Ramp unveils spend controls suite for public sector

Ramp has launched Ramp for Public Sector, a version of its spend management platform for government finance teams and other public sector organisations. It includes options aligned with FedRAMP requirements, a separate US-only data residency environment, and new distribution partners for public sector procurement.

The launch comes amid long-running concerns about misuse and administrative weaknesses in public spending. Since 2003, federal agencies have reported an estimated $2.8 trillion in improper payments, including $160 billion in 2024 alone, according to figures Ramp cited. Improper payments can include fraud and errors such as paying the wrong amount, paying the wrong recipient, or paying without sufficient documentation.

US purchasing card programmes have also faced repeated scrutiny from auditors. Cards are widely used for day-to-day purchases where speed matters, but audit reports have frequently cited weak controls, missing documentation, and deliberate circumvention of spending thresholds.

Ramp pointed to examples from several states. It cited a Texas audit that described a purchasing card internal control structure as "not designed or operating to mitigate significant risks". It also referenced a Virginia review that found $5 million in questionable credit card expenditures tied to weak oversight, and a Washington case where more than $2 million was misappropriated through purchasing card schemes. In New Jersey, nearly a quarter of sampled transactions lacked required documentation, it said. In Maryland, employees split more than 120 transactions to avoid procurement thresholds, according to Ramp.

Legacy burden

Many government finance teams use processes in which controls appear late in the cycle. Reviews and reconciliations can happen weeks after transactions clear. That can leave organisations relying on manual checks and retrospective audits, with limited visibility into approval status or policy compliance as spending occurs.

"There was no easy way to see, 'Did the supervisor sign off on this?' or 'Where are we in the approval process?' Nor did we have the ability to proactively catch inappropriate spending. It was all very manual and very time-consuming," said Chase Kinney, Finance Manager for the City of Mount Vernon.

Ramp for Public Sector combines card spend, expense management, invoicing, and policy controls in one platform. Finance teams often manage those functions across separate tools and documents, which can increase administrative work and make audit preparation more difficult.

The product includes automated policy checks and approval routing. It also shows committed spend across funds, departments, and cost centres as transactions occur, rather than waiting for ERP updates that can lag. Procurement rules can be configured and enforced across the system, according to Ramp.

For invoices, Ramp said the platform captures invoice information with 99% accuracy and assigns codes automatically. It said the system flags overbilling, duplicate invoices, and suspicious vendor changes before funds move. Each transaction includes a time-stamped audit trail covering receipts, coding, approvals, and subsequent changes.

Compliance options

Ramp said the public sector offering includes two separate environments, each isolated from the other and from its commercial platform. One is designed for teams that require FedRAMP compliance and runs in AWS GovCloud. The second is for organisations that require US-only data residency but do not need a FedRAMP environment.

Ramp positioned the product around earlier intervention in spending controls, arguing that some improper payments stem from systems that record spending rather than control it at the point of purchase.

Ramp also shared metrics on its existing public sector footprint. More than 1,600 public sector organisations use Ramp, it said. It reported $94 million in savings and 213,000 hours of administrative time recaptured in 2025, adding that 80% of the savings came from automated controls that blocked or recovered spend before audits.

It cited the City of Ketchum, where a four-person finance team reclaimed more than 100 hours a month and cut reconciliation time by 90%, according to Ramp. It also said audit preparation fell from days to hours.

Procurement channels

Alongside the launch, Ramp expanded its public sector distribution network. Carahsoft has been named a public sector distributor, and the offering will be available through Carahsoft's reseller partners and a National Association of State Procurement Officials contract, according to Ramp.

OMNIA Partners' cooperative contracts will also cover the product, including a direct Region 4 contract that Ramp said can simplify purchasing for eligible public sector entities. Velocity1 has joined as a value-added reseller focused on regional and state customers.

"Public sector agencies have needed modern spend controls for years. Ramp meets compliance standards, and we're proud to provide a cooperative purchasing pathway that enables agencies to adopt Ramp efficiently, compliantly, and with confidence," said Allan McCombs, Executive Vice President of Partner Development at OMNIA Partners.

Ramp said adoption decisions, rather than technology readiness, can be the main constraint in public sector modernisation. "Government can get stuck in its own way. This was a classic case where we dared to be different - and with Ramp, we hit a home run. Change is hard, but so is watching your team drown in manual work when better tools exist," said Brent Davis, Director of Finance for the City of Ketchum.