State Payments - Government Solutions

Terms And Conditions Of Use
User Responsibilities Rights and Disclaimers of State Payments Customer Liability and Error Resolution	Consumer Protection Programs Additional Terms of Use for Accounts

User Agreement for State Payments™ Service
(a Service of Draco Digital, LLC)

This Agreement applies to your use of State Payments's™ payment service and any related products and services (collectively the "Service"). This Agreement affects your rights and you should read it carefully.

In this Agreement, "you" or "your" means any person or entity using the Service ("Users"). Unless otherwise stated, "State Payments" will refer collectively to State Payments, StatePayments.com and their respective parent (Draco Digital, LLC) or subsidiary companies, affiliates, officers, employees and agents. Furthermore, "senders" refers to any person who transacts a payment with or is the holder of the credit card in a transaction with the User on the System.

By checking the consent box on the account signup page, you represent that you understand and accept the terms and conditions of this Agreement. We may amend this Agreement at any time by posting the amended terms to our site, and your continued use of the Service will constitute acceptance of the amended terms. This Agreement was last modified on December 11, 2003.

I. User Responsibilities

Eligibility. In order to use the Service, you must be a legally bound Federal, State, County, City or Township agency or court system belonging to either the Federal, State, County, City or Township of the United States of America; and register for an account. All users for each entity must be a representative of the court or agency to use the account.
Duplicate and Multiple Accounts. State Payments allows multiple accounts provided the accounts are used towards processing individual or separate departments within a Users scope (i.e.: a county may register an account for judicial use, and register another account for tax usage). State Payments discourages usage of duplicate accounts for the same processing purpose. Duplicate accounts is defined as two identical registrations. State Payments reserves the right to terminate duplicate accounts. Should you register for more than one account with the same auspices, State Payments reserves the right to terminate all of your accounts and will restrict you from the System. Users may register and hold unlimited accounts, provided each processes for a different aspect of the entity.
Registration Information. You agree to provide true, accurate and complete registration information and to maintain and promptly update your information as applicable. You agree not to impersonate any person or use a name that you are not authorized to use. If any information you provide is untrue, inaccurate, not current, or incomplete, without limiting other remedies, State Payments has the right to terminate your use of the Service and State Payments, its agents, suppliers, and subcontractors have the right to recover from you any reasonable costs or losses incurred as a direct result of the inaccurate or incomplete information. You authorize State Payments and its agents, suppliers and subcontractors to make any inquiries they consider objectively necessary to validate your registration.
Parameter Use. To be eligible for an account, you must be a legally bound entity of the United States.
Receipt of Payments; Risk of Reversal of Transactions; Collection of Funds you owe State Payments. In the event that a transaction is reversed for any reason, you will owe State Payments for the amount of the reversed transaction plus any fees imposed on State Payments as a result of the reversal. Examples of such a reversal include, but are not limited to, a credit card charge-back by the sender of the payment, and a reversal of the transaction because the sender of the payment was using a stolen credit card or credit card account. State Payments will seek to recover the funds from you by debiting your State Payments balance and, if there are not sufficient funds in your State Payments balance, State Payments reserves the right to collect your debt to State Payments by any other legal means.
Confirmation of Credit and Debit Cards. State Payments requires all credit card transactions to be preapproved before proceeding through a transaction, and mutual notification. Therefore, all credit card transactions which have been completed, are considered by State Payments as secured funds.

