Car Parking: M-payment through Operators’ Bill Now Available
- On 15 March, in Mulhouse, the French mobile-centric association AFMM (Association Française du Multimédia Mobile), including Bouygues, Orange and SFR, has started a one year pilot focusing on car parking time payment via mobile operators billing services. These SMS-based “m-parking” tests rely on 2,400 dedicated car parking spaces (“zone orange”). Likewise experiments should be launched this year in France.
- Once his car parked, the user dials the five-figure phone number notified on the meter to send a surcharge SMS and specify the amount of time he wishes to buy as well as his number plate. The corresponding amount is automatically credited to his mobile operator’s bill (1.5 euro per hour – within a 2 hours limit). He also receives an SMS once the acquired time elapsed enabling him to purchase one more hour. Once registered, the user only has to press the letter “P” for other likewise payments.
- Law enforcement forces carry along Motorola mobile phones embedding a dedicated app to check on the vehicles.
- French local administrations might consider this solution as an additional means to prevent unpaid fines. They have also been encouraged by increased revenues in other EU towns where likewise systems have been installed (in Germany, Austria, or Serbia).
- According to a study conducted by the AFMM and Médiamétrie, 53% of French car drivers say they usually do not pay for car parking as no adapted means of payment is available and 76% say they would be ready to rely on these kinds of SMS-based systems. In micro-payment contexts, where mobile operators’ bills can easily be adapted, this proactive service could encourage car drivers to actually pay for car parking (74% of those interrogated do praise the associated alert system).
- Several car parking-oriented experiments are currently being conducted: VINCI Park and PayByPhone (Issy-les-Moulineaux) on contactless mobile prepayment (see December 2011 Insight); Parkéon on mobile NFC payment (Strasbourg), for instance. Nevertheless, unlike these examples, SMS payments would appear more secure as they do not require that banking information be provided by the user.