Purpose

The Cabinet Member will consider the extension of commercial card recharges across relevant Council services to recover payment processing costs.

Decision

Decision Taken: The Cabinet Member for Value for Money and Finance has approved the charge to card payers using a commercial credit or debit card to be based on the average charge fee for the whole population. The recharge shall be set by reference to the Council's average actual commercial card processing costs and reviewed annually by the Executive Director of Finance to ensure that it does not exceed those costs. The Cabinet Member has approved the extension of the application of commercial credit / debit card recharges to all relevant service areas processing credit / debit payments through the Council’s income management provider, HeyCentric.

Reason for Decision: The decision to introduce a recoverable charge on commercial card payments for Council services is necessary to ensure that the Council recovers the higher transaction costs associated with these payment methods. Commercial cards incur significantly higher processing fees which are currently absorbed by the Council. Introducing a charge aligns with legislation and allows the Council to protect public funds.