Friendswood will soon begin charging a fee to customers for using credit cards to do business with city offices in an effort to recoup as much as $100,000 in transaction fees the city pays each year.

A 2.5 percent service fee will be applied to any bill paid with a credit card starting in early April, city officials said. This includes utilities, municipal court fines, parks and recreation fees, and other city permits and fees.

The vast majority of the credit fees that the city has been paying come from utility payments. In the 2016-17 fiscal year, there were 32,997 payments for city services by credit card, about 83 percent of which were for utilities, Friendswood communications specialist Jeff Newpher said.

Customers who want to avoid paying this fee can opt to pay by cash, check or checking account transfer, Newpher said.

The City Council approved the new fee on March 5.