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POLICY STATEMENT CITY OF RAMSEY CREDIT CARD /DEBIT CARD ACCEPTANCE POLICY The city of Ramsey will accept credit and debit card payments as a means of paying for city obligations when it will enhance customer convenience, increase certainty of collection, and /or reduce city processing costs. DEFINITIONS Credit Card: a card or device issued under an arrangement pursuant to which the issuer gives to a card holder the privilege of obtaining credit from the issuer. Debit Card: a card or device issued under an arrangement pursuant to which the issuer gives to a card holder the privilege of using the card to debit the account of the card holder. Transaction Fee/Discount Fee: The processing fee imposed by credit card companies on all credit card transactions. Typically these fees are born by the vendor and built into the overhead costs. Third Party Processor: The city must work with a third party processor that will process its credit card transactions. Convenience Fee: A charge in addition to the original transaction amount for the convenience of being able to use an alternate payment method. AUTHORITY Minnesota Statute 471.381 Authorizing cities to accept payment by credit card or other methods. OVERVIEW Minnesota Statute sets forth the authority for cities to accept credit cards and other methods of electronic payment in the normal conduct of city business. Therefore, the city of Ramsey has established a contract with RevTrak, which is the processing facility for Merchant's Sales Transactions, to help provide the related card processing services. A, Merchant Accounts — A merchant account is an account that is established by a "merchant" (someone selling products or services) to receive payment via credit cards. Such accounts are available through banks and other financial service providers. The city of Ramsey has selected RevTrak as the entity to process merchant account payments for the city of Ramsey.