RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
Major changes are coming to the Department of Defense's government travel charge card used by Airmen while traveling on official business.
First, the DoD contract with Bank of America will end soon. This means all holders of government travel cards will receive new GTCs from Citi, the banking company distributing the new cards.
Second Lt. Craig Poirier, 12th Comptroller Squadron deputy financial services officer, said Citi began distributing the new cards Aug.1 and will continue to send out cards until Sept. 30.
If a travel card is not received by then, it may be because an outdated address is on file. Anyone who thinks their address of record is outdated should notify their unit's Agency Program Coordinator immediately.
New GTC's will be ready for use on Nov. 30, the lieutenant said. The current Bank of America-issued cards expire at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Nov. 29.
Lieutenant Poirier added it is important for Airmen to verify receipt of the new travel card to ensure it can be used on Nov. 30. Verification may be done by phone or online anytime after Aug. 15. Activation information can be found on the card.
As part of the receipt verification process -- and to use the new card -- Airmen must accept the cardholder agreement terms and conditions.
Also, those traveling during the changeover of cards from Nov. 29-30 should charge all official travel expenses up to and including Nov. 29 on the Bank of America-issued GTCC. Travel expenses incurred beginning midnight EST on Nov. 30 should be charged to the new Citi GTCC.
"If an Airman is in the middle of a trip then, he simply makes the switch of the cards at midnight," the lieutenant said.
Otherwise, Bank of America cardholders will need to pay all outstanding, undisputed charges to their cards before Nov. 29. No credit balances can remain after that date and if the Bank of America card has one, people should call the phone number on the back of the card and ask that the balance be sent to them.
People traveling on temporary duty during the card changeover can file a travel voucher in the traditional manner. Then, they pay their Bank of America card balance by going to the myeasypayment.com Web site. To pay the Citi card balance, they will go to a Citi Web site. Information on contacting that Web site will be issued in October.
After the changeover, Bank of America will continue to accept payments for charges previously made on its cards. Charge limits on the Citi-issued cards and charging privileges will stay the same and APCs will have the authority to raise limits to meet mission requirements.