FEATURE TECHNOLOGY IN PARKING NEW WAVE
Long gone are the days when you had to fiddle around for change for the parking meter. Phil Lattimore looks at a new wave of technology sweeping today’s hi-tech car parks
Near Field Communication (NFC) is contactless communication technology that is already starting to make an appearance in UK parking facilities
meter was state-of-the-art technology. Increasingly more sophisticated cashless payment solutions are coming onto the market, introducing payment methods that integrate cutting-edge technologies with easy-to-use gadgetry – from smart payment cards to mobile phones – that can also pay for multiple services with a quick swipe, wave or tap. The spread of smartphone applications for parking services has helped to provide consumers with convenient methods of payment, enabling registered users to park and pay with a few clicks on their mobile. However, parking payment could be set to get even more user-friendly. Near Field Communication (NFC) is contactless communication technology that’s increasingly being talked about in the UK, with a fast-growing number of new smartphones coming equipped with NFC chips built-in. The roll-out of the technology is in its early stages and some issues need to be resolved, but it is already starting to make an appearance in UK parking facilities.
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Smart communication NFC is a short-range communication standard that builds on radio frequency identification (RFID) systems that have been used for contactless ‘tap to pay’ credit cards – such Visa’s payWave and MasterCard PayPass systems. It enables two-way communication between NFC-equipped devices.
A tiny microchip and radio antenna in the NFC-enabled device allows data to be exchanged in close proximity to a reader, enabling low value payments to be made
28 AUGUST 2012
e’ve moved a long way since slotting a coin into a regular parking
quickly and efficiently – for anything from newspapers or cinema tickets to a train fares or parking spaces – and for information to be exchanged and sophisticated applications launched. It’s a far cry from fumbling around in your pockets for small change. NFC-enabled contactless payment is
starting to arrive in the UK, and is set to grow this year as more NFC-enabled smartphones arrive in the public’s pockets, supporting contactless payment services including those from Visa and MasterCard. Services such as Google Wallet are further pushing the concept of the smartphone as a mobile virtual wallet, while the technology has been trialled extensively across the world for payment, information services, transport, and other ticketing applications. Such multiple uses, beyond simple credit card-style payments, give NFC technology the potential for complex solutions delivering a variety of integrated services from one handheld device. For example, one such NFC trial held this summer, at France’s Toulouse-Blagnac airport, used NFC mobiles as an integrated ‘airport pass’ for boarding, security and reserved parking, providing relevant information automatically when required – delivering a seamless user experience for passengers passing through the airport. Also in France, the Cityzi integrated NFC service – first rolled out by the French mobile network operators in May 2010 – has recently sold its one millionth mobile, giving users integrated payment services, transport ticketing, information services and promotions via a range of NFC-enabled handsets.
Parking lots
There are currently around 140,000 contactless point-of-sale terminals at retailers in the UK capable of accepting NFC-enabled
www.britishparking.co.uk
Shutterstock.com / bannosuke
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