WHEN motorists pay by credit card to park in Bridlington, their banks end up thinking they’ve been to Luxembourg.

A motorist told The Press he paid by card to park in the resort on Spring Bank Holiday Monday and then got a text message from his bank’s anti-fraud team, saying his card had been used to make a transaction in Luxembourg.

An East Riding of Yorkshire Council spokesman said that Luxembourg ended up on people’s statements because of the stringent rules which are imposed on the council for the use of credit card payments at non-manned terminals, such as those present in car parks.

Services were provided to the council by a company called Six Payment Services (UK) Ltd, which was a UK registered company based in Middlesex, but was part of the larger European company SIX Group AG, whose payment services provision business was centralised in Luxembourg.

A spokesman said that Six Payments (UK) Ltd deducted fees and commission charges from the Credit Card transaction made at the council’s chargeable car parks, and any commission charges deducted by Six Payments were registered and taxed within the United Kingdom.

“For the future, we are seeking for the company to put ERYC, and perhaps the car park name, instead of ‘Luxembourg’ on bank statements, but this may take some time,” he added.