Overview
Revenue Modernization (Rev Mod) is a multi-year, phased program that will benefit the Trade and Travel industries and the U.S. economy by simplifying the collections process, providing modern electronic billing and payment options, and creating operational efficiencies at Ports of Entry (POE).
Rev Mod has three goals:
- Free up U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers (CBPO) to focus on mission-critical law enforcement duties rather than the labor-intensive process of collecting fees at the POEs
- Offer modern, online, and electronic billing and payment options
- Enable access to reliable, transaction-level financial information to inform decision-making and promote accountability
Objectives:
Rev Mod will benefit the trade and travel communities along with CBP in several key areas.
Expanding billing options and reducing costs by:
- Streamlining the administrative tasks for importers, filers, and travelers with fewer manual, paper-based business processes, which will reduce transaction costs and inefficiencies
- Creating the option of electronic refunds as opposed to paper check refunds to importers, which can often be more expensive to track against ledgers than depositing collections
- Providing the opportunity for brokers to submit reports and pay informal duties, taxes, and fees electronically, rather than requiring manual payments at ports or customs houses
Increasing efficiencies in collections by:
- Transitioning the collections of informal duties, taxes, and fees out of the POEs by providing extended online payment methods will help expedite the movement of cargo and people, spurring economic activity in the U.S.
- Streamlining the reporting of revenue management activities in order for payers to easily know what, and when, payments were made, as they can quickly access their payment history electronically
Introducing business process improvements to facilitate Trade and Travel by:
- Encouraging the development and usage of online payments, smartphones, Automated Clearing House (ACH), debit and credit cards, Electronic Funds Transfer, Pay.gov, PayPal, foreign exchange transfers, and port self-service stations
- Improving the ability to provide filers with an accurate, consolidated view of their financial transactions
Rev Mod has been successful in implementing efficient Electronic Payment Options (ePO), including:
- Providing Brokers with the opportunity to use Pay.gov to pay their Broker Exam and Triennial fees, and submit their reports online rather than paying manually at their original POE
- Deploying the eCBP portal, allowing Broker applicants to register for the Broker License Exam, as well as submit an electronic payment for their registration fee
- Piloting the expansion of payment options for Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) by adding a PayPal payment option; approximately 15% of payments are now made using PayPal
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