Prepaid Expense Card Policy

This policy covers the Group's prepaid expense cards: who can hold one, what it can be spent on, and how every transaction is accounted for.

1About this policy

1.1This policy is set by the 17th Newcastle Scout Group Trustee Board to govern the issue and use of prepaid expense cards.

1.2The Group uses physical cards only, issued through Online Scout Manager (OSM).

1.3Cards are issued in the name of the Group to named individuals, so that every cardholder is clear about their responsibility for the card issued to them. This follows POR rule 5e.5.1.9 (advance payments).

1.4Trustees remain jointly and severally liable for all spending on these cards. Because of that, each cardholder is accountable to the Trustee Board for every transaction on their card, and the controls in this policy exist to back that up.

1.5This policy is made available to all trustees, and to every new cardholder before a card is issued.

2Who can hold a card

2.1The Trustee Board approves every card. Cards can be issued, as required, to:

• section leaders and other budget holders
• the Treasurer
• the Group Lead Volunteer (GLV)
• other approved volunteers.

2.2The GLV recommends each new cardholder to the Trustee Board for approval.

2.3The Trustee Board may remove a card from a cardholder at any time.

2.4A card will be reviewed and, where appropriate, cancelled when:

• the cardholder leaves their role or the Group
• the Trustee Board carries out its annual review of cardholders
• misuse is suspected, in which case the card is suspended immediately (see section 8).

3Cardholder responsibilities

3.1The card is issued in the cardholder's name. The cardholder is responsible for keeping the card and its details safe, and for using it appropriately. The PIN must be kept confidential.

3.2Digital wallets. The cardholder must not register the card in, or use it from, a digital wallet such as Apple Pay or Google Pay. OSM does not support this.

3.3Lending the card. A card must never be lent to anyone, in any circumstances. If someone else urgently needs to pay for something, they should pay personally and reclaim the cost with receipts. The cardholder remains entirely responsible, and accountable to the Trustee Board, for all use of their card.

3.4Personal use. Personal use is prohibited. Any accidental personal transaction must be repaid by bank transfer to the Group's bank account within 7 days, and the Treasurer should be told when this happens.

3.5Receipts. The cardholder must provide a receipt for every transaction, as set out in section 6.

3.6Changing cards. OSM does not allow a cardholder to change their own card or its funds, and cardholders must not try to work around this.

4Funds held on cards

4.1Reasonable funds will be kept on each card, depending on the cardholder and any agreed transactions.

4.2The Treasurer monitors the balance held on the OSM account.

4.3Cards are loaded centrally in OSM. Moving money into the account balance goes through the Group's standard payment approval, and each load is approved by someone other than the person who initiated it.

4.4Either the GLV or the Treasurer can initiate a load.

4.5OSM is set up so that nobody can modify their own card.

5What a card can be spent on

5.1Cards must only be used within the cardholder's existing financial authority. A card's balance does not override the per-transaction limits in the authorisation schedule (Appendix A).

5.2Pre-approved spending. The Trustee Board has pre-approved the following, which need no further authorisation provided the amount is reasonable:

• camp food and activities
• badges and consumables
• regular subscriptions
• regular section activities, and activities for camps, within a reasonable amount.

5.3Section budgets. Section budgets are agreed in advance — termly, annually, or whenever the Trustee Board considers it necessary — and are available to section leaders in OSM.

5.4Beyond budget. Any spending that takes a section outside what has been agreed must be approved by the Trustee Board before it is incurred.

5.5Not permitted. A card must not be used for:

• alcohol
• gift cards and vouchers
• fuel and mileage
• personal purchases (see 3.4).

5.6Cash. Cash withdrawals are not banned, but the cardholder must account for the cash separately from card transactions, and explain to the Treasurer why cash was needed.

6Receipts and reconciliation

6.1All payments on the card must be accounted for as if they were cash payments. The cardholder must photograph the receipt into OSM within 14 days of the transaction.

6.2Lost receipts. If a receipt is lost, the cardholder tells the Treasurer, who decides what to do case by case. Repeated cases go to the Trustee Board.

6.3Reconciliation. OSM matches card transactions against receipts automatically. The Treasurer reviews this quarterly, to confirm that every transaction has a receipt and fits the cardholder's authority.

6.4The Treasurer's card. The GLV reviews the Treasurer's card transactions in the same way, so that nobody reviews their own spending.

7Lost or stolen cards

7.1The cardholder must report a lost or stolen card to the Treasurer and the GLV as soon as they notice, and no later than the same day.

7.2The card is then blocked so it cannot be used, and a replacement is issued.

7.3If a cardholder has been demonstrably negligent and this has happened repeatedly, the Trustee Board may, at its discretion, charge them £10 for a replacement card.

7.4The cardholder must list any transactions they do not recognise. The Treasurer checks these against the card statement and reports any unauthorised spending to the Trustee Board.

8Misuse

8.1Misuse includes personal spending that is not repaid, spending that breaks section 5, repeated failure to submit receipts within 14 days, and lending a card to anyone.

8.2If misuse is suspected:

1. The card is suspended while the matter is looked into.
2. The matter is referred to the Trustee Board.
3. Misconduct or disciplinary procedures may apply under the Scouts' rules.

9Questions

9.1Questions about this policy go to the Group Lead Volunteer.

10Declaration

10.1Every cardholder must sign a declaration, through the Group's separate system, confirming they have read and will follow this policy. This is done before a card is issued, and every year after that. The declaration is not part of this document.

Appendix A: Authorisation schedule

These are suggested figures, for the Trustee Board to confirm or change. They set the most a cardholder may spend in one transaction without approval, unless the spending is pre-approved under section 5.

Any single transaction over £250 needs Trustee Board approval, whoever the cardholder is.

Exception for event costs that scale with numbers. A transaction over £250 does not need separate Trustee Board approval when the total is made up of a per-person price for an event the Group has already agreed to run. For example, paying £400 for 20 young people at £20 each is fine. The receipt or booking confirmation must show the per-person price and the number of people.

A card's balance does not override these limits.