Credit Card Collection Network

Any law firm, legal agency, or company can arrange to use a Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express card when making payment to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Office of the Clerk of Court for filing fees and other district-court-related expenses. Credit card payment provides for an alternative to cash/checks that easily accommodates any internal accounting procedure. The network supports in-person, telephone, and mail requests. In September of 1987, the Department of Treasury through its Financial Management Service (FMS), established a government credit card collection network to enable federal agencies to accept credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express) for the collection of receipts due the government. As a follow-up to the request of the Clerk of Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in August of 1986, the Administrative Office of the United States Courts approved it as the pilot district for implementation of the credit card network within the Judiciary. Subsequently, the Administrative Office on behalf of the United States Courts, entered into a contract with a bank which provides clerks' offices with processing services for credit card transactions. To implement the program in the Clerk's Office, we first identified potential transactions which we felt were conducive to the use of credit cards, as follows: filing fees made in the Clerk's Office or by U.S. Mail (Electronic filings are excluded at this time.) copywork (including docket sheets, documents, judicial opinions) copies of ESR-taped proceedings fines and restitution bail repayment of travel and salary advances attorney admission fees searches and certifications retrieval fees for records maintained at FRC CVB payments We believe the use of credit cards by members of the bar and the public facilitates the processing of financial transactions at the district court. From the government's perspective, the user of credit cards provides next-day availability of funds, reduces the amount of cash handled each day by cashiers, thereby minimizing the possibility of error, and facilitates the bookkeeping process for both the Clerk's Office and participating customers. Conservative estimates place the volume of charges of government transactions at $3 to $10 billion annually. By providing next-day availability of funds to the government, savings of at least $2 million a year will be realized. From the law firms' perspective, the benefits are even greater. Using a credit card for payment of transactions in the Clerk's Office means that legal couriers no longer are required to carry cash to pay filing or copy fees; blank checks are no longer drawn because amounts are unknown; and the billing procedures fit easily into any internal accounting method used. For those firms which are concerned with the safekeeping of the actual credit card, we issue numbered identification cards (Attachment 1) which bear the firm's credit card number, expiration date, and the signature of one of the firm's partners. The courier simply shows this card to the cashier and the transaction is processed. On the bank charge slip, "AUTHORIZATION ON FILE" would appear in the signature block. To obtain a card, a law firm has to complete an authorization application (Attachment 2). Credit card transactions are handled in the same manner as transactions paid for by check or cash. For counter transactions, the charge card is obtained from the customer for recording, validating, and imprinting onto a bank charge slip. The customer's card is then "swiped" through the terminal and the amount of sale is entered on the keyboard. The bank is contacted electronically through the terminal and an authorization number is obtained. Once authorization is received, the slip is given to the payor for signature. The amount of the charge is entered into the register and it records the sale and payment data on the receipt in the slip printer. The bank charge slip is then inserted into the register printer and this action records the transaction code, date, time, charge, and amount onto the bank charge slip and matches the data recorded on the cash register receipt. The original cash register receipt and bank charge slip are given to the customer and the copies are kept on file in the Clerk's Office. For those requests received via telephone, the customer simply gives the name, credit card number, and its expiration date to the deputy clerk. The requested work is returned to the customer with two receipts -- a cash register receipt and a bank charge slip, which has the words "TELEPHONE REQUEST" inserted in the signature block. To view a Notice concerning the Credit Card Collection Network, please click here.