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Elk River <br /> ' Municipal Utilities <br /> 13069 Orono Parkway phone: 763.441.2020 <br /> Elk River,MN 55330 Fax.763 4418099 <br /> August 30, 2005 <br /> To: Elk River Municipal Utilities commission <br /> ' Jerry Takle <br /> Jim Tralle <br /> John Dietz <br /> ' From: Theresa Slominski <br /> Subject: Electronic Bill Payment Processing Vendor <br /> The volume of customers utilizing their own bank's bill payment options is increasing. <br /> Currently when our customers use this, the bill payment center will send us a paper check <br /> to process the payment with. To process the payment it involves opening an envelope, <br /> verifying the customer account that is being paid upon, photocopying the check for our <br /> records, preparing a payment stub for processing, and finally posting the payment. When <br /> we receive 50 bill payments in a day, this can be incredibly time consuming for the staff. <br /> Vanco Electronic Gateway Services provides a bridge between the payment centers and <br /> us. They contact the payment centers and notify them of the companies able to accept <br /> ' electronic payments. They then collect the necessary information (which we determine, <br /> as well as the format for receiving this information) and will set up an electronic file for <br /> future payments. Once set up, the payment processing centers send the funds directly to <br /> ' our bank account and an electronic file is created that we can upload and post directly to <br /> our billing system. This is a win-win for everyone, as the payment centers don't have to <br /> create the paper check and we don't have to process the paper check— efficiencies are <br /> ' implemented on both ends. <br /> The cost for this is minimal. There is a one-time registration fee of$40.00, and then a <br /> ' monthly charge of$25.00 plus $.10 per transaction. If we process 500 transactions with <br /> this service it will cost $75.00, which is equivalent to 4 '/2 hours of staff time. To process <br /> 500 transactions currently, it uses 12 '/z hours of staff time. <br /> ' I have attached the Gateway Agreement and some information about the process and <br /> charges for your review. <br /> 1 <br />