St. Helens, OR— October 20, 2008 — Columbia County has announced that residents can now make tax payments online or over the phone, in addition to at the county offices. For added convenience, taxpayers may use an American Express®, Discover®, MasterCard® or VISA® credit card or debit card to make a payment. The County has contracted with Point & Pay, a third party vendor, to operate as an extension of their customer support and payment processing services.
“We are excited to be able to provide 24/7 payment convenience to our taxpayers,” says MaryAnn Guess, Columbia County Deputy. “By paying online or over the phone, residents can save time and gas.”
The new service gives residents a flexible, secure method of making payments conveniently and on time. Depending upon individual card benefits, cardholders can earn rewards such as airline miles or other bonuses when paying their taxes or other miscellaneous government fees with a credit card.
Residents can make an online payment through the internet by going to the County website at http://www.co.columbia.or.us, first clicking on the Departments link, then the Finance/Tax Department tab, and finding the Point & Pay link located in the middle of the page. Once you select this link that states “click here to make a payment” you will advance to pages that seek specific payment information. For iPhone owners the same payment pages can be used to make payments on the go.
Information requested will include your Columbia County Tax Account Number, checking account or credit/debit card details, and the amount that is to be paid. A nominal fee is calculated and charged for this convenient service.
Since 1999, Point & Pay has offered taxpayers the ease of fulfilling payment obligations in real-time, conveniently and securely, at anytime, from anywhere.
“Credit card, Debit card and E-check payments continue to rise in popularity, reflecting the trend of using electronic payment methods instead of traditional, paper-based options,” said Joshua Rush, Director of Marketing for Point & Pay. “We are excited to bring this convenient, new payment option to the residents of Columbia County.”
Point & Pay enables government agencies and utilities to accept electronic payments from consumers and businesses for taxes, registrations, licenses, utility bills, and other services and fees using credit and debit cards or electronic checks — anytime, anywhere. Point & Pay is a subsidiary of Vesta Corporation, an innovator and worldwide leader in electronic commerce. With operations in the US, Europe and China, Vesta provides new and innovative solutions for electronic payments for leading international companies, including AT&T, Boost Mobile, China Mobile, China Unicom, Ericsson, Meteor Mobile Communications, O2, Payzone, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon.
Mary Ann Guess
MaryAnn.Guess@co.columbia.or.us
(503) 397-0060
Scott Boucher
Manager, Corporate Communications
info@trustvesta.com
(503) 790-2500