Important Changes For Making Utility Payments – CUSTOMER ACTION REQUIRED!
Effective February 1, 2016, the City of Smithville will begin using an enhanced payment system which will allow residents to manage and pay their utility bills online from our website. The online system will allow customers to view their bills and usage history, make a one-time payment, or set up auto-draft payments via your bank account or a credit card. Residents will need to register to view their account online (see instructions below and on back page). This applies to all utility customers including those residential utility customers who have chosen to participate in the opt-out program that wish to pay online. NOTE: Online registration is not necessary if you chose to continue paying your utility bill using cash or check.
The City of Smithville has taken reasonable physical and technological measures to safeguard against unauthorized access to your account information. However, the enhanced payment system changes we are implementing require additional measures. For your protection, the City of Smithville will not maintain credit card information on our servers. Therefore, any previously stored credit card cardholder data used for auto-draft purposes will not be migrated to the new system and will be deleted as a security measure to further protect your personal information. This means you will be required to enter your credit card information should you wish to enroll in auto-draft. While we know this process is inconvenient, it is absolutely necessary for your protection.
Also effective February 1, 2016, credit card payments will no longer be taken over the phone. This is to ensure security compliance and compatibility with the new payment system. Our goal is to protect you from error, fraud, and potential identity theft. For utility payments due February 10, 2016, the City will automatically draft against credit cards currently on file. However, this will be the last time the City will provide this service. For all future online utility payments, you must register in the new system to continue paying by credit card. Please note that if you do not register online, you must make other arrangements to pay your utility bill.
HOW TO REGISTER OR ACCESS YOUR ACCOUNT INFORMATION
You may access and edit your account information by signing into the payment system on the city website. Utility customers that have not yet registered are encouraged to do so. The PIN # is located on the top right corner of your paper utility bill. This unique PIN # is necessary to set up access to your utility account and will be removed from your utility bill upon successful online registration. To register please visit our website at www.ci.smithville.tx.us and click on the “Pay Online” option on the top of the main page. Once you register you can simply login to the payment system with either your account number or email address and your password. You can request help at any time by clicking on the “How to” button for step-by-step instructions.
All account information input by you and transmitted when you make a payment or update account information is protected by encryption using Secure Socket Layer (“SSL”) technology. SSL technology encrypts your cardholder data to avoid decoding by anyone other than the payment server.
If you have any questions about this correspondence (or your account) please do not hesitate to contact the City of Smithville Utility Department at (512) 237-3282 ext. 2102 or 2103.
