HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – Toll road drivers now have a new way of paying for EZ tags without having to use their credit cards. The Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA) has partnered with BancPass, an innovator in toll payment solutions, to develop a new, cash-reloadable type of EZ TAG account.
The new “cash tag” pilot program launched this week at the Sam Houston Tollway Ship Channel Bridge toll plaza, which is scheduled for conversion to all-electronic tolling on January 9, 2016.
When the conversion is complete, the toll booths will be removed from the roadway and cash toll payment will no longer be accepted in the lanes.
Customers who currently pay cash will need to have a tag to continue driving on the bridge in 2016—and now they have a new option. For cash-preferred customers who don’t want to provide a credit card for automatic billing (required for a traditional EZ TAG account with HCTRA), the new EZ TAG lets users pay cash, and pay-as-you-go.
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A limited number of the new “cash tags” are now available for purchase at the pop-up store located in the parking lot at the Sam Houston Tollway Ship Channel Bridge toll plaza at 1515 E. Sam Houston Pkwy. N. They will eventually be sold at convenient retail outlets (i.e. pharmacy or grocery chains) throughout the Greater Houston area.
The BancPass kit costs $40 and comes with an EZ TAG transponder for the customer’s vehicle, $15 in tolls on the account, and a BancPass reload card. The BancPass account does not require a minimum balance, and customers will soon be able to pay cash to reload the account convenient retail locations throughout the area. Right now they can reload with cash at the pop-up store located at the bridge. They can also add money to their accounts online at BancPass.com. A convenience fee of $2 will apply to each reload. The customer controls how much and when to load funds on their account for tolls. With a BancPass EZ TAG account, there is no requirement to keep a credit/debit card on file, no mandatory automatic billing.
You can find out more by visiting the website www.bancpass.com