FOLSOM, Calif. — Folsom City Council adopted a resolution Tuesday authorizing every city department to accept credit card payments and impose a service fee on all transactions citywide.
The fee is dependent on the card processor and the exact fee will be determined by the card processor through review of the past 12 months of historical transactions, which includes card mix, volume and transaction amount, according to the city.
“If the city council authorizes the assessment of a service fee on all credit card transactions to be paid by the customer, it is estimated the general fund will save about $170,000 annually and the enterprise funds will save over $308,000 annually in fees we are currently paying for credit card transactions,” Tuesday’s city staff report read.
Folsom uses various credit card processors to fit program needs, the city said. Its current vendors are Automated Merchant Systems, CardConnect and Fidelity.
The city said a third-party card processor is always required to process a card transaction, however, the transaction itself will still occur either in-person with city employees, over the phone or via the city’s website.
Folsom does not pay the processor, instead the processor charges the fee directly to the card holder as part of the transaction, the city said.
“This fee will not exceed the cost incurred by the processor for providing credit, debit or electronic funds transfer,” the city said Friday in a statement to ABC10.
Should a customer purchase something from the following departments, they can pay with credit card and incur a service fee:
“Customers can continue to pay with cash, check or in some cases, e-check, to not incur a service fee,” the report said.