State Payments will never make electronic transfers from your checking account without your prior knowledge and consent, except for internal transfers to State Payments to recover funds owned by you for reversals of transactions, as set forth in Section Five (above), which shall require notice but not consent of the User. Furthermore, State Payments provides you protection against unauthorized withdrawals from your checking account or credit card account under the terms of Article III below.
No Cash Advances. You agree not to engage in behavior that could reasonably be construed as providing a cash advance from any credit card, and agree not to assist anyone who engages in behavior that could reasonably be construed as providing themselves a cash advance from their credit cards. Such behavior includes, but is not limited to, a cardholder paying a User by charging a credit card, then receiving the funds back from the User; and a User charging a credit card and receiving the funds from the User's monetary systems. State Payments reserves the right to reverse all such transactions and to terminate any accounts that are associated with such behavior.
Correct E-mail. You agree that you have access to the Internet and to a current e-mail address. You have sole responsibility for providing State Payments with a correct and operational e-mail address. State Payments will not be liable for any undelivered e-mail communications or any costs you incur for maintaining Internet access and an e-mail account. You must promptly notify State Payments of any change in your e-mail or postal mailing address.
Electronic Communications. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, this Agreement and any other agreements, notices or other communications regarding your account and/or your use of the Service ("Communications"), may be provided to you electronically and you agree to receive Communications in an electronic form. Electronic Communications may be posted on the pages within the State Payments website and/or delivered to your e-mail address. You will print a copy of any Communications and retain it for your records. All Communications in either electronic or paper format will be considered to be in "writing," and to have been received no later than five (5) business days after posting or dissemination, whether or not you have received or retrieved the Communication. State Payments reserves the right but assumes no obligation to provide Communications in paper format. Your consent to receive Communications electronically is valid until you revoke your consent by notifying State Payments of your decision to do so, by sending an email message to info@State Payments.com or by telephoning customer service. If you revoke your consent to receive Communications electronically, State Payments may terminate your right to use the Service.
Privacy. View our Privacy Policy. You agree that you have had an opportunity to review, download or print our Privacy Policy. You consent to have your name, email address and date of sign-up made available as identification to anyone who is attempting to pay you through the State Payments service.
Service Interruption. In the event of the loss or malfunction of your connection, payments made since your last connection to the State Payments server may be lost, and State Payments disclaims all liability for such loss.
Not a Bank. You acknowledge that (i) the Service is not a banking service (ii) Service accounts are not insured by any government agency of any nation, (iii) the Service is not subject to banking regulations and (iv) State Payments will invest in liquid assets and that interest earned on those assets will be the property of State Payments.
Passwords. You may not divulge your account password(s) to anyone else, nor may you use anyone else's password. State Payments is not responsible for problems incurred by Users as the result of their misuse of passwords.
Hacking. If you use, or attempt to use the Service for other purposes including but not limited to tampering, hacking, modifying or otherwise corrupting the security or functionality of Service, your account will be terminated and you will be subject to damages and other penalties, including criminal prosecution where available.
Assignability. You may not transfer any rights or obligations you may have under this Agreement without the prior written consent of State Payments. State Payments reserves the right to transfer any right or obligation under this Agreement without your consent.
Indemnification. You agree to indemnify and hold State Payments, its affiliates, officers, directors and employees harmless from any claim, action, demand, loss, or damages (including attorneys' fees) made or incurred by any third party arising out of or relating to your use of the Service. Similarly, State Payments agrees to indemnify and hold User, its officers, directors and employees harmless from any claim, action, demand, loss or damages (including attorneys' fees) made or incurred by any third party arising out of or relating to activities under the direct control of State Payments that do not result from direct actions initiated by the User.
Choice of Law. This Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Kansas, U.S.A as such laws are applied to agreements entered into and to be performed entirely within Kansas by Kansas residents.
Dispute Avoidance and Resolution. If any controversy or claim between the parties arises out of or relates to this Agreement or the provision of Services, State Payments and you commit to resolve such controversy or claim in an amicable, professional and expeditious manner so as to avoid unnecessary losses, delays and disruptions to Services. State Payments and you will first attempt to resolve any controversy or claim at the management level through discussions between duly authorized management representatives of both parties. If within a reasonable period of time following such discussions, the controversy or claim cannot be resolved on terms satisfactory to State Payments and you, the parties may, if mutually agreed upon, submit the controversy or claim to non-binding mediation, which shall be conducted by a mutually agreeable impartial mediator. The mediation will be governed by and conducted pursuant to a mediation agreement negotiated by the parties or, if the parties cannot so agree, by procedures established by the mediator.

