Phone Parking - Mobile Payment Magazine

Setting up your business to receive mobile payments gives you to the flexibility to take payments from your customers no matter where they are. Within the past few years, the concept of being able to buy goods and services without taking out their wallet and/or going to specific location has become very popular with many consumers.

There are two types of mobile payments systems. The first type is when a customer uses his or her credit card to pay for something, but the merchant uses a mobile processing system to accept the credit card. The second way is for a customer to use their mobile phone to make a payment.

This second method is more commonly called cell phone credit card processing. Under this method, any person who wants to pay for an item or a service can use an application downloaded on his or her cellular phone to make a payment. At the end of the month, the charges for these goods or services show up on the customer’s mobile phone bill.

There are several different ways for a business to use mobile payments. One of the most talked about ways this technology is being used is in vending machines and parking meters. With mobile payment processing centers on these devices, customers simply pay the exact amount of money owed rather than necessitating exact change. Additionally, a customer can get a receipt for his or her purchase.

Mobile payments are becoming increasingly popular among many types of businesses. Before mobile payments, many small businesses were not set up to accept credit card payments. The main reason for this was the cost of the equipment to process the credit cards. Additionally, in order for the equipment to work properly, it had to be connected to a land-based phone line. This phone line made it impossible for companies who conduct business at remote locations or places without phone line access to accept credit card payments. With mobile payments, however, a business can now use mobile phone lines or the Internet to process these payments.

It is relatively simple for a business to set up mobile payment. The business owner sets up a normal merchant account for their business and can set up an application on their phone that accepts the customer’s account information and debits the funds accordingly.

Service providers such as plumbers, roofers, electricians, or landscapers can now utilize mobile payment technology to accept their customers’ credit cards immediately after the service is rendered. This is much better than collecting payment information or checks, then waiting to either run the charges or find out if the checks have cleared the bank.

Source: Online Media Partners

RingGo, Inc., a leader in pay-by-phone parking in the UK, has acquired the assets of Rockville Maryland based iControl Mobile Payment Solutions for an undisclosed amount of cash. iControl Mobile entered the pay for phone parking market in early 2010 and gained a foothold through its strength in marketing, branding and the technology expertise of its parent company, iControl Systems USA.

Phone parking is a software-based solution to on-street, off-street, garaged and a variety of other paid parking scenarios. Phone parking allows customers to pay for parking with the use of only a cell phone and credit or debit card. It eliminates the need for walking to pay stations, counting coins for meters and returning to the street to renew time. It is an entirely green technology, and can be implemented by parking operators with virtually no capital investment, no new equipment, and no installation of any infrastructure.

RingGo, Inc. is backed in large part by Cobalt Telephone Technologies ltd, provider of RingGo cashless payment solutions for parking. The acquisition of iControl Mobile puts Cobalt in a position to introduce RingGo pay by phone technology to the United States market. RingGo has 73% of the pay-by-phone parking market in the UK, with approximately 2 million registered users.

RingGo, Inc. will trade under the iControl Mobile name briefly, and will transition to the RingGo, Inc. brand within the coming months. iControl Mobile’s executive management will remain unchanged.

iControl Mobile Managing Director, Amie Devero, says, “This is a terrific development for both iControl Mobile and Cobalt. We are incredibly proud to bring RingGo to the US market, and delighted to offer such a wide range of benefits to our customers.”

iControl Mobile’s product offerings will be strengthened by the addition of Cobalt’s catalog of additional parking technologies.

iControl Mobile Payments Technologies, LLC was formed in 2009 by iControl Systems. iControl Systems is a privately held scan-based trading company providing services to most major retailers in the US, including Barnes and Noble, Kroger and CVS. According to its most recent data, iControl Systems is expected to exceed $200m in gross revenue in 2010. Information about iControl Systems can be found at www.iControlUSA.com.

Cobalt Telephone Technologies, ltd. is a UK-based telephone payment transaction company, providing multiple services to the transit sector, including RingGo pay by phone for parking. RingGo service is available in over 3000 unique parking locations in England, Scotland and Wales, in support of 53 municipalities and 14 rail operators. For more information on Cobalt, please visit www.ctt.co.uk.

Setting Up Your Business to Accept Mobile Payments

Ringo Inc. Acquires iControl Mobile Systems