Parking technology Options for all Parking payment technology must keep evolving but remain accessible to all, says Doug Mather, payment solutions specialist, Debit My Mobile he range of payment choices available to car park users is expanding. And thats a good thing. While cashless payments have understandably been on the rise for years now, there are still many people who are holding on to using cash daily. We believe that we will continue to see cash payments being available in car parks for some time to come, despite the increased cost of servicing. A study by Link1 found that cash payments are likely to fall to as little as 10 per cent of all UK transactions within the next 15 years. This drop T in demand for cash, combined with the cost of running the ATM network (currently estimated at 5bn a year) is seeing as many as 300 ATMs closing every month. More than eight million adults in the UK (17 per cent of the adult population) rely on cash to make everyday payments, particularly those based in rural areas where internet connections are perhaps less reliable. Older generations often struggle with digital payments and around 1.7 million adults in the UK dont even have a bank account. The decline of cash payments threatens to leave these groups even further behind. When cashless-only payments are introduced, all these customers lose the ability to pay by cash; this can be very limiting for people who dont have a smartphone, a bank account or, in some cases, simply dont want to share their personal information. The power of choice The key to future success is the provision of a wide choice of payment options that customers find convenient to use and simple to access. Software as a solution enforcement products need to have the flexibility to support all payment types, to ensure that nobody is left behind in the shift to a cashless society. For example, charge to phone bill payments, where instead of a cashless payment being charged to your bank account as it is with all other digital payments it is instead charged to your mobile phone account. In the telecoms sector, this is known as direct carrier billing. These payments need no pre-registration, theres no app to download, no smartphone required and no sharing of bank card details, so a bank account isnt even needed. The only information the user needs to share is their mobile phone number. They are limited to a maximum of 40 per transaction, or 240 per month, making it an option for most parking payments. Choice is going to be key to achieving inclusion for the digitally excluded and accessibility for all customers, in the future of parking payments. 1 accesstocash.org.uk 23 PN Nov 2022 pp22-23 DMM.indd 23 26/10/2022 16:34