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Yeah, I've seen more than a few public parking facilities that got rid of their existing payment terminals (which take credit card, and sometimes cash) in favor
by valleyer 3y ago
Yeah, I've seen more than a few public parking facilities that got rid of their existing payment terminals (which take credit card, and sometimes cash) in favor of smartphone-based payment.
I struggle to understand what would motivate it, from the perspective of the parking lot owner. I would presume the up-front cost of the old terminals was already paid off. And they certainly are more user-friendly.
Is it that the new smartphone payment providers are taking a smaller fee? That they are easier to switch between if the fees increase? Or what?
- throwawaysleep 3y agoPeople vandalize the terminals. People have to collect cash from them. Have to make sure nobody put a skimmer on them. Physical infrastructure is to be avoided.
- Spooky23 3y agoThe cost for those freestanding systems are usually pretty outrageous. It’s a market like hotel WiFi. Early on, fancy hotels signed long contracts for shitty WiFi. Remember when you’d pay $10 for some awful WiFi service at the Marriott? Those parking things are the same. I consulted for an entity that was paying $7.50 for a $25 dip. There’s hundreds of competing smartphone apps… you can even buy a square reader in a trivial scenario and pay 3%. In the government space, stuff like EZPass at airport parking costs $2-5 per transaction!
- supertrope 3y agoThis is like Apple Pay. Banks wanted to reap the benefit of technology without paying for the hardware. Better yet people are clamoring to pay $800 for the widgets. Like banks other businesses and even government agencies want to take advantage of BYOD. Better yet if the app replaces manual assistance.