PayByPhone app, the Vancouver-based leader in mobile parking payments, is being acquired by New York-based private equity firm Lightyear Capital.
The agreement will see Lightyear Capital purchase the company from its current owner, Corpay. While the specific financial terms of the deal have not been made public, the transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026, pending the usual regulatory approvals.
For those following the Canadian tech scene, PayByPhone has had quite a journey. Founded in 2001, the company pioneered the idea of paying for parking via a mobile phone long before smartphones were in every pocket. Since then, it has changed owners several times.
In 2016, it was bought by Volkswagen Financial Services. Later, in 2023, it was acquired by Corpay. Now, as Corpay shifts its focus more toward corporate payment solutions, PayByPhone is moving to an owner with deep experience in fintech and vertical software.
If you use the PayByPhone app to pay for your parking in cities like Vancouver, Toronto, or Montreal, the good news is that you likely won’t notice any immediate changes. Both companies have stated that it will be “business as usual” during the transition period.
Lightyear Capital manages over $7 billion in assets and has a track record of taking established companies and helping them scale. Mark Vassallo, a Managing Partner at Lightyear, highlighted PayByPhone’s strong reputation and its massive user base of over 110 million drivers globally. The firm plans to operate PayByPhone as a stand-alone independent business.
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