DTE adding card processing fee beginning in March
DETROIT (FOX 2) - Paying your DTE Energy bill will soon cost you if you use a card to make that payment.
The utility company announced that beginning March 2, residential customers will be charged $2.99 if they pay their bill with a card, while commercial customers will be charged a $9.99 fee. The fee is per payment, meaning that if a customer makes multiple payments with a credit or debit card a month, they will be charged the fee each time.
This fee is to cover charges from payment processors.
How to pay DTE bill without fee
Customers have several options for avoiding this new fee.
If you have an online DTE account, you can pay through your bank account. Bank payments can also be made on the DTE app or by calling 800-477-4747. When paying online via their account, customers have the option to set up auto-pay through their bank accounts.
Those who use guest pay cannot pay through their bank accounts, and will be charged the fee.
Payments made in person at payment kiosks, and mailed in checks and money orders also avoid the fee. Kiosks will only accept cash and checks beginning Jan. 26.
How to change your payment method
To see DTE bill payment options and change how you pay, click here.
It is important to check if you are currently enrolled in auto-pay using a credit or debit card because these methods will be automatically unenrolled from auto-pay on Feb. 27. After this happens, customers will have the option to re-enroll with a bank account or a card, with card payments being charged the fee.
Between Feb. 27 and March 1, payments cannot be made.
What else is changing
In addition to the card fee, DTE has also set maximum payments that can be made with a card.
For residential customers, this is $2,000. The max for commercial customers is $5,000.
The Source: This information is from DTE.