a. An e-marketplace platform is an online platform where CHs can evaluate and order products via a portal operated by a vendor: the portal provider. The e-marketplace platforms can offer portal provider products and/or third-party vendor products. Portal providers and third-party vendors are generally responsible for fulfilling orders for their respective products. The e-marketplace model encourages robust competition not only at the platform level by offering millions of products across thousands of suppliers, but also at the product level, with multiple suppliers competing to sell a given product.

b. GSA’s Commercial Platforms program (also known as GSA’s e-commerce platforms) provides a managed channel for open-market purchases through select commercial online platforms.

c. Third-party payment processor policy does not apply to e-commerce platforms or brick-and-mortar merchants that do not accept payment using third-party payment processors. In the e-commerce space, this includes, at a minimum, those in GSA’s Commercial Platforms program, and AmazonBusiness.com. If a platform changes their payment practices and begins allowing use of third-party payment processors, the Army will validate each applicable e-commerce platform continues to disallow use of third-party payment processors. This revalidation will occur at least semi-annually, to include notifying GPC oversight personnel and CHs whether the applicable e-commerce platform does not/continues not to accept payment using third party payment processors.

d. E-Marketplace Platform Method of Payment. The GPC is the only authorized method of payment for purchases placed on the e-marketplace platforms. Cardholders are not allowed to use any other forms of payment, including third-party payment processors (e.g., PayPal, Venmo, Google Wallet, WePay) or payments using any form of cryptocurrency.

e. Compliance with AbilityOne. Mandatory sources such as AbilityOne are effectively represented and promoted in this program. Rather than simply state that e-marketplaces are required to “block and sub” the commercial item for the AbilityOne item, GSA requires platform providers to prevent the sale of a commercial item which is “essentially the same” as an item on the AbilityOne Procurement List. In addition, GSA requires platform providers to ensure the vendors selling AbilityOne products are, in fact, authorized distributors.

f. Data Visibility. Identifying leakage through the commercial platforms will allow the Army the ability to identify purchases that could be going to AbilityOne distributors, small business suppliers, excluded entities, or spend outside of strategic or mandatory-use agency contracts. This data then allows the Army to take the necessary action to appropriately manage this spend. Spend data is available to the Army through on-demand reports and dashboards, allowing the Army to see line-level spend from all e-marketplace platforms. Cardholders also have real-time, account level access to their purchasing data through the e-marketplace platforms for purchase card reconciliation and spend analysis.