When I was a child, and I got in trouble for doing something I shouldn’t have been doing, I would protest to my mother, “But so-and-so was doing it, too.” Her response often was, “If he jumped off a cliff, would you do it, too?” Of course, my answer was always, “No.”
I’m not generally a big fan of utilities copying what other utilities are doing, especially when it comes to determining your security deposit. However, there are some areas where doing what others do makes sense. Accepting credit cards is one.
I’ve begun analyzing the preliminary data from the 2026 Utility Staffing Survey, and the credit card results are encouraging.
But, before I get into the details, a quick ask from me to you…
Just as a reminder, the 2026 Utility Staffing Survey is ongoing, and I need your voice. Your input genuinely shapes what I share with the industry, and participants like you are what make the results meaningful.
As a thank-you, I’ll be drawing two $50 Visa gift cards from all completed responses when the survey closes.
If you haven’t completed it yet, please take 3-4 minutes to do it now by clicking here. The survey wraps up on May 15, so you don’t have much time!
Thank you! I’ll publish the results here after the survey closes.
Accepting credit cards
For quite some time, accepting credit cards has been the norm for utilities, but it wasn’t always that way. (Yes, I’m old enough to remember when the only way to pay was cash or check!).
Both the Utility Fee Survey, conducted in odd-numbered years, and the Utility Staffing Survey, conducted in even-numbered years, ask if the responding utilities accept credit cards.
For the past several years, the credit card acceptance rate has hovered around 95%. But, as I’ve been tallying the preliminary responses to this year’s Utility Staffing Survey, so far, every responding utility accepts credit cards! Even the very smallest utilities.
Below is a graph of the credit card acceptance rates, dating back to the 2015 Utility Fee Survey. Other than a dip in 2016, the number of utilities accepting credit cards has been on an upward trend.
If you click on the graph, it will open an interactive version of the same graph in Tableau Public. I will be using this platform for all of the graphs when I publish the results of the 2026 Utility Staffing Survey. By doing so, the results will be much more useful than the static graphs have been in the past.
Does your utility accept credit cards?
If not, there’s no better time to look into doing so. There are too many easy-to-implement options out there for you not to. You can even pass the fees along to your customers.
Are your payment methods up-to-date?
Is your utility offering all the payment options you could be? If you’re not sure, please give me a call at 919-673-4050 or email me at gary@utilityinformationpipeline.com to learn how a business review could help you find out.
© 2026 Gary Sanders