GovOne makes public-sector debut

EOne Global LP, a developer of Internet-based payment technologies, this week announced that it has formed govOne Solutions LP, which is focused on bringing electronic payment options to regional and national governments worldwide.

Although March 27 marked govOne's first day, it has a solid foundation. The company is starting out with the clients, technology and relationships acquired through the operations of an eOne Global subsidiary, CashTax, which processed federal and state taxes. Also bolstering govOne is the recently acquired transaction processing business of govWorks Inc., said Garen Staglin, president and chief executive officer of eOne Global.

Those combined clients encompass federal, state and local governments across more than half the United States, as well as 55 financial institutions.

GovOne plans to customize services to support a variety of payment methods, including Internet, interactive voice response, walk-ins and machine-to-machine, said Linda Morse, managing director of govOne.

Morse said she is not worried about the recent economic downturn or its effect on dot-coms because of the diversity of govOne's portfolio. "We're not just doing the Internet and we're not focused primarily on consumers," she said. "We're focused on the whole array of electronic payments, and are not dependent on just one."

Through its relationship with Bank of America, govOne Solutions processes tax payments for the Internal Revenue Service using the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System. EFTPS serves 1.5 million taxpaying businesses from the southern half of the United States and moves more than $800 billion annually.

Other government business of govOne, based in Englewood, Colo., includes:

Handling electronic funds transfer services for business taxes and employer unemployment contributions in 23 states. Enabling consumers to pay New York City parking tickets on the Internet. Processing child support payments for Rhode Island. Other business with Philadelphia and California's Los Angeles and Orange counties. GovOne is talking to potential public sector clients at all levels of government, but is also focused on upgrading the service offerings for its existing customer base, Morse said.