Consulting firm Accenture Ltd. announced that it signed two "share-in-savings" contracts with the Department of Education for work with the Office of Student Financial Assistance.
Direct Loan eServicing
One contract is to "integrate Direct Loan eServicing into the Title IV student financial aid programs." Under terms of the contract, Accenture said it will deliver new Internet capabilities at no upfront cost to SFA. Accenture then will be compensated for creating this capability out of the savings derived from the new process efficiencies, with payments capped at $41.6 million. Accenture says use of the new capabilities is expected to streamline administrative processes, saving an estimated $79.1 million over five years.
According to Accenture, with eServicing, borrowers will be able to take advantage of:
Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment, allowing borrowers to view their Direct Loan bills on-line and to make payments via the Internet through the Direct Loan Servicing Web site (DLWS) or through a third-party service provider;
Online Correspondence, which gives borrowers the option of receiving Direct Loan correspondence via e-mail; and
The ability to self-service some deferment and forbearance transactions on the Web site and, in some cases, by phone.
Additionally, more efficient electronic customer relationship management (CRM) tools will be deployed to the Direct Loan Service Centers.
Among the companies that will help Accenture create the new on-line services are AFSA Data Corp. and Affiliated Computer Services.
Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System
Under the second contract, Accenture will develop and deploy a Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) system to consolidate and integrate the current legacy systems that support the origination and disbursement of $50 billion in Title IV funds.
Accenture said the COD solution will contribute to higher levels of customer service while integrating a number of SFA's existing legacy systems into a common, customer-oriented solution. COD will reduce the need for phone calls to customer service representatives and Department of Education personnel. It also will reduce the workload required for monthly and yearly school reconciliation while dramatically reducing the potential for fraud, waste, and abuse.
Under the Share-in-Savings/Results approach, Accenture and team members AFSA Data Corp. and KPMG Consulting will absorb the risk of developing and implementing the solution. Accenture projects the contract's total value at $193 million over five years, with portions of the payments tied to meeting specific objectives, generating anticipated savings over the life of the contract, and covering the cost of operational expenses. Accenture projects $94 million in savings for ED over the next 10 years.
Posted December 19, 2001, on the NASFAA Web Site www.nasfaa.org
Please submit questions or comments to ask@nasfaa.org
