From Tuesday 2 April 2024, the PayWave surcharge for Wellington City Council-run car parking will be 30 cents per transaction.

This is a reduction from the current 50 cent PayWave surcharge for parking meters and a new surcharge for users of the Tory Street and Clifton Terrace parking buildings. There is no surcharge when paying with cash on meters that accept it.

The changes are the result of a review of the surcharge as part of the Council’s recent move to new pay-by-plate parking technology, a change of payment service provider and in the context of recent Commerce Commission guidelines to retailers on appropriate payment surcharging.

The surcharge covers the cost to the Council of processing PayWave transactions. It pays for merchant service fees, payment service provider fees, supplier payment facilitation fees and GST. The surcharge no longer includes a pre-authorisation fee.

The PayMyPark app transaction fee for casual use will also reduce from 50c to 30c as set by the supplier. App account holders will continue to pay a percentage-based transaction fee when topping up their account.

The transaction fee for use of the app is charged by a third-party supplier – the Council does not receive this transaction fee.

The Council will regularly review its parking PayWave surcharge, which is set based on user data to ensure that it recoups costs fairly without making a profit.

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