CityPay frequently asked questions

CityPay Website

Why is there an extra charge for paying with a credit or debit card?

As a convenience to you, the City of New York accepts credit or debit card, PayPal, and Venmo payments. If you choose to pay with a credit or debit card, or with PayPal or Venmo, you will be charged a nonrefundable fee of 2% of the payment amount. You will see this amount before you check out. The fee will be shown as a separate charge on your credit or debit card statement, and the New York City Department of Finance will be the merchant. If you pay by eCheck, you will not be charged a fee.

I'm having trouble using this website. What should I do?

Please make sure you are using the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, or Google Chrome to make a payment on this site. If you are having trouble using the Contact Us link, make sure that any pop-up blockers are turned off.

Are all major credit cards accepted on this site?

The City of New York is committed to providing multiple convenient payment methods to its customers. You can pay with Mastercard, Visa, Discover, or American Express credit cards. You can also pay with debit cards that have a Visa, Mastercard logo, or Discover logo, as well as American Express gift cards.

When I typed in my e-mail address, I received an error message saying "please enter a properly formatted email address", but my e-mail address is correct. What should I do?

If you see this error message, you may have typed your email address in all capital letters. You should re-type your email address using lowercase letters.

I tried to make a payment, but the following error messages appeared on the screen. What should I do?

CID (CVV) Failed Second Occurrence – You have entered an invalid billing address twice. Please check the address or contact your credit card company.
AVS Failure – The ZIP code that you entered for your billing information did not match the ZIP code on file with your credit card company. Please double-check that the code is correct and try your transaction again. If you continue to have problems, please contact your credit card company.
Expired Card – Contact your credit card company.
Invalid Card Number – Check the card number and try again. If you are still unable to make a payment, call your credit card company.
Transaction Declined – There are a number of reasons your transaction might be declined. One common reason is that you may be using a debit card that isn’t accepted by the site. Please check for a Mastercard, Visa, or Discover logo on your debit card. If none of these logos appear, your transaction will be declined.

If you see an error message other than the ones listed above, use the Contact Us link at the bottom of page to notify the agency that issues your bill. When reporting a problem, please be sure to include the error message.

How can I ask for a refund?

If you need to ask for a refund, you must contact the agency responsible for issuing your bill. Agencies may have different refund policies. You can find the contact information for the agency that issued your bill by clicking the Contact Us link at the bottom of the website. We recommend that you have the reference number that is on your receipt when you contact the agency.

Please note that only the base payment amount will be returned to you if you paid with a debit or credit card. The convenience fee is nonrefundable.

I paid my bill. Why is the website is still showing that I owe money?

It may take two or more business days for your payment to be reflected on this website. Once the website has been updated, you will not be able to search for the bill that you paid. To check whether your payment has been received, you can contact the agency that issued your bill by clicking on the Contact Us link on the bottom of this page. Please have the reference number that is on your receipt when you contact the agency.

My receipt says that I received "provisional credit" for making my payment until it is deemed settled by my financial institution. What does this mean?

Provisional credit means that we wait for your bank or credit card company to confirm that there are sufficient funds to make the payment before we give you final credit for making it. Your payment settles when your bank or credit card company confirms that the funds are available. Once your payment has settled, we will record the date that you clicked the Process Payment button as the date that you made your payment.

Why does my payment appear as multiple items on my credit card or bank statement?

For credit or debit card payments of over $100,000 and for eCheck payments of $1 million or more, your transaction will be split into smaller amounts before processing. Each of these split payments will appear separately on your card or bank statement.

Who should I contact if I have a problem with my payment or if I think my payment did not go through?

Please contact the agency responsible for issuing your bill by clicking on the Contact Us link on the bottom of this page. When you contact the agency, please have the date that you made your transaction and your reference number, if you have one. You may also be asked for the last four digits of your credit or debit card number.

I entered my account number to see my bill and got a message saying that no results were found. What should I do?

If you entered your account number correctly, it may be that there are no new charges on your account and there is no new bill for you to pay. If you have entered your account number correctly and know that you owe money on your account, please contact the agency responsible for issuing your bill. When you contact the agency, provide your account number and the date that you tried to find your bill.

I entered my account number and received a message that the site was unable to provide all search results. What does this mean?

If you have more than 150 charges associated with your account, you will not be able to pay on this site. You should contact the agency that issued your bill to ask how you should pay what you owe.

I am trying to pay or review my ECB judgments, and I received a message that the site was unable to provide all search results. What should I do?

If you have more than 150 eligible judgments, you can make separate payments on the judgments at CityPay or pay all of the judgments at one time at www.nyc.gov/eservices.