New service unveiled to pay child support

A new service has been announced that officials say makes Michigan child support payments more convenient across the state and nationwide.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and its Michigan State Disbursement Unit earlier this month launched a partnership with electronic payment provider PayNearMe® that allows parents to make child support payments with cash at more than 550 Michigan and 17,000 nationwide 7-Eleven® and Family Dollar® stores.

“We are continually adding innovative services that respond to customer preferences and needs,” said Erin Frisch, director of the Office of Child Support within MDHHS. “If we make this process more convenient, children will receive the support that they need and deserve more quickly.”

With the new process, parents can:

1. Visit the misdu.com website and select the “Cash Payment” option.

2. Enter requested account information on the PayNearMe website.

3. Select whether they want the payment code sent to their phone or printed out.

4. Choose from the list of payment locations closest to them.

5. Visit the store and provide both the payment code and cash to the cashier.

Customers pay a $1.99 convenience fee and PayNearMe payments can take up to three business days to post, just like any other electronic payment made by a customer.

The Michigan State Disbursement Unit within the MDHHS Office of Child Support, known as MiSDU, is the state’s centralized payment processing center for collecting and distributing support payments.

In 2015, the Michigan child support program collected and paid $1.36 billion in child support, with $1.2 billion sent to families.