Purchase cards:

4.Guidance for cardholders

On this page:

    Introduction

    As a cardholder, you may need to make cash withdrawals, make changes to your purchase card or update the details of the cardholder or approver. You can find information on this below.

    Cash withdrawals

    If your purchase card has been set up to allow cash withdrawals, you can use this for:

    • reimbursing staff for one-off purchases up to the value of £40
    • purchases that can not be paid for using an alternative method.

    Cash withdrawals should be kept to a minimum because:

    • they are subject to a minimum fee of £2.95 or 2.95% (whichever is greater)
    • VAT can not be claimed back against them.

    Amend the spending limit or merchant categories

    Each card has:

    • a monthly spend limit
    • a transaction spend limit
    • assigned merchant categories to enable purchases from various suppliers.

    These can be amended if they do not meet your needs.

    1
    Fill in the online form

    To request an amendment, fill in the relevant form below:

    2
    Approval

    Your completed form is sent to your director to be approved.

    If your director accepts your request, the finance manager will sign it off.

    We will then contact the Royal Bank of Scotland to update your card and account.

    Please note:
    It can take between 5 and 7 working days for the changes to be actioned. You will be notified via email once this has been completed.

    Change of cardholder

    If the cardholder is changing their role or leaving the council, you must request that:

    • the purchase card is deactivated
    • the Royal Bank of Scotland user access is cancelled.

    1
    Contact the purchase card admin team

    To notify the purchase card admin team of a cardholder change:

    2
    Destroy the card

    Make sure you cut up the purchase card and dispose of it safely.

    3
    What happens next

    When the admin team receive your email they will arrange for the:

    • purchase card to be deactivated
    • cardholder’s user account to be deleted.

    Please note:
    If you still require a purchase card for your service area, the new cardholder should apply for a new one. It is not possible to transfer the existing card and user account for security reasons.

    Update approver details

    If the approver is changing their role or leaving the council, you must request for their approval responsibilities to be transfer to someone else who is suitable to undertake the role.

    1
    Contact the purchase card admin team

    To notify the purchase card admin team of an approver change:

    2
    What happens next

    When the admin team receive your email they will arrange for the:

    • existing approver’s user account to be deleted, unless they are responsible for approving another purchase card
    • set up a new user account for the new approver (if required).

    Cancel a purchase card

    If your service no longer needs a purchase card, you can ask for it to be cancelled.

    1
    Contact the purchase card admin team

    To ask the purchase card admin team to cancel a purchase card:

    2
    Destroy the card

    Make sure you cut up the purchase card and dispose of it safely.

    3
    What happens next

    When the admin team receive your email they will arrange for the:

    • purchase card to be deactivated
    • cardholder’s user account to be deleted
    • approver’s user accounts to be deleted, unless they are responsible for approving another purchase card.

    Further guidance and support

    More guidance is available in the document below:

    The finance manual of guidance also provides further information about purchase cards.

    If you have any other queries about purchase cards or how they work:

    Help is available if:

    • you are unsure how to make a cash withdrawal
    • your card does not allow cash withdrawals
    • you would like advice regarding a refund.

    You can:

    Guidance is also available in the document below:

    Reimbursing a staff member

    To reimburse a staff member who has made a purchase on behalf of the council, you should:

    • obtain a receipt for the purchase from the employee
    • record the purchase as normal
    • make the cash withdrawal.
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