City of Chandler now accepting cryptocurrency to pay utility bills

CHANDLER (3TV/CBS 5) – It’s one of the latest high-tech moves for one Valley community. Chandler is now allowing residents to pay their utility bills with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Litecoin.

You’ve heard of cryptocurrency or coins and now there are several thousand on the market. They’re all digital, encrypted assets you can buy and invest in. And as the financial industry gets shaken up, more legacy businesses and cities are working to keep up with the latest way to pay.

“We’re planting seeds for trees that are going to be grown 10, 20 years from now. I can guarantee you we pay over a million dollars in credit card fees annually. That’s a park for one of our neighborhoods. There’s a lot that can be done if we save that money,” said Mark Stewart, a Chandler city councilmember. “We won’t be assuming any risks for any volatility for any cryptocurrency evaluation.”

By choosing PayPal, the crypto option will automatically display as a payment method in PayPal Checkout if there’s enough to cover the payment. Customers can check out their account payment options here. The option started to be offered in March after the City worked with Invoice Cloud to make the payment option available. Dawn Lang, the City’s Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer said in a news release, “They handle the conversion of the cryptocurrency payment, and send the City the value of the payment in dollars, thereby eliminating any market volatility risk for Chandler.”

“If they choose cryptocurrency, it will convert those into dollars based on the market value at that point. It’s a very small fee compared to the credit card fee. And the city has absorbed that through our utility services area,” said Lang.

Chandler may one of the first in the Valley to offer the option. Stewart said in a news release, “It’s about customer service for our residents. Digital currency and blockchain is advancing quickly, and as the Community of Innovation, we feel it is important to be on the forefront of this technology and offer it to our residents as a payment method for utility payments and other fees.”