Tag Archives: contactless payment

Dude, Where’s My Wallet?

By Chris Elliston

The events industry has begun to crawl back to life and venues are reopening their doors to the public. Sports teams, entertainment and recreation sites, and universities have been busy pivoting processes to offer a safe return. As fans and guests start to revisit these familiar grounds, one personal item will likely be less prevalent: a traditional wallet.

Prior to COVID-19, consumers and businesses had a good grasp of the available technology even if they didn’t incorporate it into their own processes. The pandemic ushered in a newfound urgency to adopt contactless payment to safeguard the our and others’ well-being and sustain our businesses.

According to a recent PYMNTS and PayPal survey, six in 10 consumers say merchants that do not offer digital payment options in stores will not get their business. A Mastercard study reported that 79 percent of consumers worldwide are using some form of contactless payment in light of the pandemic, and contactless transactions around the globe rose 40 percent in the first quarter.

Savvy professionals are eager to support contactless transactions at all stages of the customer journey. Through technology, they will not only provide more sanitary processes but also create more efficient ones. In the background, technology companies are collaborating to deliver a more seamless, integrated experience.

Parking is often the first experience a customer has at a destination, so it’s critical that the parking industry works together to create a safe and satisfactory impression. At venues across the U.S., fans and guests can make purchases using a mobile wallet hosted on a team or venue app. In one place, they can secure a ticket and a parking pass, order concessions, and stock up on merchandise before or during an event. No paper to handle. No cash required. No line. On the operations side, it makes sense, too. No cash to manage. Safer, slicker processes, and ultimately happier customers.

This is just the beginning. The pandemic has proved consumers of all ages are willing to try something new. In this case, a trial by fire led to a universal convenience. When technology’s end goal is to serve the consumer better (perhaps even better than they can even imagine) adoption is really quite simple. Moreover, it is a timely opportunity for us as an industry to future-proof operations, understand parking customers, and cater to their growing needs with actionable data.  It’s about transforming to fast, reliable, easy-to-use technology. And your guests are ready for it.

The knee-jerk reaction of “Where’s my wallet?” will pass. We’ll forget the leather accessory that once seemed to make all things possible. If new tools serve us better, we will adapt. And it looks like we’re well on our way.

Chris Elliston is SVP enterprise with ParkHub Inc.

Member News: Flowbird Unveils ‘Park & Sanitize’ Solution to Support Communities Emerging from COVID-19 Lockdown

Flowbird Group Park & SanitizeJune 26th, 2020

Moorestown, NJ —  Flowbird has launched a ‘no touch’ automatic hand sanitizer technology to help safeguard potentially millions of motorists and transport passengers around the world in conjunction with reduced COVID-19 lockdowns.

The company has developed ‘Park & Sanitize’ – a contactless hydroalcoholic gel dispenser that attaches to Flowbird parking pay stations and transport ticket vending machines and provides hand sanitizer on demand to help combat the risks associated with coronavirus. The system is automatically triggered once a transaction is complete and a sensor releases a pre-set dosage of gel when hands are placed underneath the unit.

Flowbird partners with more than 5,000 customers in 80 countries around the world, with over 100 million people interacting with the company’s mobility solutions every week. As such, Flowbird is ideally placed to support urban centers, university campuses, and parks locations with measures that will help citizens adapt to a post-lockdown environment.

“As lockdowns start to ease, urban authorities and operators will look to innovators such as Flowbird to help them reassure communities by making daily routines, such as parking a car or riding a bus, train, tram or ferry, as easy and safe as possible,” said Bertrand Barthelemy, Flowbird Group’s president.

“Park & Sanitize, it’s an innovation that will help cities and operators build confidence among people who need to travel for work, for family, or other reasons”, said Barthelemy.

Authorities will be able to monitor sanitizer volumes remotely through Flowbird’s back-office management system and replenish gel as needed.

Park & Sanitize aims to provide confidence for customers. The product, the first of its kind, is an important addition to the Flowbird portfolio, which also includes remote payment options for parking and travel, such as the Flowbird app or account-based ticketing.

Flowbird has been at the forefront of urban intelligence for more than 60 years, developing innovative and inclusive solutions to help towns and cities manage traffic flows, improve access to public transit and enhance the end-user experience. Each year, the company invests between 8% to 10% of revenue in research and development – Park & Sanitize is one of the latest examples of its commitment to value-added innovation.

