3.8
ParkAppsHub score
PayByPhone
PayByPhone Technologies Inc. (a Corpay company)
Street parking payment · Free
Best for: drivers in North America and Europe who want fast, no-permit street/lot parking payment with remote time extension
4.8
Google Play · 242K
4.7
App Store
10M+
Downloads
7
Countries
Global
AndroidiOSWeb
1,300+ cities
About this app
PayByPhone is a Vancouver-born parking payment platform, started as an IVR phone service before smartphones existed and now owned by payments group Corpay, which bought it from Volkswagen Financial Services for roughly $300 million in 2023. It handles street parking, municipal lots, universities and some private operators in more than 1,300 locations across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. Its footprint includes marquee contracts competitors lack: central London boroughs such as Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea, plus Paris, Miami, San Francisco, Seattle and its home city Vancouver. Drivers enter or scan a posted location code, pick a duration and pay by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or PayPal; enforcement checks the plate, so there is nothing to display. Sessions can be started, extended or stopped remotely, and history plus emailed receipts simplify expensing, with dedicated business accounts for fleets. The app is free, but many cities add a per-transaction convenience fee and charge extra for SMS reminders, so the final total can exceed the posted tariff. Payments also work through the website or a phone call, making PayByPhone usable without a smartphone — a legacy of its dial-in roots.
- Pay street and lot parking by entering or scanning a location code, tied to your license plate
- Start, extend or stop sessions remotely from anywhere
- Maps and Nearby view to locate parking zones around you
- Push notifications and optional paid SMS reminders before expiry, plus a Today View widget
- Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal (where available) and card payments
- Parking history with emailed receipts and business profiles for expensing
- Web and phone-call payment options — no app strictly required
Pricing & fees
Free · convenience fee in many cities (typically $0.25–0.45) · optional SMS alerts ~$0.10–0.15
- App download and account creation are free; most cities add a convenience/transaction fee of roughly $0.25-$0.45 (or local currency equivalent) per parking session
- Optional SMS reminder alerts before a session expires cost about $0.10-$0.15 per text in many markets, avoidable by using free push notifications instead
- Some municipal contracts waive the convenience fee entirely, so exact pricing varies city by city and is shown before you confirm payment
- PayByPhone for Business offers fleet/expense accounts with monthly consolidated invoicing rather than per-session card charges
Accepted payment methods
Credit/debit cardApple PayGoogle PayPayPal (select markets)Corporate/fleet account billing
Ratings & scores
Editorial score set by the ParkAppsHub team using our five-criteria grid — see how we rate. Store ratings shown for reference.
What users say
▲ Most praised
- Eliminates hunting for coins or working meters, especially where meter coverage is poor
- Remote session extension is convenient when stuck in a meeting or traffic
- Broad city coverage means one app works across many trips and regions
▼ Common complaints
- Per-session convenience fees feel like a hidden markup on top of the posted parking rate
- Occasional GPS/zone-lookup errors can charge the wrong zone or rate
- Customer support response can be slow when disputing a mischarged session or fine
Summarised from recent user reviews on Google Play, the App Store and consumer platforms. Themes, not verbatim quotes.
Pros & cons
What we like
- Exclusive or dominant coverage in flagship cities: Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea in London, Paris, Miami, San Francisco, Vancouver
- Mature, polished core flow with 4.8 ratings from hundreds of thousands of store reviews
- License-plate-based sessions extendable remotely, with receipts and fleet accounts for business users
- Works via website or phone call as well as the app, useful for non-smartphone users
- Twenty-plus years of operational history under a large payments parent (Corpay)
What could improve
- City-set convenience fees plus paid SMS alerts mean the final charge often exceeds the tariff posted on signage — a recurring Trustpilot complaint
- Users report receiving fines despite valid paid sessions, and chatbot-first support with unstaffed phone lines makes disputes slow
- Billing errors surface in reviews, including duplicate charges and sessions billed far longer than selected (one UK user overpaid £112)
- The 2025 interface redesign is criticized by long-time users as busy and less intuitive
How to use PayByPhone
- Install the app and register with your mobile number, then add a payment card, Apple Pay or Google Pay.
- Add your vehicle's license plate — sessions attach to the plate, so there is no ticket to display.
- At the curb, enter or scan the location code posted on signage or the meter, or pick the zone from the in-app map.
- Choose your parking duration and confirm; enforcement officers see your plate as paid automatically.
- Turn on expiry reminders (push is free; SMS costs extra in most cities).
- If plans change, extend or stop the session from the app without returning to the car, up to the local maximum stay.
