Chicago to triple its network of contactless payment kiosks throughout the city

The City of Chicago has announced it will triple its network of secure, contactless payment kiosks. Through its continued partnership with CityBase, this brings the total number of kiosks to 74 at 70 locations throughout the city, including several with 24/7 access.

Chicago and CityBase first introduced payment kiosks in 2017, providing residents a method to pay utility bills, parking tickets, business taxes, citations and more, using cash, check, credit, debit and prepaid cards. This year, 52 new payment kiosks were introduced, most recently with a 30-kiosk rollout this summer.

“Now more than ever, it’s important that everyone has easy-to-use, self-service payment options in their own neighborhoods,” City of Chicago Comptroller Reshma Soni said in a statement. “Customers who want or need to pay in person can do so in locations near their homes. This ensures that all residents have equal access to stay current on their important bills. The CityBase kiosks provide our customers with real-time information about their balance, helping them to avoid fees and penalties. The payment technology makes it easy for people to pay multiple City bills on a single kiosk machine, with automated reconciliation to the right department, which helps our staff.”

Kiosk locations include City Hall and City Clerks’ offices, libraries, police stations, family services and community centers, and other payment centers. The CityBase kiosk technology is integrated in real-time to underlying City department databases, promoting efficiencies for the City by reducing time-consuming manual payment processing and reconciliation. Customers can make a full or partial payment and the transaction immediately posts against their balance, helping them avoid late fees or other penalties.

“The City of Chicago and CityBase have long shared the priority of improving access to public services for every single resident, no matter where they live in the City,” said Mike Duffy, CEO and founder of CityBase. “By dramatically increasing self-service options for people who pay in person, the City is making it more convenient for people to pay for obligations like monthly water bills in their own neighborhoods, during a time that works for them.”