Payment tech promises frictionless parking and charging transactions

The mobility arm of Buckinghamshire-based payment technology company Paythru has launched a payment solution that combines parking and electric vehicle (EV) charging into a single “pain-free and invisible” transaction.

Many public and private car parking locations with EV charging require users to buy both a parking ticket and to separately purchase a charging session, often with different companies. Paythru claims there is growing frustration among EV users, especially those who were unaware that these were separate transactions.

James O’Neill, CEO of Paythru, said, “Instead of building yet another app we’ve built a platform in the cloud.

“This means parking companies and charging companies just sign up, set their payment terms behind the scenes, and the user has one transparent transaction to pay for everything – which could be either through the car park or their EV charging app.

“Whatever they choose, we manage the payment split and make sure the parking and charging companies both get paid.

“The EV revolution will stall unless we get the customer experience right and no one’s actually addressing this – until now. Having previously spent years working at EV charging providers, I have seen the impact of poor user payment experience on customer loyalty.”

Paythru says the approach not only improves the user experience but also significantly mitigates the risk of penalty charge notices.

“The world of parking and charging is evolving rapidly,” it says, but “parking terminals and EV charging infrastructure are being built around functionality, not user experience.

“Parking and charging are currently too cumbersome. Users expect digital experiences – from banking to shopping to ordering takeaway – that are built around them and their needs.”