Athens Utilities on Wednesday launched a new online bill pay system with “a lot more customer-friendly features,” Director of Finance Kent Lewter said Thursday.

While the utility company offered online payment previously, Lewter said the system had grown unreliable. Last September, for example, 429 customers found themselves charged double due to a human error.

“This is a much more stable platform,” Lewter said. “It offers a lot more options for the customer.”

It’s also easier for customers to access those options, which include paying by cellphone, email reminders and receipts, 24/7 access to account information, and scheduled payments. The system can be accessed by visiting www.athens-utilities.com and clicking on the “Pay Bill” button.

“We’re trying to come up with convenient ways for customers to pay,” Lewter said.

That convenience comes at a price. The new system is a fee-based service through Invoice Cloud. Customers who use the online system are charged $3.95. An additional 75-cent fee is charged for those who pay their bill by phone.

“It’s a service charge,” Lewter said. “We don’t receive any of that fee. That goes straight to the third-party vendor (Invoice Cloud).”

Lewter said they chose Invoice Cloud for the bill pay system because it was already affiliated with software used by Athens Utilities. Business Ink provided the previous bill pay system through a contract with the utility. Under that system, Lewter said, not charging a transaction fee meant customers who did not use the system were still subsidizing those who did.

“With this new fee structure, those who use the system are the ones paying the fee,” he said.

Athens Mayor Ronnie Marks said at Monday’s meeting of the Athens City Council the city administration is open to pulling the fee but it would cost the city $200,000 to $300,000 per year to absorb it. Lewter said they were absorbing about $250,000 per year with the old system.

“If you believe you’re hearing a lot of comments about this fee system, ask us to pull it,” Marks said to the council. “There is another way for 45,000 utility customers to pay their bills.”

Lewter said there are plenty of ways to pay a utility bill that do not require an additional service fee.

“They can bring their payment in-house, pay by check in the mail, bring their credit card in-house with no fee,” Lewter said. “A lot of banks allow you to pay bills through their website. … They can set up a bank draft. There’s no fee associated with that. There are more ways to pay without a fee than there is with a fee.”