Past Winner Stories
Government Payment Service
www.governmentpayment.com
GPS provides credit card processing service to government agencies and their constituents.
The Challenge
Since his first meeting with a government agency in 1996, Dale Conrad has gradually become the knight in shining armor for many beleaguered government agencies. With $80,000 from his personal savings and the help of his son Dave, the CEO of Government Payment Service, Inc. (GPS) has built a nationwide organization that helps local governments collect and use money more efficiently.
In 1997, GPS began contracting with government agencies in seven states to provide a consumer payment service by credit card. GPS enabled people to pay court-ordered payments, such as traffic citations, child support, taxes, fines, and more by using credit cards at no cost to the government service agencies. The credit card services costs are recouped by having cardholders pay a fee that usually ranges from 8 – 10% of the transaction.
While the concept was good, it seemed a little too good to be true to some government agencies. In others, politics slowed or even stopped the process. Adoption of the innovative program took time and patience on the part of Conrad and a core group of employees.
The first full year in business, GPS processed 3,361 credit card transactions (the previous partial year, only netted the company 81 transactions). The company processed a little over $1.5 million and ended the year with $136,845 in revenue.
While these numbers were an excellent start for any business, Conrad was not satisfied. He knew that the company could be doing a much larger volume of business if he could just get government agencies to see the benefits of using GPS:
The Challenge
Since his first meeting with a government agency in 1996, Dale Conrad has gradually become the knight in shining armor for many beleaguered government agencies. With $80,000 from his personal savings and the help of his son Dave, the CEO of Government Payment Service, Inc. (GPS) has built a nationwide organization that helps local governments collect and use money more efficiently.
In 1997, GPS began contracting with government agencies in seven states to provide a consumer payment service by credit card. GPS enabled people to pay court-ordered payments, such as traffic citations, child support, taxes, fines, and more by using credit cards at no cost to the government service agencies. The credit card services costs are recouped by having cardholders pay a fee that usually ranges from 8 – 10% of the transaction.
While the concept was good, it seemed a little too good to be true to some government agencies. In others, politics slowed or even stopped the process. Adoption of the innovative program took time and patience on the part of Conrad and a core group of employees.
The first full year in business, GPS processed 3,361 credit card transactions (the previous partial year, only netted the company 81 transactions). The company processed a little over $1.5 million and ended the year with $136,845 in revenue.
While these numbers were an excellent start for any business, Conrad was not satisfied. He knew that the company could be doing a much larger volume of business if he could just get government agencies to see the benefits of using GPS:
- Immediate ability for clients to make court-ordered payments (many agencies require cash or money orders)
- Increased collection ratios for court-ordered payments
- Reduced expenses associated with the collection of overdue payments
- Eliminated risk from credit card fraud or non-payments
- Open 24-hours a day, seven days a week to take court-ordered payments
- Funds can be electronically deposited quickly so that agencies can take advantage of interest income By the end of 1998, Conrad had signed up 54 agencies and GPS had four full-time and six part-time employees.
Slowly, the word began to spread. Jailers quickly realized the benefits of using GPS. “It’s kind of hard to go to the bank to use the cash machine when you’re in jail,” says Saginaw, Michigan jail Commander Lt. William Thompson. “The plus for us is it will help get people out of an overcrowded jail,” says Vermillion County, Illinois Sheriff Pat Hartshorn.
As the number of agencies began to grow, so did the transactions and the need for more staff at GPS. Although automation seemed to be the key, Conrad felt that the personal touch was important. It was not uncommon for he or Dave to sleep at the office to make sure that someone was always there to answer the calls.
Another temptation was to take the company public through an IPO. Dale resisted that strategy in favor of a slower and steadier approach to growth. Their most direct competitor went public in 1999 and topped $32 million in revenue last year, but has yet to make a profit.
The Solution
Today, GPS is a leading provider for payments to government agencies. The reliability and solid ethical foundation of GPS has helped earn the trust of many law enforcement, correctional and judicial agencies. What competition existed has all but disappeared, with their last remaining competitor, Official Payments Corp. (IPO 1999), disappearing from view in the past few weeks.
In the past twelve months, GPS has processed over 47,800 transactions amounting to more than $21 million. Obviously the word has spread about the benefits of using GPS to process court-order payments. Today GPS has 520 customers in 35 states, with new agencies being added nearly everyday. Most of this growth can be laid at Conrad’s feet since he still handles the bulk of the sales calls. However, the excellent daily operations and customer service are the glue that holds the customer base together.
To meet the demands of such rapid growth, Dale Conrad turned to the most trustworthy source of employees he could find- hiring son Dave in 1997, daughter Debby started full-time in 2001 and, a few short weeks ago, daughter, Erin joined GPS to help with administration. In addition, Conrad has maintained his commitment to the personal touch, with 17 live operators answering phones 24 hours a day.
Although the Conrad family makes up only about 15% of the total GPS workforce, it is rare to find so many siblings working together harmoniously –especially when one of them is President of the Company. Dave Conrad became President of GPS this past year and Debby Conrad was promoted to Vice President, Director of Marketing, and appointed to the Board of Directors as Secretary for the Corporation –all signs that show Dale Conrad’s commitment to having a second generation of the family run GPS.
Future challenges include expanding the GPS client base to all 50 states, maintaining profitability and the management of rapid growth. Conrad is confident that GPS will be able to meet all these goals, “We’ve always had a clear plan and that’s what has allowed us to succeed where others have failed.”
As the number of agencies began to grow, so did the transactions and the need for more staff at GPS. Although automation seemed to be the key, Conrad felt that the personal touch was important. It was not uncommon for he or Dave to sleep at the office to make sure that someone was always there to answer the calls.
Another temptation was to take the company public through an IPO. Dale resisted that strategy in favor of a slower and steadier approach to growth. Their most direct competitor went public in 1999 and topped $32 million in revenue last year, but has yet to make a profit.
The Solution
Today, GPS is a leading provider for payments to government agencies. The reliability and solid ethical foundation of GPS has helped earn the trust of many law enforcement, correctional and judicial agencies. What competition existed has all but disappeared, with their last remaining competitor, Official Payments Corp. (IPO 1999), disappearing from view in the past few weeks.
In the past twelve months, GPS has processed over 47,800 transactions amounting to more than $21 million. Obviously the word has spread about the benefits of using GPS to process court-order payments. Today GPS has 520 customers in 35 states, with new agencies being added nearly everyday. Most of this growth can be laid at Conrad’s feet since he still handles the bulk of the sales calls. However, the excellent daily operations and customer service are the glue that holds the customer base together.
To meet the demands of such rapid growth, Dale Conrad turned to the most trustworthy source of employees he could find- hiring son Dave in 1997, daughter Debby started full-time in 2001 and, a few short weeks ago, daughter, Erin joined GPS to help with administration. In addition, Conrad has maintained his commitment to the personal touch, with 17 live operators answering phones 24 hours a day.
Although the Conrad family makes up only about 15% of the total GPS workforce, it is rare to find so many siblings working together harmoniously –especially when one of them is President of the Company. Dave Conrad became President of GPS this past year and Debby Conrad was promoted to Vice President, Director of Marketing, and appointed to the Board of Directors as Secretary for the Corporation –all signs that show Dale Conrad’s commitment to having a second generation of the family run GPS.
Future challenges include expanding the GPS client base to all 50 states, maintaining profitability and the management of rapid growth. Conrad is confident that GPS will be able to meet all these goals, “We’ve always had a clear plan and that’s what has allowed us to succeed where others have failed.”