Drivers 'ditch' long-standing tradition while parking in car parks
Drivers ditch cash in favour of contactless payments as a popular parking app rakes in £30million. Accounts for RingGo Limited showed that it generated turnover of £29.9m in 2023, up 16 per cent on the previous year. Revenues have doubled over five years, up from £15.7m in 2018.
RingGo charges local councils for managing parking payments at public car parks and roads, a charge which is then passed on to drivers in the form of a “convenience fee”, typically 20p. The company’s pre-tax profits rose to £6.1m, up from £5.1m a year earlier.
“The 15.9 per cent increase in turnover has primarily been driven through increased penetration of both new motorists and increased transaction frequency… as motorists continue to move away from cash and into digital channels,” the company said. “The directors are delighted with how the company has performed in 2023.”
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The company, which started in 2009, has around 17,000 locations in the UK. RingGo’s managing director Peter O’Driscoll said: “The National Parking Platform has already delivered competition in the phone parking app market where multiple providers have been deployed across eight councils.
“We have seen a varied range of convenience fees implemented, with some charging no convenience fee, and others charging between 10p-20p. Motorists now have the choice to shop around and pay for the product they prefer to use or at the price point they are happy with.” RingGo is owned by the Swedish technology business EasyPark.
Last year the company said there are around 250m cashless parking transactions in the UK every year. RingGo, which has around 17,000 locations across the country, allows drivers to ditch their cash and pay for their parking through its app.
Drivers can then select where they want to park, as well as having the added benefit of extending their session, change the selected vehicle and download receipts.