Local authorities and car park operators across the UK can now offer direct carrier billing as a payment method for car parking, so consumers can conveniently charge their parking to their mobile phone bill, thanks to a partnership between Paythru and Fonix.
For consumers, paying with carrier billing for parking is very simple. After parking their car, they send a text message with relevant information – car registration number, parking zone, length of parking – and the consumer then receives a confirmation text message and the payment is complete.
In order to provide carrier billing to consumers, Paythru has integrated Fonix’s Payments API, which gives car park operators scalable access to carrier billing. This means that via Paythru’s digital parking platform, carrier billing is offered as a payment method; Fonix processes the payment and manages revenue collection from the mobile network operators.
Consumers do not need mobile data access and therefore the solution is ideal for car parks in remote and rural areas. They also don’t need to sign up for any additional accounts or enter their credit card information to pay through Fonix. Instead, the fee is charged to their mobile phone bill which means even those people without a bank account are able to make payments.
“We’re always looking for innovative ways to improve the parking experience for consumers,” says Keith Brown, Managing Director of Paythru.
“People want to park and pay, and get on their way with as little effort as possible. With carrier billing, consumers are able to do exactly this; reach for their phones, send a text and get on with their day. There’s no searching for a pay meter or trying to find coins or your credit card. That’s a huge benefit.”
Rob Weisz, CEO of Fonix adds: “Our partnership with Paythru is a perfect example of where carrier billing drastically improves the payment experience, conveniently and at the point of need. What’s more, it really shows the value of mobile payments to a much broader audience of consumers.”
