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To; Elk River Municipal Utilities coiaanaissian <br />Jolan Metz <br />Je~~ry Gunaphrey <br />Daryl Tlaonapson <br />From: Theresa Slominski <br />SUbj ect; Credit Cards <br />For several years now it has been a goal to bring credit cards as a payment optzan to ~ll~ <br />River Municipal Utilities. A survey Was done a ~aunaber of years ago ~2oQ~~ to determine <br />if there was a desire to have this option, O.f those who respoxad.ed, the majority X71%} <br />wanted this service and currently, tlae request comes in almost daily for c~•edit cards to be <br />i~acluded in our payzaae~at options. Tlae people who are requesting tlae credit cards want <br />tl~e convenience they offer, The convenience of being able to provide a credit card ixa a <br />late or forgotten payment situation, tlae convenience of not laavi~ag to write out a check, <br />the convenience of using the credit card and doing the payment at any hour from their <br />home or warp via the intc~~aet or teleplao~ae, or tlae simple convenience of managing their <br />calla flow tlarougla a credit card, Some have even made tlae co~a~naent with tlae <br />introduction of the reusable e~avelopes that we should be considering "going even <br />greener" and not ~nailizag tlaezaa out but emailing them instead and providing a lizal~ to <br />make tlae payment via credit card, thus elimi~aating the envelope and pastage entirely. <br />~t mares sense that to provide the best customer service we should be listening to all o.f <br />our customers and responding to their needs when we can. Certainly, zaot everyone will <br />want to pay by credit card, but in tlae same way that we have drop box locations for <br />people not wanting to pay pastage, and a walk~ixa counter opportunity for people wishing <br />to pay in cash, we should affer credit cards .for people who desire that option, Tine <br />offering of credit cards comes at a cost for processing the payment, and so do the rental <br />of tlae drop boxes, and tlae staff at the counter, <br />Depending on haw you collect tlae credit card paylnent, tlae cost varies from 2a/o to ~% of <br />tlae transaction total, The lowest cost is associated with face to face transactions in a <br />retail setting, such as at tl~e fro~~t counter. Tlae cost goes up as tl~e distance is increased <br />between the utility and the customer, tivitl~ web-based or phone credit card payments, In <br />Bonne cases you naay charge the customer a convenience fee to help cover the processing <br />