Following the discovery of credit card fraud linked to cards used at the Downtown car park last year, Auckland City Council commissioned an independent assessment of the credit card operations systems in all our car parks. The independent assessment and our internal reviews confirmed the current system is quite old, and while it was fit for purpose at the time it was installed, there are now better systems available.

The precise nature of the credit card fraud has not been definitively identified and the matter is still under Police investigation. However, as part of council's continued investment in the car park operations, we are proceeding with the installation of a state-of-the-art system which is currently going through the procurement process. We are keen for an early implementation but have yet get a confirmed date for installation.

Prior to the assessment, and upon discovery of fraudulent activity last year, we took the immediate precaution of disabling the credit card facility at the automatic payment machines in all our car parks. This action protected customers from further risk of card compromise, but enabled them to still pay by credit card by going to the payment booths in each car park and using the EFTPOS machines.