Copyright 2004, Roadracing World inc.

American Suzuki Motor Corp. has changed the way it pays contingency money, switching from writing and mailing checks to crediting a debit card that riders haven’t received yet.

Several riders have recently complained to Roadracing World that Suzuki has been slow to make contingency payments; Mike Smith, for example, says the company owes him about $20,000 in unpaid 2004 contingency.

We asked American Suzuki’s Morgan Broadhead about the delay, and he said, “It was kind of a late decision, but we decided that we were implementing it on our motocross side so we went ahead and did it for road race. We were a little late in getting our first batch of checks out to everybody, but then instead of checks they’re all going to receive debit cards.”

When asked about the reason behind the change, Broadhead said, “Convenience and ultimately speed because once everybody has got their debit card we’ll be able to get money from our system into their hands faster. In the long run it means that the transfer of money from our contingency program will basically be instant.”

Broadhead said that more details on the program will be announced at the Suzuki Dealer show scheduled for Las Vegas, Nevada on June 14-16.