wow, imagine never having to scramble under the car seats for enough spare change to feed the pay and display meter because you can pay for parking with your mobile. it’s the side effects that really sell this scheme to me though:

if frank decides to stay longer in town, he receives an automated sms message saying his parking time is about to expire. he can top it up from his mobile. no need to dash back to the car park and placate traffic wardens. wardens recognise his car is in the scheme from the permit on the windscreen. they check he is paid by punching his vehicle registration details into a handheld device. they can also use the device to send him an sms message if he has forgotten to turn off his lights or has a flat tyre. i love getting useful sms text messages and these would definitely be useful ones like those the the aa send to tell me their patrol are on their way to me. the article suggests that m-payment schemes like this pilot in hull will be coming to the rest of the uk soon and that the first things to take them will be car parks and taxis. anything that removes my need to carry pockets full of coins about is very welcome.