Volkswagen Financial Services AG and PayByPhone today announced the financial services division of Volkswagen Group has acquired PayByPhone, described as the world’s leading parking payment provider.
PayByPhone processes more than $300 million in payments annually. Through the company’s mobile web, smartphone and smart watch applications, PayByPhone allows consumers to securely pay for parking. The app reminds the user when their parking is about to expire, allowing them to instantly add time.
The acquisition signals a growing market for mobile-payment solutions. PayByPhone processed more than $250 million in payments in 2016 and is adding approximately 7,000 users per day to their base of more than 12.5 million registered users.
Volkswagen Financial previously acquired a 92 percent share in Sunhill Technologies GmbH, the German market leader in mobile-parking solutions across 90 German cities.
“With the acquisition of PayByPhone, we are now the leading provider for the processing and mobile payment of parking. In the future, we will be bundling this know-how in a separate business field around the theme of parking,” said Christian Dahlheim, the management board member responsible for sales and marketing at Volkswagen Financial.
The acquisition will not affect any of PayByPhone’s current operations, according to the companies, but improvements are expected to the PayByPhone app. The app is available on iOS, Android, and all other mobile platforms via its web application and online presence.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
