CREDIT CARD TRANSACTIONS

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CREDIT CARD TRANSACTIONS

• Jim Hamlin
• Dallas County District Clerk

Mary Cannon, Special Assistant
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EVER HEAR THIS?

• CRIMINALS DO NOT HAVE ANY MONEY THEREFORE, THEY
  CANNOT PAY
  
• This statement is absolutely NOT TRUE!
• After 5 years and 17.46m in collections,
• they DO and they CAN!
• You have to create the expectation level that
  costs and fines MUST be paid.

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Brief Overview of Felony Collections

• Divided into Three Systems
• System 1 In person interviews straight from
  Court
  
• System 2 Probationers within six months of
  completing probation
  
• System 3 Jail billing for State and County Jail
  Sentences
  
• Staffed by 6 County Employees 1 Collections
  Coordinator, 3 Interviewers, 2 Clerical Support.
  
• 100 Collection rate is not the goal. Increasing
  revenue and bringing in new money is the goal.
  

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How payments are received

• Payment in person to the Cashier
• Mailed in to the office
• Drop Box at the Courthouse
• Approximately 30 to 50 payments are dropped over
  a weekend period
  
• CREDIT CARDS
• In person
• INTERNET

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Drop Box at the Courthouse
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GENERAL REQUIREMENTS TO ACCEPT CREDIT CARD
PAYMENTS

• Need a contract with a bank and/or Credit Card
  vendor
  
• Need a website or a contractor to host a website
  (for internet payments)
  

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AVERAGE MONTHLY COLLECTIONS

• Average monthly collections for all payment
  methods is 425,000
  
• Average monthly CREDIT CARD collections is
  39,115
  
• Credit Card collections account for just under
  10 of monthly collections

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AMOUNT COLLECTEDVIA CREDIT CARD PER MONTH
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NUMBER OF CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS MADE PER MONTH
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AVERAGE CREDIT CARD PAYMENT
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BENEFITS OF CREDIT CARD ACCEPTANCE

• EASE OF PAYMENT
• Clients do not have to come downtown to make a
  payment. Payments can be made from home, the
  library or anywhere internet access is
  available.
• Able to make payments ON TIME.
• Able to make FULL PAYMENT.
• VERY FEW CASES OF FRAUD
• We have experienced only 2 cases of fraud in over
  4,450 transactions.
  

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DISADVANTAGES OFCREDIT CARD TRANSACTIONS

• Bank charge to County of between 2-3
• Per transaction charge for Client
• Dallas County went from 3 of payment made to
  5.00 per internet payment. Clients paying OTC
  (over the counter) do not have to pay the
  transaction fee.
• Fraud/Credit Card Misuse
• In the case fraud is discovered, we notify their
  Probation Officer of the situation.
  

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• To view this presentation online, please go to
  our website located at
  
• http//www.dallascounty.org/html/citizen-serv/dist
  rict-clerk/guidelines.html