City officials are looking at options to add the convenience of paying tax bills, parking tickets and business licenses with debit or credit cards in the near future.

City treasurer Debbie Bailey said Tuesday there would be no cost to the city if it accepted the proposal from Official Payments. There would be transaction fees of 1 percent for debit card purchases or 2.6 percent for credit cards with a minimum fee of $3.65 collected by the company, she said.

“It’s a convenience fee,” she said.

Another proposal from Infinitech has a scale of fees based on the amount of the transaction with a minimum of $2.95. Infinitech, though, charges the city a $599 set-up fee as well as $99 a month and $399 for each terminal.

Official Payments has no monthly fees to the city, she said.

Presently, all fees must be paid by cash or check.

The city could also add an online payment component, she said.

City Manager Matt Belcher said the move would bring the city “into modern times.”

Commissioner Shannon Cox voiced the most concern about potential security breaches from hackers, following personal experience. Cox wanted a clause added to the contract that the company would be responsible for all costs of security issues, not the city or customers.

City attorney Bill Dykeman said he would review the proposal and contract in further detail and report back to the commission.

No action was taken by the commissioners Tuesday evening during their meeting.

Contact Fred Petke at fred.petke@winchestersun.com.