“We will accept Master Card or Visa but not American Express,” he said, adding that the fees of American Express are much higher.
Georgetown Consulting Group, the Commonwealth Public Utilities Commission’s consultant, earlier recommended the modification of CUC’s handling of credit card payments.
CUC incurred over $750,000, or 1 percent of its total revenues, in processing fees charged by credit card companies for CUC customers who used credit cards to pay their utility bills, Georgetown said.
Malae said there was no comment from CPUC regarding Georgetown’s recommendation.
After some consideration, he added, CUC decided to no longer accept payments made through American Express.
He said CUC will also implement Georgetown’s recommendation on alternative payment arrangements like the auto drafting of a customer’s checking account.
“We have customers with debit cards who make automatic monthly payments,” Malae said.
CUC did not agree with Georgetown’s proposal to limit the amount that a customer can pay with a credit card to $500 per month for a residential customer and $1,000 per month for commercial customers.
Malae is confident that CUC customers are ready to accept the new policy, noting that many businesses also do not accept certain credit cards.
