Based on an insert in my City of Santa Barbara utilities bill, the city has instituted a transaction fee of 2.95% or minimum fee of $2.95 for ALL credit card and debit payments. This includes auto-pay.
“As of June 1st, 2025, the City of Santa Barbara is transitioning to a new fee structure for all credit card and debit payments. Please note that this will affect all transactions made online, in-office, and all Auto-Pay/recurring payments. Transaction fee: 2.95% or Minimum fee: $2.95”
Ridiculous to pay a minimum of $2.95 every month for autopay! No autopay I know of does this.
Stamps are currently 73 cents. Seems they’ll be paying a lot for the labor of processing checks, but yes, the labor force is already there.
Actually a lot of companies charge a fee for CC auto-pay: SoCalGas, SCE, and some insurance companies. They’re just passing on the fee the CC companies charge them for your transaction. They don’t charge you a fee if you auto-pay from your checking or savings account though.
Can you use a debit card or ACH payment without a fee? Do that. The frequency of checks being stolen straight from blue mailboxes or otherwise, washed, and cashed is way too high to consider mailing a check every month to avoid a $3 fee. Cleaning up that mess isn’t worth it. Don’t mail checks.
This is just to cover the amount that the Credit Card Companies charge for processing the payment. Otherwise the amount actually reaching the City is reduced with every payment.
The quote provided indicates the charge also applies to debit card transactions. I thought debits generally don’t charge that transaction fee. I dunno.
A good step toward stopping the vampire existence of these cc and finance companies. They think they must have a bite of everyone’s business. They convince customers that using a cc is hip and using cash is old people conduct. The same for “gift cards” which take a bite of the profit, give the donee an obligation to use a particular vendor and keep the card on hand and use it all or end up with small amounts that become un-redeemed to the benefit of the banks. People you can give other people cash. This allows the person receiving the gift to choose for themselves what they would like to do with your gift. Also they don’t have to log in with passwords and give up private information to the cc company, etc. Assuming the city is not charging for direct withdrawal from a checking account that seems more than satisfactory for all.
There’s nothing “hip” about the protections credit cards offer that debit, ACH, and checks do not. Your comment reads as though you have never had your account info leaked and lost REAL money – have you ever had to deal with closing your accounts entirely, getting new account numbers, and proving the false charges were actually fraudulent? It is a massive PITA. Credit cards are king in today’s fraud-rampant world.
Anon, you must work for one of these card companies to be so vehement in their defense. Whew.
Good point about the CC protections.
I haven’t had a debit card for those reasons in at least a decade now.
But CC companies are still vampires.
“Visa and Mastercard representatives revealed, during the Senate hearing, that their net profit margins exceed 50%.” You know it’s bad when a Republican is holding hearings about their profits. 😉
https://nbcmontana.com/news/nation-world/fact-check-team-credit-card-giants-profit-margins-exceed-50-amidst-american-debt-crisis-visa-mastercard-missouri-senator-josh-hawley-average-swipe-fee