Is paying to park about to get easier? Universal smartphone app arrives - but most drivers prefer cash
Drivers will be able to use a new 'universal' smartphone app that is designed to make paying at different car parks easier than before.
The Department for Transport has announced a new 'one-app-fits-all' smartphone platform has been developed - at no cost to the taxpayer - by members of the British Parking Association.
This follows a series of government-backed trials to help motorists pay to park with ease and avoid QR-code scams that have been swindling drivers in recent years.
Lilian Greenwood, minister for the future of roads, welcomed the development, saying the Government is 'on the side of drivers and dedicated to giving everyone simpler, more flexible parking'.
However, for two in five motorists, it's not the method of parking payment they want to use.
Two-fifths of drivers recently polled by the AA said paying with cash is still their preferred option - and older motorists in particular say they will avoid car parks that don't have provisions for coin payments.
Drivers will be able to use a new 'universal' smartphone app that is designed to make paying at different car parks a whole lot easier than before. But most drivers would prefer to use cash...
How drivers would prefer to pay to park (all respondents)
Cash: 40%
Contactless: 28%
Pay via app: 14%
Chip & Pin: 12%
Pay by phone: 2%
QR code: 1%
Other: 1%
Source: AA poll of 13,700 drivers in Feb 2025
The 'National Parking Platform' allows users to pay to leave their car at sites operated by the country's biggest providers.
This includes RingGo, JustPark and PayByPhone, which each have their own dedicated apps, forcing drivers to download multiple applications to their phones and repeatedly uploading the same billing information.
The move to a single app-based payment system will help drivers to avoid 'inconsistent parking rules, clunky user experiences and unnecessary barriers to something that should be simple', the DfT said.
The platform will be developed and run by private parking companies, in partnership with councils, on a not-for-profit basis.
The DfT promised that it will 'operate under clear terms to ensure transparency, sustainability, and public value', though caveated that the government will monitor the platform to ensure compliance.
The application has already been rolled out to 10 local authorities and has proven successful, handling more than 500,000 transactions per month.
The DfT is yet to confirm when it will provide nationwide coverage.
Greenwood said: 'I'm delighted that this fantastic project is being taken on by the parking sector with no extra cost to taxpayers.
'This is public infrastructure done right: built by government, shaped with councils, and now delivered by the sector that knows it best, at a time when we're investing a record £1.6billion through our Plan for Change, to mend our pothole-ridden roads which damage cars, and £4.8billion to deliver new road infrastructure that will better connect people.'
Most drivers still want to pay to park with coins
While the National Parking Platform will streamline the payment process using a smartphone, just 14 per cent of drivers polled by the AA say apps are their preferred method.
The majority of Britons (40 per cent) would prefer to use cash but face the reality that councils are rapidly phasing-out traditional coin payment machines.
A number of authorities have already converted all of their car parks to cashless sites, and more local councils are looking into the option in an effort to slash administrative costs.
The AA's recent survey of more than 13,700 drivers found a huge age divide in terms of ideal payment methods.
Just one in 10 (12 per cent) of drivers aged 18 to 24 would pick coins and notes as their preferred choice.
Some 37 per cent of young drivers would ideally choose contactless payment with a card or through mobile payment (e.g. Apple Pay), whereas 35 per cent would choose payment by app in a major swing towards technology.
Contactless payments are the top choice among all drivers up to the age of 44, though thereafter it is cash that remains king.
A majority 46 per cent of over 65s - those likely less well versed with smartphone applications - say they would rather pay to park with coins.
Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for the AA, said: 'With the high street already under strain, it seems counterintuitive for car parks to refuse a customer willing to pay.