II. Rights and Disclaimers of State Payments

Processing. State Payments shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that requests for electronic debits and credits involving credit or debit cards are processed in a timely manner. However, a number of factors, several of which are outside of our control, will contribute to when the funds are received. We make no representations or warranties regarding the amount of time needed to complete processing, such as delays in the banking system or the U.S. or international mail service, nor shall State Payments be liable for any actual or consequential damages arising from any claim of reasonable delay related thereto.
Miscellaneous Disclaimers.

(a) State Payments reserves the right to hold funds beyond the normal distribution periods for transactions it deems objectively suspicious to ensure integrity of the funds.

(b) State Payments shall not be responsible for payments made to unintended Recipients, or for payments made in incorrect amounts, due to the input of incorrect information by Users. State Payments shall not be responsible for the verification of the identity of Users.

(c) State Payments shall not be obligated to pay a User for any payments for which State Payments has not been fully paid by the Sender's credit card issuer.

(d) State Payments will not have any liability in connection with any unauthorized interception or use of data relating to you or the State Payments service; any inability to use or access the service or the State Payments website for any reason; any actions or transactions by an individual that uses your user name and password; or any cause over which StatePayments.com does not have direct control, including problems attributable to computer hardware or software (including computer viruses), telephone or other communications, or Internet service providers.

(e) In no event shall either party hereto be liable (A) for damages caused other than by intentional misconduct or gross negligence; or (B) for any indirect, special, incidental, consequential or punitive damages whatsoever (including, but not limited to, damages for lost profits, disclosure of confidential information, or loss of privacy), arising out of or in any way related to the use of or inability to use business service or the State Payments website or any of the associated services, even if StatePayments.com has been advised of the possibility of such damages. In no event shall StatePayments.com be liable for any act or omission of any independent third party (such as, for example, any provider of telecommunications services, internet access or computer equipment or software) or any other circumstances beyond our control (such as, for example, a fire, flood, or other natural disaster, war, riot, strike, act of civil or military authority, equipment failure, computer virus, or failure or interruption of electrical, telecommunications or other utility services).

(f) State Payments reserves the right to require users operating with high chargeback rates or otherwise presenting a relatively high risk of losses to choose between closure of their State Payments account or entering into an additional agreement addressing such risks, which may include higher fees.
Restrictions. State Payments, at its sole discretion, reserves the right to restrict an account for any one of the events listed below.
1. Reports of unauthorized or unusual credit card use associated with the account including, but not limited to, notice by the card issuing bank
2. Initiation of a chargeback process
3. Receipt of potentially fraudulent funds
4. Unconfirmed identity
5. Initiation of transactions considered to be cash advances or assisting in cash advances
6. Sending unsolicited, commercial email or posting referral links on websites where they are not permitted
7. Opening multiple accounts
8. The account has been used in or to facilitate fraudulent activity
9. Inability of United States Postal Service to deliver to the address associated with the account
10. Name on any account associated with the State Payments account does not match the name on the State Payments account
11. Use of an anonymizing proxy.
System Termination. State Payments, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to terminate this Agreement, access to its website, or access to the Service without notice for any reason and at any time.
User Termination. Users of the System, in their sole discretion, reserves the right to terminate this Agreement or use of the Service for any reason and at any time by providing a written and signed request by the person directly associated with the usage of the account.
Trademarks. State Payments.com, State Payments and all related logos, products and services described in this website are either trademarks or registered trademarks of StatePayments.com, or their licensors, and (aside from "Use of Logos" below) may not be copied, imitated or used, in whole or in part, without the prior written permission of State Payments. In addition, all page headers, custom graphics, button icons, and scripts are service marks, trademarks, and/or trade dress of State Payments and may not be copied, imitated, or used, in whole or in part, without the prior written permission of State Payments or Draco Digital, LLC.
Use of Logos. Notwithstanding the above, logos that can be provided by State Payments ("Logos"), may be used without prior written consent for the purpose of directing web traffic to the Service. These Logos may not be altered, modified, or changed in any way, or used in a manner that is disparaging to State Payments or the StatePayments.com service. Logos may not be displayed in any manner that implies sponsorship or endorsement by State Payments. State Payments is a payment service, and no agency, partnership, joint venture, employee-employer or franchiser-franchisee relationship is intended or created by this Agreement.

