Mineral Wells approves two-year merchant-processing agreement, cites big fee savings

The Mineral Wells City Council voted 6-0 to authorize a two-year agreement with Global Payments Integrated to handle merchant credit-card processing for transactions tied to the city’s Tyler (Encode) system, with a contract cap of $480,000 annually. City staff told council that May 2025 credit-card transactions generated a little more than $84,000 in fees under the city’s old arrangements. Under the negotiated terms with Global Payments, staff said those same transactions would have cost about $34,377 for May — a monthly reduction of roughly $50,000 — and that the city’s annual card-fee projection would fall from about $900,000 to approximately $480,000 under the new agreement. Staff recommended Global Payments because the city’s Tyler software supports only two merchant processors; staff solicited quotes from both and said Global Payments was the practical choice because the gateway and integrations are already in place. The presenter said the city negotiated rates and that the vendor agreed to provide software and to waive implementation fees. Councilmembers asked about procurement rules, competitive bidding and whether the city could join a state contract; staff replied they solicited both supported processors and noted a full RFP could be pursued later but could complicate integration with Tyler. Council approved the agreement 6-0. The presenter said staff will continue to examine the broader question of whether to reinstate customer convenience fees for credit-card payments, a policy change the city dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff said any reinstatement would require additional analysis to meet federal, state and card-network requirements and would be presented to council prior to implementation. The council’s vote authorizes the city manager to execute the Global Payments agreement and directs staff to continue due-diligence and policy work related to credit-card processing.