'Allowing parking to be paid by a multitude of options seems the best solution for both car parks and drivers, but those opting to pay by app should take note that doing so could be more expensive as administration costs are added to the rates.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
9 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Revealed: The staggering amount Florian Wirtz will be paid a WEEK if he completes Liverpool move - with German set to earn more than Virgil van Dijk
Florian Wirtz is set to earn a staggering salary if he completes a move to Liverpool this summer. Arne Slot is looking to splash out to improve an already impressive squad after they won the Premier League and a deal for German playmaker Wirtz is edging closer. They would have to break the Premier League transfer record to secure Wirtz's signature after Bayer Leverkusen priced the 22-year-old at £120million. Liverpool have offered £100m plus an extra £13m in add ons but the German side are holding out on a fee which would overtake the £115m which Chelsea paid Brighton for Moses Caicedo. The attacking midfielder has made it clear that Liverpool are his choice and a move is reportedly 'considered a done deal'. The Reds will also spend big on Wirtz's salary, with the German set to be handed a five-year contract worth £355,000-a-week, according to Bild. The enormous salary would make him Liverpool's second highest paid player, above the £350,000-a-week Virgil van Dijk earns, but just below Mohamed Salah's weekly £400,000 earnings. Although Liverpool will have to break the bank for Wirtz, he previously admitted he is not motivated by money. 'I don't even care about how much money I have in my account or what I might earn in the future,' he told Sports Illustrated Germany this year. 'Of course, you should make sure you get a good contract. But for me, the sporting perspective is much more important than the money. 'And I think my parents would be angry if I were too fixated on money. After I moved to Leverkusen at 16, my parents managed my salary and sent me €150 (£126) a month. 'That shaped me. It was important to my parents that I didn't do anything stupid with my salary.' The German star is edging closer to an Anfield switch and has been convinced by Slot's clear plan of where he will play in Liverpool's set-up as a No 10. And on Wednesday, Wirtz appeared to nod when asked by MailSport if he was 'excited for Liverpool ' after Germany's Nations League defeat by Portugal. Wirtz would become Liverpool's third signing of the summer, and their second from Leverkusen after the champions scooped Jeremie Frimpong for £29.5m. The right wing back penned a five-year contract at Anfield last week after completing his medical last month.
The Sun
30 minutes ago
- The Sun
Noel Gallagher's ‘excellent condition' 1990s super saloon up for sale for eye-watering seven-figure price
A BEEFY super saloon that once belonged to Noel Gallagher has recently hit the market - for a supersonic sum of £1.2million. A gorgeous Bentley Turbo R was listed on Auto Trader, having once been the pride of joy of the Don't Look Back in Anger singer. 3 3 3 The four-door saloon, which was first registered in 1997, was owned by Gallagher despite the fact he couldn't drive it. The Turbo R - with the 'R" standing for "roadholding" - boasts a 6.8-litre V8 engine and is good for 0-60mph under seven seconds, as well as a top speed of 143mph. Not only built for speed, the Bentley boasts all the trimmings you'd expect from a luxury set of wheels of its time - featuring a cream leather interior, complemented by a wood trim. Described as being in both "excellent condition" and "surprisingly reliable", the Turbo R has clocked some 100,000 miles in its 28-year life. The snazzy motor also has the number plate 'OASI6 2', in reference to the Britpop band, which is set to reunite to play a run of gigs this year in the UK and Ireland. This includes shows at Manchester's Heaton Park, London's Wembley Stadium, and Edinburgh's Murrayfield Stadium, throughout July, August and September. The reunion made history, with more than 10million fans trying to get their hands on the British shows alone. Every performance, including those in the US, South America and Australia, sold out within minutes of going on sale. Famously, the Manchester-born musician has never passed his driving test - but seemingly hasn't stopped him owning or, indeed, driving cars. In 2023, he was handed six penalty points and ordered to pay a court £1,000 for failing to tell police who was driving his Range Rover - which was clocked speeding at 41mph on a 30mph stretch of the A40 in Edgware Road, West London. Speaking about the Bentley's sale, Erin Baker, editorial director at Auto Trader, said: 'Cars listed by music legends don't come around very often, and Noel Gallagher's Bentley Turbo R is certainly one for the Auto Trader history books." Auto Trader's Catherine King recently spoke to Sun Motors with advice on the best second-hand convertibles drivers can pick up at a pinch in time for the summer sun. Naturally, their picks included the evergreen Mazda MX-5 - dubbed the poster child for convertible cars.