Editor’s tips
- Pre-register your license plate and default payment method so a session starts with one tap instead of entering a zone code each time
- Enable push notifications for expiring sessions instead of paying the SMS alert fee
- In cities with per-session convenience fees, avoid restarting multiple short sessions back to back since each one re-charges the fee
- Use the remote 'extend time' feature to dodge a ticket if you're running late, but verify your specific zone permits remote extension first
Editor’s verdict
PayByPhone is the elder statesman of mobile parking — it was taking meter payments by phone call in Vancouver before the iPhone existed, and that maturity shows in both its polish and its contracts. Now owned by Corpay, it anchors street parking in central London, Paris, Miami, San Francisco and Seattle among 1,300+ locations in seven countries, often as the sole approved provider. The core flow is excellent: scan a zone code, pay, extend from the pub. Store ratings of 4.8 reflect that. But the picture darkens around the edges. Convenience and SMS fees vary city by city, so the charge frequently beats the posted tariff, and Trustpilot pages rating the service 'Bad' are full of drivers fined despite paying, then stonewalled by chatbot-only support. Against EasyPark's 20-plus-country sprawl, its seven-country footprint also looks selective. The verdict: in its strongholds PayByPhone is the obvious, often mandatory choice — just screenshot every session and read the fee line before confirming.
— The ParkAppsHub editorial team · 2026-08-06
How it compares
vs ParkMobile
ParkMobile has denser coverage in many US mid-size cities; PayByPhone tends to be stronger in Canada and parts of Europe, so check which app your specific city's signage lists.
vs EasyPark
EasyPark focuses more on European and Nordic markets with garage/lot reservations, while PayByPhone leans on street-meter zone payments across a broader multi-country footprint.
vs RingGo
RingGo dominates UK council parking contracts; PayByPhone also operates in the UK but is a better single-app choice if you regularly cross into North America too.
Frequently asked questions
Is PayByPhone free to use?
The app is free to download, but many cities add a per-transaction convenience fee (about $0.25–0.45 in US cities; some, like Seattle, waive it) and charge roughly $0.10–0.15 for optional SMS reminders. Push notifications are free, and the parking tariff itself is set by the city.
Which countries does PayByPhone work in?
As of 2025 it operates in seven countries: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy, covering more than 1,300 cities, universities and private operators.
What if I get a ticket even though I paid in the app?
Keep your in-app session record and emailed receipt, then contest the ticket with the city and report it via PayByPhone's help center. Be aware support is chatbot-first with no staffed phone line, so disputes can take time — a common complaint in reviews.
Can I extend my parking without going back to the car?
Yes. Active sessions can be extended (or stopped, where the city allows) remotely from the app up to the location's maximum stay, and the app can remind you before time runs out.
Do I need the app to pay?
No. PayByPhone also accepts payments through its website and by automated phone call — a holdover from its dial-in origins — so passengers or non-smartphone users can still pay.
What happens if I get a parking ticket while using PayByPhone?
PayByPhone is a payment tool, not a shield against fines: if your session lapses, you park outside the paid zone, or a local rule isn't reflected in the app, the municipality can still issue a ticket, and disputing it goes through the city's own process, not PayByPhone support.
Does PayByPhone support electric vehicle charging or permits?
In select cities PayByPhone also handles residential permits and some EV-adjacent parking zones through municipal partnerships, but dedicated EV charging payment is handled by separate charging-network apps, not PayByPhone itself.
Can businesses manage parking for multiple employees or vehicles?
Yes, PayByPhone for Business offers fleet accounts with centralized billing, spending controls, and consolidated invoicing so companies can cover employee parking without individual expense claims.
About the developer
PayByPhone Technologies Inc. was founded in Vancouver in 2000 as one of the earliest mobile parking payment providers, partnering directly with municipalities and private lot operators to replace coin meters with phone-based payment. It was acquired by Volkswagen Financial Services in 2014 and later became part of Corpay (formerly FLEETCOR) as that company built out a broader mobility-payments portfolio. Today PayByPhone processes parking transactions across North America, Europe, and other regions, integrating with municipal parking authorities to offer zone-based payment, time extension, and permit management inside a single consumer app.
Additional information
Developer
PayByPhone Technologies Inc. (a Corpay company)
Founded
2000
Headquarters
Vancouver, Canada
Ownership
Corpay (formerly FLEETCOR)
Category
Street parking payment
Price
Free
Coverage
1,300+ cities
Downloads
10M+
Languages
English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch
Reviewed
2026-08-06
Where it works
1,300+ cities — including Vancouver, San Francisco, Seattle, Miami, Baltimore, Ottawa, Brighton, Zurich.
United States
Canada
United Kingdom
France
Germany
Switzerland
Italy
Similar apps
More in Global →
Blinkay
Parkopedia Parking
Flowbird Parking
Independent review. ParkAppsHub is not affiliated with PayByPhone Technologies Inc. (a Corpay company). App name, logo and screenshots belong to their owners and are shown for identification and review purposes. Coverage, prices and features change — verify current conditions with the publisher. Last reviewed 2026-08-06.