PayByPhone, a flagship product of The PayPoint Group, has been selected by Florida International University (FIU) to provide a cashless parking service at FIU’s campus parking lots. The same convenient mobile payment option that has been available on the streets of Miami and has proven to be a success for the users will be rolled out to FIU’s 4,500 parking spaces in the coming weeks. The PayByPhone smartphone app and dial-in service offer drivers a convenient alternative to paying with cash at a parking meter and includes the option to receive a text message reminder before their parking expires, enabling them to extend their parking time from wherever they are.
Since Miami (Parking Authority) became the first major US city to accept mobile payments for parking in 2008, PayByPhone has become an incredibly popular payment option in the South Florida area. Surrounding cities such as Coral Gables, South Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Lauderdale-By-The-Sea have jumped at the opportunity to offer the same service to their residents and visitors. Each month, over 118,000 drivers use PayByPhone to pay for their parking in those cities and 3 million payments are processed each year through PayByPhone in South Florida alone. According to Tom Hartley, Parking Director at FIU, this was one of the major reasons they chose PayByPhone:
“We wanted a proven mobile payment solution at FIU. PayByPhone’s experience and vast user base in South Florida means we’ll hit the ground running and our adoption rates will grow rapidly. FIU visitors or anyone taking advantage of a meter space, can now skip the pay station lines and never worry about leaving their meetings to add more time to their parking session.”
PayByPhone payments are made by entering the parking lot location number and the length of parking time desired. Instructions will be posted on parking signs and pay stations. Drivers can sign up for a free account with their credit card and license plate by downloading the smartphone app (iOS, Android or Blackberry), or visiting paybyphone.com. Don’t have a smartphone? No problem. Users simply dial the toll-free number posted on signage and follow the voice prompts to set up an account. The one-time registration is quick and easy and the information is securely saved for the next time they use PayByPhone.
