August 23, 2006
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Treasury Pitches In to Improve Deployment Life for US Soldiers
Washington, DC- The U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced the successful installation of EagleCashtm at 12 U.S. Army bases in Iraq and Kuwait. EagleCash, the stored-value card program in partnership with the Department of the Army, safeguards and simplifies U.S. soldiers' cash management while they are stationed abroad.
EagleCash's smart card technology eliminates coin, currency, scrip, vouchers, money orders and other paper payment mechanisms and replaces them with a simple card and touch screen. The Army Finance Office cut the volume of paperwork required to issue checks to base exchange stores and postal facilities in half. The program also enhances the safety of soldiers and other personnel in deployed areas by reducing the number of missions required to supply the camps with currency.
Treasury's Financial Management Service (FMS) manages EagleCash with the assistance of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
"This mission was a terrific collaboration among Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and the U.S. Department of the Army," said Donald Hammond, Treasury Fiscal Assistant Secretary. "The dedication of the EagleCash team in planning and personally executing this installation goes above and beyond routine program management and is an extraordinary service to the soldiers in Iraq and Kuwait, and all taxpayers."
In a place where soldiers have limited or no access to ATMs or bank tellers, EagleCash provides soldiers with easy access to cash without traveling across camp to stand in long lines at the Finance Office to receive cash. Cardholders can check balances and transaction history, and transfer funds between their EagleCash card and their U.S. bank accounts at self-service kiosks. Soldiers can make purchases at camp stores, the U.S. Post Office, and concessionaires who provide services like haircuts and alterations or sell food and regionally manufactured products.
Employees of Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, U.S. Army Finance Command, the U.S. Army's 266th Finance Command (Forward), 1st Personnel Command (Postal) (Forward), the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES), and independent contractors, traveled to Iraq and Kuwait this summer to implement the system. The Eagle Cash team installed 70 kiosks and 1,200 point-of-sale terminals to support the stored value card system. During the two-month mission, the team issued more than 4,500 EagleCash cards and processed transactions representing more than $22 million. As of Aug. 20, soldiers had used their EagleCash cards for more than 9,000 transactions at the self-service kiosks and 40,000 transactions at the base PX/BX and U.S. Post Office facilities.
To bring the stored value card system to the 12 bases in Iraq and Kuwait, the EagleCash team was required to: complete specialized Army warzone training; travel and establish a base of operation at each camp; provide briefings to Army leaders; install equipment; market the program and create awareness; enroll cardholders; train personnel; work with retailers to activate acceptance and settlement procedures; and monitor performance.
The success of this program is evidenced by the Army's plans to expand EagleCash to additional locations in Iraq, change financial policies to leverage the EagleCash infrastructure to further reduce cash, coin and paper, and issue EagleCash cards to soldiers in the U.S. before they deploy to Iraq and Kuwait.
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