The State of Nebraska and, in particular, the Nebraska Child Support Payment Center (NCSPC), has recently made a ludicrous decision that will affect the timeliness of the receipt of monthly child support checks to my two former spouses.
The NCSPC is now penalizing those of us who use our bank debit card or credit card by assessing a $15.00 convenience fee each time this funding method is chosen. The NCSPC claims on their website that this policy was implemented to save money for the taxpayers of Nebraska.
Currently, I fund payments to the NCSPC through my bank debit card when my employer deposits my salary. This allowed me to get the money to them within seconds and normally, the check to my former spouses would be processed the very same day. This new convenience fee will now likely delay the receipt of their monthly payment by an estimated 3-5 days depending on what day of the week I send the NCSPC a personal check.
The NCSPC is charging this convenience fee to all of us paying child support through a debit or credit card. Regardless if the monthly payment is $200.00 or $2,000.00, an additional $15.00 will be slapped in the face of those of us who make payments via this method.in a phone call to the NCSPC on 8/20/04, I was told the convenience fee was being charged because they are assessed a fee by the credit card companies for processing plastic transactions.
This is true. What the NCSPC fails to do is tell the complete story with accuracy. The fee assessed to them is normally only 2.15 to 2.45% per transaction. A blanket $15.00 convenience fee basically boils down to robbery and fraud on the part of the NCSPC.
In addition, the NCSPC is targeting those of us who routinely fulfill our obligations to our children, former spouses, and the court system of Nebraska.instead of targeting those who fail to complete their monthly commitment (which in turn impacts the taxpayers of Nebraska more severely by forcing many of the intended recipients onto Welfare or other state subsidized assistance), the NCSPC turns their attention to those of us with a conscience and morals.
A convenience fee? For who? It's for the state of Nebraska and the Nebraska Child Support Payment Center. The NCSPC should have the guts to call it exactly what it isan INCONVENIENCE fee. I am disgusted with this decision and the obvious lack of foresight to even think of better terminology or verbiage to place on their website. They have awakened the wrong tiger with this asinine decision.
I will be filing a complaint with the Nebraska Better Business Bureau, the state Attorney's General, the Federal and Regional offices of the Administration for Children and Families, the Child Support Enforcement arm of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, along with posting these exact words on the website usacomplaints.com. I encourage you to view this website as soon as practical so you will know that others can now voice their opinions.
I have contacted my former spouses by formal letter to inform them that I will continue to fulfill my obligation to them but they will likely receive their checks several days later than normal due to this horrid decision by the NCSPC. I refuse to pay the state of Nebraska $15.00 for a feature they offered and are now trying to rescind by forcing this fee on those who pay child support.
Yet another sharp stick in the eye to honorable former spouses statewide.
0 comments