PLAINFIELD -- Soon residents may be able to pay their village water bills with plastic -- at home in their pajamas, even.
Officials are considering whether to accept credit card payments for utility bills, at village hall and on the Internet or by phone. Currently the village only accepts cash, checks or direct debit from a checking account.
But village staff face a daily demand for a credit card option, said Traci Pleckham, the village's director of management services. Sometimes residents show up without cash or checks to pay their water bills and have to make a trip to an ATM.
The village takes in more than 140,000 water bill payments each year. Of the roughly 12,000 village water accounts, about 1,500 pay by direct debit.
Staff members recommended First Midwest Bank to provide the service. The bank handles the village's electronic lockbox transactions, where check utility payments are uploaded to the village's system.
It would cost the village about $72,000 to run the system. But officials say it could save staff processing time, particularly on accounts that are at risk of being shut off, and make life easier for residents.
If approved, credit payments could be made online and by phone up until the due date, which officials say could cut the number of shut-off accounts.
"I think the primary thing from the residents' point of view is the convenience. I think that's worth a lot to the residents," said Trustee Bill Lamb. "Let's be a resident-friendly community."
Trustee Larry Vaupel favored including a transaction fee, saying he didn't think it was fair for the people who don't make credit card payments to subsidize the service for people who do.
But most trustees wanted to offer the credit card option for free.
"There needs to be some ability to pay fees in a timely fashion for those people who aren't here during their office hours," said Mayor Jim Waldorf.
"Well, there's always the mail," said Trustee Walter Manning.
If the board approves the program, credit card payments could be an option a few weeks later. Internet and phone payments could be implemented within nine weeks.
Contact Janet Lundquist at (815) 729-6014 or jlundquist @scn1.com.
.jpg)
1 comments:
Plainfield is pretty far behind, I would say. credit card processing for utilities is the most effective way of collecting payment and also the easiest way to pay bills. My town has accepted credit card payments for as long as I can remember and I also can't remember being late with my payment at all. It's definitely a good decision!
Post a Comment