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United States Bankruptcy Court
Central District of California
ON-LINE CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS
Attorney Guide
Overview
The CM/ECF On-Line Credit Card module is designed to provide all CM/ECF Users with the ability to pay filing fees through a secure environment over the Internet via Pay.gov. The module offers advantages that include the ability to:
• Pay the filing fee through a secure environment on the Internet with a credit card at any time
• Review the history of credit card transaction payments • Review outstanding payments due to the court
• Request on-line payment of any unpaid balance
After submission of the credit card information, the filing fee is paid directly to the U.S. Treasury, a transaction receipt is displayed and is docketed to the case immediately.
IMPORTANT NOTE: 28 U.S.C. Section 1930 requires that fees be paid at the time of filing. If you choose to accumulate filing fees throughout the day, all fees must be paid by the end of the day in which the filings occurred. A registered ECF User will be locked out of the CM/ECF system and prevented from filing additional documents if the filing fees are not paid by the end of the day. The registered ECF User will receive a daily email reminder until all outstanding filing fees are paid in full. Once locked out of the CM/ECF system, there will be limited access to run the Payment History and Internet Payments Due reports in order to make payments. The registered ECF User must log into PACER to run standard reports and queries. Full access rights will be restored in the CM/ECF system after all outstanding fees have been paid in full. For assistance with unlocking your account and to pay outstanding fees contact the ECF Help Desk at (213) 894-2365.
Payment Methods
VISA, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover credit cards may be used, including debit cards with the VISA and Mastercard logo.
Help Desk
Filing Fee Payment Process
Upon successful submission of a document requiring a filing fee, the Payment Summary screen will display with the options to Pay Now or Continue Filing. If you are having difficulties in processing your payment, please contact the ECF Help Desk at (213) 894-2365.
Making a payment:
Important: At no time during the payment process should you use the browser’s
back button; doing so may cause a 2nd charge on your credit card for the same
transaction.
1. Click Pay Now. (See Figure 1)
Figure 1
2. The Make a Payment Selection screen displays. Select the fees you are paying at this time. (See Figure 2)
Figure 2
3. The Enter Payment Information screen displays. All required fields are marked with an *. Enter the credit card information, including the cardholder’s name, address, Zip Code. Select the card type (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express) from the drop-down menu. Enter the credit card’s security code and expiration date by selecting the month and year as displayed on the credit card. Note: the payment amount will default to the amount of fees selected for payment. Click the Continue
with Plastic Card Payment button. (See Figure 3)
4. The Authorize Payment screen is displayed, which allows you to verify the information entered. Provide an email address if you wish to receive email
confirmation of the payment made. Check the authorization box and click on Submit
Payment to complete the transaction. (See Figure 4)
Important: Do NOT double-click the Submit Payment button. Double-clicking may result in duplicate charges to your credit card.
Figure 4
5. Once the credit card payment has been authorized, a receipt screen will display. Click on the Close window button to close the screen and continue filing or on any
hyperlink on the ECF blue menu. (See Figure 5)
6. The receipt listing the document filed, the applicable filing fee and receipt number is automatically entered on the docket immediately after the payment is completed. (See Figure 6)
Figure 6
Security Requirements
You must use Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher as your browser for all Pay.gov transactions in CM/ECF. In addition, your browser must support 128-bit Encryption. This is a requirement of the U.S. Treasury.
Microsoft Internet Explorer (4.x, 5.x, 6.x) ¾ Open Internet Explorer
¾ Click on the “Help” Menu item at the top of the screen ¾ Select “About Internet Explorer”
¾ A small popup window will appear on your screen indicating the version of Internet Explorer installed on your computer, as well as the encryption or cipher strength of the browser. If the screen shows anything less than 128-bit encryption, please upgrade your browser. Additionally, if the screen does not display the encryption level, this also indicates a need to upgrade your browser to a version with 128-bit encryption.
Reports
The following reports are useful in balancing your credit card statement. You may access these reports by selecting “Utilities” from the CM/ECF main menu.
Internet Payments Due
The Internet Payments Due report located under the Utilities menu allows an attorney to pay outstanding credit card charges. When Internet Payments Due is selected, the Payment Summary screen is displayed. To make a payment:
¾ Click Utilities
¾ Select Items to be paid from the Payment Selection screen ¾ Proceed with payment as described above
Internet Payment History
The Internet Payment History Report allows an attorney to review his/her completed credit card payments over any specific time period. Follow the steps outlined below to use this option:
¾ Click Utilities
¾ Click Internet Payment History ¾ Enter date range
¾ Click Run Report ¾ The report will display
Important Notes:
If you enter an invalid credit card number, the following message is displayed:
“The credit card you have entered is invalid. Please check the card type and the number and try again.”
The credit card number should be entered without any spaces or other characters. If you make three consecutive errors in entering the credit card information, a screen with the following message will be displayed:
“We are unable to complete your transaction. Please contact your credit card company for assistance” or
“We are unable to complete your transaction. Please contact your local court for assistance.”
If you use bankruptcy petition software that permits you to file using a one touch or one button filing feature, you should obtain the latest version of this software.
If you file between 9:00 p.m. and midnight (Pacific Time), your credit card transaction may be dated as of the following day on your credit card statement.
