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Coldwater utilities outline move to Invoice Cloud to expand payment options; go‑live set for May 21
Summary
Staff described a planned migration from Payment Service Network (PSN) to Invoice Cloud to expand customer payment options including Apple Pay, Venmo, text‑to‑pay and the ability to pass credit‑card fees for tax payments; staff set a May 21 go‑live date.
Coldwater utility staff told the Board of Public Utilities they plan to switch the utility’s billing platform from Payment Service Network (PSN) to Invoice Cloud to offer more payment options, improved customer communications and greater paperless‑billing uptake.
Killeen, director, said Invoice Cloud operates on the same platform as PSN and that the vendor owns PSN, making the transition straightforward. "Our go live date is May 21 to switch over to the new system," Killeen said, and staff described training underway for customer‑service personnel and public outreach to affected customers.
Staff said Invoice Cloud will accept standard credit and debit cards as well as PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay and Venmo; the system supports text‑to‑pay and enhanced autopay scheduling. A notable operational change is that the utility would be able to allow customers to pay tax bills by credit card while passing the card processing fee to the customer so the municipality does not absorb the fee.
Staff provided a sample cost‑savings scenario for paperless billing: assuming roughly 7,000 residential customers and 30% paperless enrollment, the utility projected annual savings of about $13,000 in printing and mailing costs. Staff also noted Invoice Cloud includes customer tutorials and self‑help videos to ease enrollment.
Questions from board members included whether the system automatically enrolls customers in paperless billing (staff said customers must opt in), whether an app exists (staff said they would confirm), and whether ongoing costs will change (staff said the costs would be similar to PSN and that installation fees were waived because the city already uses PSN). Staff said they expect smooth integration with Civic billing software and will provide additional usage statistics to the board on request.
