A Service for Members of the National Association of Cities

“People have more credit than cash!”

Your NAC membership entitles your community to a significant discount on the services of these fine sponsors!

· MasterCard Public Sector Payment Solutions

· First Horizon Merchant Services, Inc.

· IntelliPay, Inc.

· & more!

Improving Collections is Job #1!

Based on the National Association of Cities 2003 Municipal Financial Study, the majority of cities, towns and villages are experiencing difficulty collecting municipal fees and fines.

There is a solution. Municipalities that accept credit and debit cards enjoy a significant improvement in collections. It makes sense. Obviously, most people have more credit than they have cash!

A large part of the public sector has learned this lesson. Many governmental agencies, including the IRS, Motor Vehicle Departments in 40 states, and the majority of larger municipalities are all improving their collection results by accepting credit and debit cards at their location and via the Internet.

Want to know if this strategy will help your community? Just do the math. There is worksheet on page two that will help you conduct a quick analysis. There are also some hidden advantages to taking payment cards … read on!

Here’s a little secret. Accepting payment cards benefits your community even more than it does the citizens. Here are four important reasons why:

Enhanced Customer Payment Compliance -- Card acceptance offers payment flexibility—the ability of the cardholder to spread payments out over time. Greater payment flexibility can result in healthier collection rates and, therefore, increased revenues.

Reduced Risk of Losses from Bad Checks  -- When card transactions displace check transactions, the resulting volume of checks returned for "nonsufficient funds" (NSF) and their associated fees, penalties and collection costs are reduced.

Labor and Operational Efficiencies -- Card transactions are often completed more quickly and more efficiently than transactions that involve making change, filling out forms or check processing. Automated, Internet-based transactions can result in substantial labor savings, and also serve to reduce customer traffic into offices where there are usually high labor, real estate and overhead costs.

Enhanced Float on Funds -- The electronic payment methods available with cards today can result in funds deposited in your accounts quickly, allowing you to earn interest on those funds faster. In addition, "mail float," the interest forgone while checks are "in the mail," is usually eliminated when payment is made by credit or debit card.  

We have heard of communities enjoying as much as a 20% increase in their collections once they start accepting payment cards.

National Association of Cities Financial Solutions Group

180 South 300 West

Suite 400

Salt Lake City, UT 84101

Phone:

(800) 487-4226 x123

Fax:

(801) 578-9019

E-mail:

info@intellipay.com

We’re on the Web!

www.intellipay.com

Will Payment Cards Help You?

Take a minute to fill out this easy worksheet, fax it into one of the specialists at the NAC Financial Solutions Group, and find out if accepting payment cards will be good for your community.

One thing you should know up front. Acquiring and maintaining a merchant account is not expensive, and the NAC Financial Solutions Group is set up to help make the whole process very easy. So let’s see if it makes sense for you … What are your community’s average total monthly billings for:  

          Utilities                                                               

             Court Fines                                                        

             Building Permits                                                

             Taxes                                                                  

             Other                                                                   

             TOTAL                                                                  

Based on these numbers, your NAC Financial Solutions Consultant can immediately give you an idea of the potential benefits to your community of accepting payment cards. Remember, these consulting services are one of the benefits you are entitled to as a member of the National Association of Cities.

Fill Out the Form Below Today!

The consultants at IntelliPay are experts at setting up municipal merchant accounts and they understand the Internet. They are an invaluable resource for members of the NAC, and we are glad to bring their expertise to the table. They will make it easy for you to establish your merchant accounts, both at City Hall and on the Internet.  Fill out this information, fax it to them, and expect a call!

Give us a brief snapshot of you and your community.

Rather fill it out and fax it in?  Click HERE for a Printable version