News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Algood City Council will vote to transition to a new billing software to make online utility payments more informative for customers.
City Administrator Keith Morrison said the new company will more directly interact with the city’s existing account management software. He said online customer fees will go from 2.75 percent to 2.5 percent. He said customers will be able to see payment history, usage, and account information through the new online account.
“We think this is a plus,” Morrison said. “It doesn’t cost us anything except buying the card readers. The fee goes to the company when the customer pays and it’s actually a reduced fee to the customer, so I think this is a good deal.”
Morrison said because the company is directly linked to the city’s software, customers can see changes in their account balance live rather than receiving a monthly update from the city.
“This will give them more access to their account and more up-to-date account information,” Morrison said. “Instead of us updating it to BIS, them being able to see it, and then they don’t get another update until the next month. So this will actually streamline it and make the process much smoother.”
He said the city has been having issues tracking payments with BIS, its current outside vendor for online payment. Sometimes, payments are grouped in different payment collections, and deposits are not shown in the same place online as the groupings, Morrison said.
He said this would clean up those issues and relieve stress from city staffers who have been dealing with those challenges.
“If they do E-check, they can do it for a dollar,” Morrison said. “So if they want to pay online and just do E-check, it only costs them a dollar. They don’t have to pay that percentage. It’s actually cheaper that way.”
Morrison called the move a win for both the city and its customers.
