Using Credit Cards For Traffic Fines

Posted by Mark Brousseau

An interesting article in today's York Daily Record:

Credit card payments taking off

By EUGENE PAIK
Daily Record/Sunday News

About three months since they were first accepted, credit card payments at District Justice Richard E. Martin's office [in York, PA] have surged in popularity.

“Not a day goes by when there aren't credit card sales,” said Patty Albright, Martin's office manager.

She said $3,130 in January was paid with credit, which includes the 3 percent fee added to each credit card transaction. In February, it was $5,450, she said.

So far this month, there has been about $2,500 paid with credit cards.

In December, the county began accepting credit cards at Martin's office to address increasing demands for credit payments at some district justice offices.

“It’s mostly citizens who have traffic citations who ask to pay by credit card,” said Freya Sponseller, manager for District Justice Dwayne A. Dubs’ office in Hanover, where credit card payments are expected to be implemented in mid-April.

Despite the demand, the county resisted providing the service because it had trouble finding a provider that would not charge the county.

The 3 percent fee prevents taxpayers from paying for operating costs.

Martin's office accepts MasterCard and Visa, and it uses a swipe format similar to machines found in grocery stores, restaurants and shops.

The results were better than the office imagined, Albright said, even though clerks were uncertain if people were open to paying the added charge. Most have been willing to pay more money for the convenience of credit, she said.

As planned, the payment system will expand to five other district justice offices in the county.

The offices of Dubs and district justices Linda L. Williams, Nancy L. Edie, Scott J. Gross and Harold D. Kessler are slated to accept credit card payments in mid-April, York County Treasurer Barbara Bair said.

Further expansion is uncertain at this point, she said.