III. Customer Liability and Error Resolution

It is very important that you contact us at once if you believe your user ID or password has been compromised, or if someone has transferred or may transfer money from your account without your permission. Under applicable banking regulations, the extent of your liability for an unauthorized transaction is largely determined by your promptness in notifying us or your bank if someone has gained access to your password, or if a transfer or withdrawal in your monthly statement is incorrect or unauthorized. Notifying us quickly limits your liability:
We may periodically email you a notice to inspect your transaction history online. If your transaction history shows electronic funds transfers that you did not make or authorize, notify us at once. If you do not notify us within 60 days after receiving notice, you may not recover any money you lose after the 60 days if we can prove that we could have stopped someone from taking the money if you had notified us in time. If a good reason (such as a long trip or hospital stay) kept you from notifying us, we shall extend the time periods.
In case of unauthorized transactions, payment problems, errors or questions about a payment, you should notify State Payments through e-mail. You must: 1) Tell us your name and primary email address; 2) Describe the error or the transaction you are unsure about, and explain as clearly as you can why you believe it is an error or why you need more information; and, 3) Tell us the dollar amount of the suspected error. If you tell us by telephone, we may require that you send your complaint in writing within ten (10) business days. We will tell you the results of our investigation within ten (10) business days after we hear from you, and will correct any error promptly. If we need more time, however, then upon notice to User, we may take up to forty-five (45) calendar days to investigate the complaint or question. If we decide to do this, we will provisionally credit your transaction account within ten (10) business days for the amount you think is in error, so that you may have the use of the money during the time it takes us to complete our investigation. If we ask you to put your complaint or question in writing and we do not receive it within ten (10) business days, we may not provisionally credit your transaction account. If we determine there was no error, we will mail you a written explanation within three (3) business days after we finish the investigation. You may ask for copies of documents which we used in our investigation. We may revoke any provisional credit provided to you if we find that an error did not occur.

IV. Consumer Protection Programs

In general. State Payments's consumer protection programs are designed to help Service Users from misleading or fraudulent transactions, and to reduce the risk of chargebacks for Account holders who follow specified risk-reduction procedures.
Service Complaint Policy
(a) General. If a Service User and a Credit Card User has a dispute concerning the use of State Payments, the parties involved must try to resolve the dispute first. If a Credit Card User feels they have not been granted the promised representation, they will be instruced to first contact the Service User and attempt to resolve the dispute. If a Service User is unable to resolve the dispute in this manner, you should then contact State Payments as soon as possible.

(b) State Payments does not serve as a communication source between Service User and a Credit Card User.

(c) State Payments will investigate your claim, contact the other party and, if the informing party does not present appropriate proof of the complaint, a full refund or other evidence of a satisfactory resolution, State Payments will seek to correct the dispute between the parties. Recovery of any claim is not guaranteed.

(d) Complaints must be filed no later than 30 days from the date of dispute. State Payments will seek to resolve the complaint within 30 days from the date the complaint is filed, though such time frame may be extended, if appropriate, to accommodate the investigation.

