Parking Payments App PayByPhone Adds 470 Cities in Germany, Italy

PayByPhone, which offers mobile parking payments in cities in Europe and North America, has announced that it will be used in 470 new cities in Germany and Italy, a press release said Wednesday (May 25).

That will come with 370 in Germany and 100 in Italy.

PayByPhone’s services allow drivers to pay for parking and extend sessions remotely through its app. It also provides smart alerts and helps drivers avoid  parking fines.

According to the company, as the restrictions from COVID-19 have lifted, people are using the company’s services again.

“As people finally venture out on their long-awaited holidays, adding almost 500 cities from Germany and Italy to the PayByPhone app is just one more way we’re simplifying their journeys,” said Andy Gruber, PayByPhone’s CEO. “PayByPhone’s 50 million users can now use our app to pay for parking in big European tourist destinations like Berlin or Napoli, in addition to existing cities like Paris, London, and Amsterdam. The timing, just before the great post-COVID holiday summer of 2022, is perfect.”

Gruber added that as of April 2020, the company saw a massive 86% drop in parking activities in North America, and a 99% drop in Europe, because of the onset of the pandemic. But now the levels are actually above pre-pandemic levels.

This will mean drivers can now park in over 1,200 cities on 11 countries, making PayByPhone the first company to offer digital parking on two continents. PayByPhone is a subsidiary of Volkswagen Financial Services.

See also: As Parking Industry Recovers, Providers Add Digital Payments Option

In November, PYMNTS wrote that as the parking industry recovers from the pandemic, which came with slower growth for restaurants and events, parking providers began adding digital payment options.

That came with other places like restaurants offering digital menus to access through a QR code.