Eye on Parking: ParkMobile Sold to EasyPark And Fast Park Adds Contactless Payments

ParkMobile LLC will have a new owner with the pending sale of its parent company, Park Now Group, to EasyPark Group. Announced Tuesday, the deal will see Atlanta-based ParkMobile, which says it has more than 22 million users in 450 cities, become part of Stockholm-based EasyPark.

Park Now has been owned by BMW Group and Daimler Mobility AG. The deal also includes Park Now’s European brands.

Terms were not disclosed. ParkMobile says its brand will be retained. “ParkMobile has very strong brand awareness in North America and there is no current plan to rebrand,” a spokesperson says in an email to Digital Transactions News. The deal should close in the first half of the year, an EasyPark spokesperson says.

The acquisition marks EasyPark’s entry into the North American market. “Over the past 12 years, ParkMobile has emerged as the technology leader in North America for contactless parking and mobility payments,” Jon Ziglar, ParkMobile chief executive, said in a statement. “Joining forces with EasyPark Group will enable us to continue this momentum into the future and opens up an array of new global growth opportunities.”

Earlier this year, ParkMobile said that TIBA Parking Systems, which manages access to more than 1.9 million parking spaces in the United States, would allow motorists to enter and exit gated parking garages using ParkMobile’s mobile-payment technology.

The BMW/Daimler Park Now joint venture began in 2019. Prior to that, BMW acquired ParkMobile in 2018 and had owned Park Now since 2016.

In related news, Cincinnati-based Fast Park, an airport-parking provider, said it completed installation of contactless payment technology at its 16 facilities. While the pandemic has affected airline travel, it also provided time for Fast Park to complete the installation this month without disrupting its operations. 

Drivers can pay with a mobile wallet, like Apple Pay or Google Pay, or with a contactless-enabled credit or debit card. Dipped EMV and swiped payments remain available, too.

“For years, we’ve offered mobile capabilities that replaced the need for a paper ticket,” Robert Chavez, Fast Park chief operating officer, said in a statement. “Our rollout of this new payment technology was the last step in providing our guests a truly contactless entry and exit experience.”