Eliminating Parking’s Third Biggest Friction

Remember scrambling to find change to feed the parking meter? It seems like just yesterday, because it was. If you didn’t have change, you were out of luck. That’s rapidly changing now, as mobile payment technology has given commuters the power to pay for their parking fees or mass transit passes right from their smartphones. And, as mobile payment technology continues to evolve, it inevitably will continue to pave the way for further parking and commutation innovations.

To look at some of the challenges and opportunities brought about by the rise of this new tech for the June mPOS Tracker, PYMNTS spoke with Brad Powers, CTO of Passport, a provider of mobile payment software for the parking and transit industries.

Here’s a sneak peek:

Powers said that he and his team are careful to make sure that the app is as easy and convenient to use as possible for everyday users.

While he recognizes some parkers may be unfamiliar with – or even suspect of – paying with their phone, Powers thinks paying for parking can be an entry into mobile payments for the uninitiated. And, he said, “once a user has adopted mobile payments for parking or transit, they never go back.”

“It’s a really convenient way for people to jump into paying for something with their phone. This transaction can take place in any city, any street across the area where you might not have access to $3 and quarters or ‘all I have is a $20 on me,’” Powers said. “I will download the mobile app and pay for it there. So the inability for parking and transit to provide an easier experience for transactions like cash or credit card [steers users toward the app].”

Powers said that when an app is unveiled in a new city, utilization rates see “huge upticks” as customers adjust to using the app to pay for parking, tickets, transit passes or other services.

Around the world of mPOS

Now more than ever, shoppers clearly have a need for speed. Customers around the world expect restaurants, retailers and other businesses to provide full-service mobile payment processes that go past the simple act of payment. In order to keep up with that demand, several retailers recently rolled out new solutions designed to improve the checkout process.

KCB Bank and GoSwiff announced they would bring the first mobile payment system to Rwanda at the World Economic Forum in Kigali. The system is designed to help the African nation more efficiently collect public payments.

Miura and PowerPay21 also announced a partnership designed around international expansion, as the pair will work together to make the Miura mPOS hardware available to merchants in Europe. Meanwhile, Datacap Systems debuted “TranCloud,” an an EMV-enabled payments solution for mobile and browser-based POS providers in the U.S.

The June edition of the mPOS Tracker features the latest industry news from the mPOS space along with the profiles of more than 210 players, including 5 new additions to the tracker and 19 updated profiles.

To download the June edition of the PYMNTS.com mPOS Tracker, click the button below …

About The Tracker

The PYMNTS mPOS Tracker is your go-to resource for staying up to date on a month-by-month basis. The tracker highlights the contribution of different stakeholders, including institutions and technology coming together to make this happen.