Charlotte, North Carolina-based PassportParking announced on Tuesday a solution that will allow drivers to pay for parking using bitcoin through the company’s Mobile Pay service at supported meters and surface lots.
The company, which provides parking facility operators solutions in the way of cloud-based software.
“We currently have coverage in over 35 states with facilities across 75 clients which include municipalities, universities and private operators,” a company spokesperson told newsBTC.
“Bitcoin is superior for online payments and today many traditional brick and mortar payments are moving online – you pay for your taxi using Square and for your parking using PassportParking,” Michael Gronager, COO of Payward (the company behind exchange Kraken) said. “We have always used coins for parking so using bitcoins is the natural successor.”
The company has teamed up with BitPay in order to process the transactions.
The service will launch in North Carolina starting with parking facilities operator Park Charlotte, who run a number of lots in the Charlotte area.
“This great technology is what we’ve come to expect from Passport,” said Ross Brewer, who heads Park Charlotte. “By allowing us to accept payment directly from our customer, without the need for a middleman, is a win-win situation for us and our customers.”
The announcement comes as the first of its kind in the parking industry. Will the competitors catch on and follow suit?