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Bay City airport remains without card fuel after vendor contract dispute; US Bank switch underway
Summary
Airport manager said pumps have been offline since the 30th because the payment processor contract was not acceptable to the city; staff are switching to a US Bank solution and hope to restore card payments quickly once remaining documents are approved.
Bay City Airport’s self-service fuel pumps have been offline for card payments since the 30th after the airport’s credit-card processor contract raised legal concerns, Airport Manager Brian King told the Airport Advisory Committee at its July meeting.
King said Epic Fuels (the airport’s previous back-end processor) sold to World Fuels last fall and the city received a notice in mid-June asking the city to sign a continuation contract. “Our attorney looked at the contract, didn’t like the language on it,” King said, and the sticking point was a data-breach clause that would have left the city potentially fully liable without a cap on costs. Because the city attorney would not accept that language King said the city explored an alternative with US Bank.
“The kicker was, nobody knew” where the contractual notices were being sent, King said, describing a June 10 notice and later extensions through June 30. He said the US Bank option was acceptable to the city’s attorney and staff sent the required documents; King said the bank returned five additional documents last week and one set of terms is currently under attorney review. “Once they get the number from US Bank, they can get it out the same day,” King said, adding that QT (the point-of-sale network) can activate service quickly once the backend is established.
King warned the committee that some card brands might not be supported by the initial US Bank configuration. “I think the US Bank one only had Master, Visa and American Express,” he said; he added that Discover may not be available immediately.
The airport is already considering pricing changes for upcoming events: King said the airport plans a 15-cent-per-gallon discount on fuel sales during Oshkosh-related activity, if fuel can be sold. He also reported a short-term increase of courtesy car availability after the city’s code-enforcement office agreed to loan a vehicle for weekend events.
Committee members raised operational questions about unattended card processing and whether the city’s merchant services policy requires an attendant at the pump; King said some city systems require an attendant and that switching all city accounts to one processor would be a larger, longer project.
The meeting adjourned by motion and second at the scheduled close of business; the motion was made and seconded on the record and carried without a roll-call tally provided in the transcript.
What’s next: staff said they will continue working with the city attorney and US Bank to clear the remaining paperwork and will notify committee members once the pump card system is live.
