providers could participate. “Since the inception of the GSA SmartPay 3 program, the government has identified potential opportunities in innovation and efficiencies, as a result of overall payment industry advancement. This includes potential service providers that are non-banking entities that currently do not conduct business with the government,” GSA said.
GSA’s RFI also signaled tighter FedRAMP expectations. While FedRAMP certification is not currently required for SmartPay, the agency said a pair of recent executive orders aimed at centralizing federal procurement and strengthening financial oversight are driving GSA’s push for better security and system integration.
In other changes, GSA said it “intends to leverage commercial solutions practices, and standards, more than it currently does under the requirements of the GSA SmartPay 3 master contract.”
In a nod to recent government shutdowns – there have been three partial or complete closures of the federal government since October 2025 – GSA said it wants to know whether vendors can continue providing their services at times when most federal functions are paused.
“During government shutdowns, there may be instances where federal government agencies are required to continue providing mission critical services … including the need to continue to spend using GSA SmartPay solutions. However, given lapses in funding and constraints to financial operations, agencies may not be able to pay outstanding invoices, even through extended government shut downs,” GSA said.
GSA warned that vendors should be prepared for significant outstanding balances during shutdown scenarios, with some charges remaining unpaid across multiple billing cycles.
The agency said that all interested parties should submit their RFI response by June 19.