Awarded without open competition
Awarded without open competition. The buyer went directly to one or a few suppliers instead of advertising the contract. Procurement rules allow this only in specific cases, such as extreme urgency, when only one supplier can do the work, or for call-offs from an existing framework.
Key facts
- Buyer
- London Borough Of Islington · Regional or local authority
- Supplier
- Prepaid Financial Services
- Value
- £450,000
- Procedure
- Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
- Sector
- Financial & insurance services · Financial transaction processing and clearing-house services (CPV 66172000)
- Region
- London
- Official notice
- 062881-2025 on Find a Tender
- Timeline
-
- Contract date7 Feb 2025
- Published7 Oct 2025Published 242 days after the contract date
Description
The procurement covers the provision of long-term prepaid card services to support multiple council operations including Adult Social Care, Children's Services, NRPF, Client Finance, and Education. The council currently manages approximately 2,000 prepaid cards across eight payment platforms. The service enables fast electronic fund transfers, reduces manual payment processes, and allows real-time expenditure monitoring. It supports a largely cashless operation and protects vulnerable clients from financial abuse. The contract includes a fixed monthly fee based on card volume (currently in the 1,001-3,000 bracket), plus additional charges for setup, replacement cards, reporting, and platform-specific changes. The successful provider, Prepaid Financial Services (PFS), was selected via direct award under the NEPO framework due to their ability to meet all requirements, including robust reporting, joint account functionality, and continuity of service.
About the supplier
Prepaid Financial Services: every public contract they have won, plus their Companies House record (company 06337638).