Meeting Type: BCC Regular Meeting
Meeting Date: 4/15/2025
Item Status: New
From: Ann Simpson, Director of Transportation; Frank Lundy, County Engineer
Submitted by: Ann Simpson, Director of Transportation
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ITEM TITLE
Title
Agreement with Spare Labs, Inc., through Stripe Payment Processing, for Online Digital Credit / Debit Card Payment Processing for BRATS
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STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Related to the authorization to replace BRATS’ current credit / debit card payment processor, Braintree, with Spare Labs, Inc., through Stripe Payment Processing, take the following actions:
1) Approve the following agreements and documents:
• Stripe Connected Account Agreement
• Stripe Services Agreement - United States
• Stripe User Bank Account Debit Authorizations
• Stripe Privacy Policy; and
• Stripe E-Sign Disclosure
2) Authorize the Baldwin County Commission Finance / Accounting Department to electronically accept the above referenced agreements and related documents and provide all other information necessary and permitted by law, as part of the Stripe Payment Processing account setup process.
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BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Background: Since 2020, through an agreement with Via Transportation, BRATS has utilized Braintree to process passenger credit / debit card payments. BRATS is transitioning from Via Transportation to a new micro-transit software provider, Spare Labs, Inc (Spare). Spare is integrated with Stripe Payment Processing (Stripe) for online digital payment processing.
There are no set-up fees associated with establishing a Stripe Payment Services account. Stripe will deduct the payment processing fees from the fares paid by the passenger and remit the remaining fare balance to BCC / BRATS. Stripe is Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliant, to protect cardholder data, ensuring secure processing, storage, and transmission of credit card information.
Under the Payment Services Agreement, customers paying through the Spare Labs, Inc. mobile app utilizing Stripe will pay a maximum 2.9% +$.30 per transaction depending on the issuer of the card. This is the same pricing and fee structure under the current agreement with Via Transportation and Braintree.
Previous Commission action/date:
March 5, 2025 - Approved the award of contract for micro-transit software for public transportation services to Spare Labs, Inc.
August 4, 2020 - Authorized the BCC Finance/Accounting Department to establish a credit card processing account with Via Transportation’s integrated credit card processing provider, Braintree.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Total cost of recommendation: $0
Budget line item(s) to be used: N/A
If this is not a budgeted expenditure, does the recommendation create a need for funding? N/A
LEGAL IMPACT
Is legal review necessary for this staff recommendation and related documents?
N/A
Reviewed/approved by: N/A
Additional comments: N/A
ADVERTISING REQUIREMENTS
Is advertising required for this recommendation? N/A
If the proof of publication affidavit is not attached, list the reason: N/A
FOLLOW UP IMPLEMENTATION
For time-sensitive follow up, select deadline date for follow up: To support the June 2025 launch of the Spare Labs micro-transit software, the Stripe account should be activated by May 1, 2025.
Individual(s) responsible for follow up: Ann Simpson, Director of Transportation in coordination with Makayla Shiver, Baldwin County Commission Staff Accountant.
Action required (list contact persons/addresses if documents are to be mailed or emailed): N/A
Additional instructions/notes: N/A