Annual credit card fees rejected by state

Thursday, May 11, 2000 | 10:31 a.m.

The state Board of Examiners said Diners Club can forget about charging a fee on each card given to a state employee if it wants the state's $6 million yearly travel business.

The board told state Purchasing Division employees to go to Diners Club and come back next month with a better deal. No Diners Club representatives were present during the meeting Wednesday.

Guinn said it was Diners Club's own fault that 44 state employees ran up $71,000 in combined debts on their state travel cards.

"They want a riskless deal here," added Secretary of State Dean Heller, who also serves on the board. "It doesn't work in this industry."

Diners Club demanded the $10 fees because of the debts of the state employees, including more than $16,000 in unpaid charges by a former Rehabilitation Division worker.

Because about 2,900 state workers are issued the cards, the fees would cost the state government $29,000 a year.

The attorney general's office in a Monday opinion refused to release the names of the delinquent workers.

But Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa, also on the Board of Examiners, said Wednesday the identities of delinquent card holders would be released in the future if the state pays a $10 annual fee for the travel cards.

"It would no longer be a personal card if the state has to pay a $10 fee," she said. "Their travel accounts would be open public records."