You’ve got questions. SouthsideCentral has the answers. That’s the simple basis behind a new feature category here on SouthsideCentral.<\/p>\n
“Ask SouthsideCentral” is where we’ll find out the answers to questions that our readers have. In our first edition, we’ll find out why the city of Danville has never accepted Visa or Mastercard for payments.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
And away we go…<\/p>\n
QUESTION:<\/strong> “The city of Danville accepts Discover for payments, but why won’t they take Mastercard or Visa?”<\/p>\n I’m glad you asked that question!<\/p>\n We went to the man in Danville city government who knows about the money… Michael Adkins, the Finance Director.<\/p>\n Here’s his answer to that question.<\/p>\n Visa & MasterCard (who set the standards for most other credit cards) do not allow convenience fees to be charged to customers for utility payments, unless the customer is paying in a manner that is deemed as a “convenience” – i.e. at home online or at a kiosk in a lobby, etc. The City has never been in a position to absorb the transaction fees associated with credit card processing. Discover would allow us to charge the convenience fee with a face-to-face transaction and they provided us with two machines (one at the drive through window and one in the lobby). Over time, the Discover card machines broke and Discover refused to replace them because the transaction volume was so low. I suppose it was costing them more than it was worth. So, customers choosing to use a credit card can only do so online.<\/p>\n We are working to provide customers a seamless online experience where they will be able to pull up their utility account online, examine their bill, and pay by credit card instead of having to leave the utility account site. It is expected that the convenience fee will be absorbed by Utilities. Because the General Fund cannot currently absorb credit card processing fees, those payments will still incur a convenience fee for credit card payments.<\/p>\n I hope once the absorbed fee for utilities is in place, along with the seamless online site, we will be able to provide a kiosk in the lobby at Central Collections, enabling customers to walk up and use their credit card.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n So there you go. The city would still accept Discover if they had working machines, but Discover wouldn’t replace those machines. Thanks to Michael Adkins for the detailed answer!<\/p>\n If you have questions for SouthsideCentral, send them in! There’s an email link on the Contact Us! page<\/a>. You can also “Like” and message us on our SouthsideCentral Facebook page<\/a>. You can also follow me or send me a friend request on my personal Facebook page<\/a>. We’re also on Twitter<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>. Or just ask me directly!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You’ve got questions. SouthsideCentral has the answers. That’s the simple basis behind a new feature category here on SouthsideCentral.<\/p>\n “Ask SouthsideCentral” is where we’ll find out the answers to questions that our readers have. In our first edition, we’ll find out why the city of Danville has never accepted Visa or Mastercard for payments.<\/p>\n […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[127],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ask-southsidecentral","odd"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pwqFk-4v5","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":29305,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2016\/06\/01\/ask-southsidecentral-the-return-of-kw-cafeteria\/","url_meta":{"origin":17303,"position":0},"title":"Ask SouthsideCentral! – The Return of K&W Cafeteria?","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"June 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I've had three people ask about the possible return of K&W Cafeteria to Danville Mall. That's a perfect topic for \"Ask SouthsideCentral!\" so let's put this one to rest. This question came to me in person and at our SouthsideCentral Facebook page... There's some construction or something happening in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ask SouthsideCentral!"","block_context":{"text":"Ask SouthsideCentral!","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/featurescentral\/ask-southsidecentral\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/zPb6P02.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":32129,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2016\/06\/29\/ask-southsidecentral-drug-gang-free-zone-signs\/","url_meta":{"origin":17303,"position":1},"title":"Ask SouthsideCentral! – Drug & Gang Free Zone Signs?","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"June 29, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Some people have noticed a new set of street signs going up around Danville that say \"Drug & Gang Free School Zone\". No, the thought process behind the signs isn't \"Gee, now criminals won't do illegal things because of the signs being posted.\" Let's Ask SouthsideCentral and find out the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ask SouthsideCentral!"","block_context":{"text":"Ask SouthsideCentral!","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/featurescentral\/ask-southsidecentral\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/AXUvgng.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/AXUvgng.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/AXUvgng.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14908,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2016\/01\/14\/breakdown-danville-idas-rental-income\/","url_meta":{"origin":17303,"position":2},"title":"BreakDown: Danville IDA’s Rental Income","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"January 14, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Let's take a look at some of the December financial statements from Danville's Industrial Development Authority. In this NumbersCentral article, we'll look at their main checking account and talk about what got paid in rental income during the month of December 2015. I could call this a NumbersCentral article, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "BreakDown"","block_context":{"text":"BreakDown","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/featurescentral\/breakdown\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/kB20GfL.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5455,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2009\/10\/03\/downtown-danville-cruise-in-tonight-103\/","url_meta":{"origin":17303,"position":3},"title":"Downtown Danville Cruise-In – Tonight! (10\/3)","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"October 3, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"It's time for the last Downtown Danville Cruise-In of the year. We'll be there LIVE! Make your way to Downtown Danville for the final Cruise-In of the year. The fun starts at 6PM and goes to 9PM. There's plenty of parking in the downtown parking lots and on the side\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Danville"","block_context":{"text":"Danville","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/locations\/danville\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8549,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2014\/04\/28\/whats-the-going-rate-for-an-economic-development-consultant\/","url_meta":{"origin":17303,"position":4},"title":"What’s the going rate for an “Economic Development Consultant”?","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"April 28, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"People love to know the salaries of City of Danville employees, so I decided to find out how much Economic Development Consultant Linwood Wright was being paid... Ex-mayor Linwood Wright is well known in the Danville Economic Development Office, but he's not an employee there. He works on a consultant\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "BusinessCentral"","block_context":{"text":"BusinessCentral","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/businesscentral\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27574,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2016\/05\/20\/ask-southsidecentral-the-marines-red-truck\/","url_meta":{"origin":17303,"position":5},"title":"Ask SouthsideCentral! – The “Marines” Red Truck","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"May 20, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"If you want to know the answer to a question about the Southside region, all you have to is Ask SouthsideCentral! Today, we have a question about a big red truck and trailer with \"Marines\" print on it. 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