AUDITING IN A CIS ENVIRONMENT – EXERCISE No.

Jacksonville Jaguars
Evaluating IT Benefits and Risks and
Identifying Trust Services Opportunities
Mark S. Beasley · Frank A. Buckless · Steven M. Glover · Douglas F. Prawitt

Key Facts:
➢ The stadium where the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL team plays football began taking
advantage of electronic commerce in the sale of stadium souvenirs and snacks in 2013.
Below is a list of key attributes of the system when it was implemented.

➢ When the system was implemented, fans began to use electronic Spot Cards in lieu of
cash to purchase snacks and souvenirs from vendors roaming the stands and from
vendors at permanent locations inside the stadium. The Spot Card is swiped through
point-of-sale (POS) machines, which calculate the sales amounts for approval by the
customer before the amount owed is deducted from the balance in the chip on the Spot
Card.

➢ Fans purchase Spot Cards using ATM-like machines that allow them to transfer funds
from their bank or credit card account onto an electronic chip embedded in the Spot
Card.

➢ The battery-operated POS machines capture information about each transaction,

including the customer’s card number, the location where the merchandise was sold,
and the date and time of the transaction.

➢ After the game, vendors download data contained in their POS machines to a computer
located in the stadium counting room.

➢ Once all data is downloaded to the stadium computer, the data is transmitted to a host
computer at First Union Bank (now part of Wachovia Corporation) in Jacksonville. The
host computer uses the data to settle that day’s sales with each vendor in the stadium
and generates reports containing detailed information about sales volumes for specific
products sold in specific sections of the stadium.

➢ First Union Bank receives a fee from every transaction, and the bank collects the
remaining balance on unused Spot Cards at the end of two years.

➢ Reliance on the Spot Card technology at the Jacksonville stadium presents stadium
vendors, customers, and First Union Bank numerous risks that must be considered. The
presence of those risks provides CPAs opportunities to provide assurance about the
reliability of the Spot Card technology.

Requirement:
a) The use of IT offers tremendous advantages. At the time of implementation, what
benefits did the use of Spot Cards offer to the following groups:
• Jaguar stadium snack and souvenir vendors?
• Fans in the stadium?
• First Union Bank?

b) While the Spot Card offered several benefits, the use of the related information
technology to process snack and souvenir transactions did create new risks.
Identify risks for the following groups:
• Snack and souvenir vendors
• Fans in the stadium
• First Union Bank

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