 

Flowbird US Media Contact

Sean Renn – Vice President of Marketing & Communications
856-220-1577
sean.renn@flowbird.group
www.flowbird.group

 

About Flowbird Group:

Flowbird Group is helping customers to push the boundaries of innovation in transportation hardware, software, sensor systems, machine-learning and AI, information security and mobile development.

Every week around the world, thanks to our pay stations, mobile applications and online services, we contribute to improving the living environment of our 100 million users by helping to reduce air pollution, optimize traffic, simplify payments and make cities more secure and economically dynamic.

 

Member News: Three Pennsylvania Parking Authorities Partner with ParkMobile to Provide Contactless Parking Payments After MobileNOW! Shuts Down

ParkMobile - New LogoAllentown, Reading, and Bethlehem Parking Authorities all add the ParkMobile app for mobile parking payments

Allentown, PA – June 3, 2020 – ParkMobile, the leading provider of smart parking and mobility solutions in the U.S., announced today a new partnership with three parking authorities in Pennsylvania — ­ Allentown, Bethlehem, and Reading — to provide contactless parking payments in the area. ParkMobile replaces the MobileNOW! app which shut down last week. ParkMobile has over 1.1 million users of the app in Pennsylvania and is widely available in many cities across the state including Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Lancaster, Harrisburg, State College, and more. Amid the COVID-19 crisis, many city leaders are encouraging residents to use the app instead of the meter to prevent the spread of the virus.

ParkMobile is the #1 parking app in the U.S. with over 18 million users. The company is part of a large joint venture owned by BMW and Daimler. Beyond the state of Pennsylvania, the app is available in over 400 cities across the U.S. The ParkMobile app offers all the same features and functionality as MobileNOW! but is available in many more locations in Pennsylvania and across the country. Other differences include ParkMobile’s 24/7/365 customer service and additional payment options like PayPal and ApplePay.

To pay for parking with the ParkMobile app, a user enters or scans the zone number posted on the existing MobileNOW! stickers and signs around the meter. New ParkMobile signs will be added in the coming weeks, but the meter numbers will remain the same. The user then selects the amount of time needed and touches the “Start Parking” button to begin the session. The user can also extend the time of the parking session on their mobile device without having to go back to the meter.

“We understand the importance of having a contactless payment option in our cities right now so we moved very fast to find a replacement to MobileNOW!,” says John Morgan, Executive Director, Allentown Parking Authority. “ParkMobile will be able to get our cities and running very quickly so all of our residents and visitors can safely and conveniently pay for parking.”

“The Bethlehem Parking Authority is looking forward to continuing to offer a contactless mobile payment option to the many visitors and residents of Bethlehem,” says Steven Fernstrom, Interim Executive Director, Bethlehem Parking Authority.

In the City of Reading, ParkMobile will also offer parking reservations for events at Santander Arena. According to Nathan Matz, Executive Director, Reading Parking Authority, “The partnership with ParkMobile is an excellent opportunity to expand the services we can offer our customers, including parking reservations for events such as Reading Royals games, concerts and other events at the Santander Arena.”

“ParkMobile is moving very fast to make our app available to people in Allentown, Reading, and Bethlehem within the next week,” says Jon Ziglar, CEO of ParkMobile. “We already have a large base of users in the local area, so we expect this to be a very smooth transition.”

About ParkMobile

ParkMobile, LLC is the leading provider of smart parking and mobility solutions in North America, using a contactless approach to help millions of people easily find, reserve, and pay for parking on their mobile device. The company’s technology is used in thousands of locations across the country, including 8 of the top 10 cities as well as college campuses, airports, and stadiums. People can use ParkMobile solutions to quickly pay for on-street and off-street parking without having to use a meter or kiosk. Additionally, ParkMobile offers parking reservations at stadium venues for concerts and sporting events. Reservations are also available in metro area garages, allowing people to drive into the city without having to worry about finding parking. ParkMobile has been named to the Inc. 5000, Deloitte Fast 500, Smart Cities Connect “Smart 50,” and the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Top Workplaces. Additionally, the company won the 2020 Stevie Awards for Achievement in Product Innovation and the 2019 Stevie Awards for Most Innovative Tech Company and Best Travel App. For more information, visit ParkMobile.io or @ParkMobile on Twitter.

ParkMobile Contact: Jeff Perkins, CMO, jeff.perkins@parkmobile.io