When you receive funds through State Payments, if the sender's transaction is reversed for any reason and you do not qualify for that transaction, State Payments will not forward the amount of the reversed transaction. You agree to reimburse State Payments from either your State Payments account or by other means should a transaction which is reversed be sent to you. Although State Payments will vigorously pursue debt collection of any amounts owed to it, State Payments will never make electronic transfers from your checking account or credit card account without your knowledge.
Transactions: State Payments is the merchant of record with respect to all credit card transactions through the State Payments service to purchase services. As such, we afford customers the rights and privileges expected of a credit card transaction. You acknowledge that State Payments does not control the outcome of any chargeback decision initiated through a customer's credit card issuing bank.
State Payments encourages all disputes to be filed and resolved through the State Payments dispute resolution process, and reserves the right to terminate or restrict account privileges of users who file chargeback complaints without attempting to resolve the complaints through State Payments. If a chargeback claim is initiated, whether as a result of a dispute or for any other reason, the parties agree to provide to any requesting party on a timely basis any and all necessary documentation to resolve any chargeback or dispute. State Payments DOES NOT act as the agent of either party in any transaction or resulting dispute, though State Payments does control the outcome of disputes initiated through the Service's dispute resolution process.
If you receive funds through a State Payments transaction funded with the sender's credit card, in the event the credit card transaction is charged back and you do not qualify for the transaction, you agree to hold State Payments harmless for the chargeback amount and to reimburse State Payments from either your State Payments account or by other means.
Termination. Excessive disputes or chargebacks by you, multiple complaints or claims to State Payments by other Users against you, failure to respond to reasonable requests for information or other abuses of the Service are, without limitation, grounds for restricting your account and/or terminating your right to use the Service.

V. Additional Terms of Use for Accounts

Account Information. In addition to the terms listed above, you further agree that State Payments may access and disclose information about you or your use of the Service when State Payments deems it reasonably necessary or appropriate to comply with the law or legal process, to protect State Payments's systems and customers, or to ensure the integrity and operation of State Payments's business and systems. Unless otherwise prohibited by law, such disclosure may include, without limitation, user profile information (e.g., name, e-mail address, etc.), transaction information, IP address and traffic information, and usage history.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, such information shall not be distributed by State Payments for purposes of commercial, marketing or other purposes not expressly addressed herein, without your prior approval. Occasionally, we may use your agency as a reference for another agency interested in becoming a User on the System.
Contact and Refund Information. Each User of the Service will be required to input its customer service contact information into the Account application upon registration. You agree to clearly identify your customer service contact information, including but not limited to your business name, address, telephone number, fax number and e-mail address. You further agree to update such information to keep it true, accurate, current, and complete.
Taxes. Each user of the Service is required to provide its Tax Identification Number (TIN) or Tax Exemption Identification Number (TEIN) upon request. It is your responsibility to determine what, if any, taxes apply to the payments you make or receive and to collect, report and remit the correct tax to the appropriate tax authority. State Payments is not obligated to determine whether taxes apply, and is not responsible to collect, report, or remit any taxes arising from any transaction.
Security Features. State Payments strongly suggests that you use a web browser with 128-bit encryption. Regardless of whether you use a web browser with security features, State Payments is unable to ensure that data transmitted via the Service is secure and/or will not be intercepted by third parties.
Account Use. By accepting the terms as outlined in this Agreement and using your Account, you attest that you hold all the necessary licenses to engage in the services offered or use through your Account, and that you do not provide unlawful or illicit products or services. You will not use the Service, the website or any of the services offered therein for any unlawful, fraudulent or improper activity. If State Payments has reason to believe that you may be engaging in or have engaged in fraudulent, unlawful, or improper activity, including without limitation any violation of any terms and conditions relating to the Service, the website or any related services, your access to the website and any services contained therein may be suspended or terminated. You will cooperate fully with State Payments to investigate any suspected unlawful, fraudulent or improper activity.
Fees. State Payments's operates for Service Users "free of charge". Any and all convenience fees associated with transactions is the exclusive property of State Payments and Draco Digital, LLC.

This Agreement is subject to change at any time without prior notice, by posting of the revised agreement on the State Payments website and you may review the current terms of use prior to initiating a transaction at any time at our Terms and Conditions page.