Telegraph
31 minutes ago
- Telegraph
No more leprechaun economics: Ireland's tax swindle is finally ending
Donald Trump has sent Ireland to the naughty step. Once the altar boy of American commerce, Dublin now finds itself blacklisted alongside China, Germany and Vietnam, each a prime candidate for tariffs and sanctions. The offence? Running a surplus with the United States. On the face of it, the complaint seems petty. One country sells more than it buys. So what? But Ireland's problem, like the others on Trump's list, is that its surplus rests on a creed that has fallen out of favour. As offshoring hollowed out Middle America, the old Clinton mantra 'It's the economy, stupid' has begun to sound rather less clever than it once did. That, at least, is the mood in Trump's Washington. And judging by his campaign-trail fixation with the word tariff, many Americans agree: a reckoning is overdue. Ireland offers a particularly inviting target. Its surplus owes less to tangible exports than to tax gymnastics. A pill is made in Ireland for 50 cents, sold to a sister company (also in Ireland) for €10, and then shipped to the global market at the same price. The profit is booked in Dublin, while tax collectors elsewhere are left out of pocket. The trick doesn't stop there. Intellectual property is shifted to Irish subsidiaries, global sales are routed through Irish entities, and profits vanish into low or no-tax jurisdictions. Together, these sleights of hand form what we're invited to call the Irish economic miracle – a miracle that, by one estimate, deprives other countries of nearly $20 billion a year in tax revenue. The question being asked in Washington is: who benefits? Ireland, clearly. One in every eight euros of its tax revenue now comes from US firms. That's a fivefold increase since 2010, driven by Ireland's famously 'competitive' tax regime. It accounts for a large slice of a €150 billion bilateral surplus. When Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin visited the Oval Office in March, Trump put it plainly: 'We do have a massive deficit with Ireland, because Ireland was very smart. They took our pharmaceutical companies away.' It's hard to argue with the logic. Ireland has been undeniably clever at attracting American capital. Spending it is another matter. Much of the money sits on Irish books without generating the economic activity one might expect. The state's coffers may be overflowing, but the windfall is narrowly concentrated. Public spending, as ever, has been handled with something shy of brilliance. From roads and hospitals to housing and energy, the services most visible to the public have seen little improvement, despite years of surging revenues. Meanwhile, resources have been channelled into more headline-friendly ventures: a €350,000 bike shed outside parliament; a vast new hospital project already among Europe's most expensive; and billions annually to accommodate asylum applicants – most of whom, the government has conceded, are economic migrants. The miracle, it seems, left little room for prudence. As every lottery winner learns, easy money tends to breed excess. But with full coffers, Ireland could afford to paper over the cracks. Meanwhile, American tech and pharma giants have flourished. Apple, Microsoft, Pfizer and others have routed billions through Ireland, to the delight of shareholders and pension funds. If Trump moves to close loopholes or impose tariffs, these are the interests he'll have to console ahead of the midterms. The losers, predictably, are the American workers left behind by the long, slow flight of industry and tax revenue. Worse off still are the countries quietly drained by Ireland's magic act. The sums involved are vast. The structures that move them are so complex they can feel impossibly abstract. But the consequences are not. According to modelling by the Universities of St Andrews and Leicester, this tax loss has deprived more than 100,000 children of school attendance and some 1.1 million people of access to basic sanitation. Quibble with the methods if you like, but the core truth is hard to deny: when profits are rerouted, people are short-changed. Not that Dublin seems overly troubled. Only last month, Ireland's Taoiseach declared: 'Ireland earns its living from an open and fair approach to world trade.' The most pious nations often turn out to be the most artful. Ireland rarely misses a chance to sermonise on Gaza, climate justice, or whichever cause currently allows it to cast itself as Europe's moral compass. But as La Rochefoucauld noted, hypocrisy is the tribute vice pays to virtue. And by that measure, Ireland has paid handsomely.
