UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA CREDIT CARD COLLECTION NETWORK PROCEDURES 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 and MasterCard) for the collection of receipts due the government. Effective August 30, 1999, Discover and American Express in addition to Visa and MasterCard credit cards are accepted for financial transactions by the Office of the Clerk of Court. 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 Visa and MasterCard 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: E E E E E E E E E filing fees copywork (including docket sheets, documents, judicial opinions) copies of ESR-taped proceedings fines and restitution bail attorney admission fees searches and certifications retrieval fees for records maintained at FRC, and CVB payments Next, we selected 25 law firms and 10 sole practitioners in the Philadelphia and surrounding areas to participate in a pilot program, prior to announcing this service to the general bar and public. We conducted a one-day seminar for members of those law firms and outlined the program to them with a series of presentations from members of the Clerk's Office staff and bank representatives. 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. American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkFlow.com 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 law firms which are concerned with the safekeeping of the actual credit card, the Clerk’s Office will maintain the firm’s credit card number, expiration date, and the signature of one of the firm’s partners after completion of an authorization form (Attachment 1). The courier will reference the authorization form and the transaction will be processed. On the bank charge slip, “AUTHORIZATION ON FILE” would appear in the signature block. Attachment 2 is a list of the law firms that originally participating in our program 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 works "TELEPHONE REQUEST" inserted in the signature block. American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkFlow.com ATTACHMENT 1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA CREDIT CARD COLLECTION NETWORK AUTHORIZATION FORM (Name of Company/Firm) hereby authorizes the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to charge the following bank credit card number for payment of filing fees and other court-related expenses. PLEASE PRINT: Visa No. Exp. Date Security Code MasterCard No. Exp. Date Security Code Discover Exp. Date Security Code American Express Exp. Date Security Code Name: Address: City: Phone No. State: Zip Code Fax No. This form, which will be kept on file in the Clerk's Office, shall remain in effect until specifically revoked in writing. It is the responsibility of the firm/company named herein to notify the Clerk's Office of the new expiration date when a credit card has been renewed, or if a credit card has been canceled or revoked. Signature: Date: American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkFlow.com ATTACHMENT 2 CREDIT CARD PROGRAM LAW FIRM ORIGINAL PARTICIPANTS Blank, Rome, Comisky & McCauley Drinker, Biddle & Reath Duane, Morris & Heckscher Freedman & Lorry, P.C. Hoyle, Morris & Kerr Kittredge, Kaufman & Donley Kohn, Savett, Klein & Graf Krusen, Evans & Byrne Pepper, Hamilton & Scheetz MacElree, Harvey, Gallagher, O'Donnell & Featherman Mesirov, Gelman, Jaffee, Cramer & Jamieson Rawle & Henderson Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis Stradley, Ronon, Stevens & Young White & Williams Wolfe, Block, Schorr & Solis-Cohen American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkFlow.com