Parking officials at Conestoga College have been receiving a lot of of positive feedback about a mobile payment app called HonkMobile.
The app allows students and visitors to pay for their parking using their smartphones. Less than two week into the program, the app is already set to expand to parking lots at the Cambridge, Waterloo, and Guelph campuses.
During the first week, 104 students signed up to use the app. The app makes it really easy for students and staff to pay for parking, also warning them when their time is running out.
Conestoga’s director of safety, security and parking Kirsty McMurtrie said:
“They can extend the parking from their phone without having to go back out to their car. And security is notified that they have done so, and they avoid getting a ticket.”
Parking officials are also notified when the parking time is extended, and they are also notified of when a car’s time is running out.
The company behind the app is based in Toronto. HonkMobile allows colleges to use the app for no cost, but the company takes 25 cents for each transaction. McMurtrie said:
“Which would then cause people to come into the building to pay, and then go out and put something in their car. It is better customer service, it is more convenient for our visitors, as well as staff and students.
We are really trying to cut down on costs as well as paper, be a little bit more environmentally friendly, as well as provide a better service.”
HonkMobile will rolling out to all college parking lots in time for the start of the new school year this September. The parking lots at Conestoga are among 500 lots where the mobile payment app can be used.
The app uses GPS technology to show the exact location of the driver and the nearest HonkMobile-enabled parking lot. The company also collects information about its users, which can be valuable information to advertisers and retailers.
[via The Record]
