UK drivers are sick of having to use an app to pay for parking
Three-quarters of UK drivers (73%) who have used a mobile app to pay for parking in the last 12 months experienced difficulties doing so, with most preferring the reliability that comes from using bank cards or cash, new RAC research has found.
Of those that ran into problems, top of the list of frustrations by a considerable margin is a lack of reliable mobile phone signal in the car park (70%). This was followed by the mobile app not correctly recognising the car park the driver was in (36%), and the app in question crashing (35%).
Three-in-10 drivers (30%) reported other functionality problems with the app, while 24% said the app they were using didn’t accept their bank card. A smaller proportion of drivers (13%) said they couldn’t work out how to use the parking app in the first place – a figure that doubled to 26% for drivers surveyed aged 75 and over.
When it comes to how drivers prefer to pay for parking, the simplicity and ease that comes from using a bank card or Apple Pay/Google Pay makes this the most popular option (favoured by 46% of drivers), with cash and paying by mobile app preferred by 33% and 30% respectively.
Just 6% of drivers prefer to scan a QR code and then paying using card – something that leaves them vulnerable to so-called ‘quishing’ operations that the RAC has previously warned about.**
Nearly two-thirds of drivers (64%) who use mobile apps to pay to park have at least two installed on their phones, while 36% have at least three and around one-in-10 (15%) have as many as four or more installed at any one time.
In May, the Government announced the launch of the National Parking Platform which, if adopted widely by councils and private parking operators, should mean drivers can use a single mobile app of their choice when parking – the simplicity of which could make paying by app much more popular.
Currently 10 local authorities are live including Manchester, Liverpool and Coventry city councils but the RAC understands more are expected to be announced shortly.
“There’s no doubt mobile apps have an important and increasing role to play when it comes to parking our vehicles, and the best ones make parking an easier task for many of us,” said RAC Senior Policy Officer Rod Dennis.
“But our figures show there’s still plenty drivers find frustrating about using them – whether that’s a lack of mobile signal, problems registering bank cards, or the app crashing or behaving strangely.”
Dennis noted that parking should, in theory at least, be one of the simplest tasks any driver completes but having to navigate a variety of differently designed apps – and register an account, vehicle details and bank cards with each one – can be a pain.
“Having card details saved with a myriad of different providers also isn’t ideal from security perspective, as unlike using conventional websites there’s generally no reassuring padlock symbol on parking apps to show card details are being shared securely.”
