Most of the attention of the tech-world is focused on Self-Driving cars, which are likely to be among the “Top 25 Digital Startup ideas and technologies for 2017 (link). A couple of weeks ago, we saw the announcement – Volkswagen Group opts for charging network intercharge Hubject – The German automaker seems to be continuing with its acquisition spree by acquiring a Canadian mobile payments company, PayByPhone. Car makers continue to invest heavily in trying to compete in mobility race.

More about this current acquisition by VW:

Volkswagen Financial Services AG Acquires PayByPhone – Move Demonstrates Significant Confidence and Market Growth for Mobile Payments and Parking

As consumers look for easy-to-use mobile solutions that fit their increasingly digital lives, the PayByPhone acquisition signals a growing market for mobile-payment solutions. PayByPhone’s technology — the fastest way to pay for parking — will soon be available for millions more drivers across the globe. In 2016, PayByPhone has already processed more than $250 million in payments and is adding approximately 7,000 users per day to their already substantial base of more than 12.5 million registered users.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for PayByPhone to explore new ways to expand our mobile payments technology into different verticals, markets and use cases. The mobile payment movement has exploded recently, and we look forward to accelerating our consumer parking and payments agenda made possible by this deal,” said Kush Parikh, CEO of PayByPhone. “Volkswagen Financial Services AG has been at the forefront of innovation to fit its customers’ mobile lives, and we are honored to be a part of its global vision.”

The PayByPhone acquisition expands the Volkswagen Financial Services AG footprint in the mobile-payment solutions market, and positions the organization as the central service provider within the Volkswagen Group for the parking business. Volkswagen Financial Services AG has already acquired a 92 percent shareholding in Sunhill Technologies GmbH, the German market leader in mobile-parking solutions across 90 German cities.

“With the acquisition of PayByPhone, we are now the leading provider for the processing and mobile payment of parking. In the future, we will be bundling this know-how in a separate business field around the theme of parking,” said Dr. Christian Dahlheim, the management board member responsible for sales and marketing at Volkswagen Financial Services AG. | PayByPhone Press Release |

Wall Street Journal:

The German auto maker’s Volkswagen Financial Services AG will dish out an undisclosed sum to acquire PayByPhone, a Vancouver-based company that allows people to pay for certain parking spaces by mobile apps, phone calls or texts. PayByPhone, founded in 2000, says it processes $300 million in transactions annually. PayByPhone’s transaction volume amounts to just a sliver of the hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue that Volkswagen generates annually through sales of cars, trucks, financial services and other products. But the deal is about far more than one of the world’s largest auto makers getting into the parking business.

Financial Post

Volkswagen’s financial arm buys Vancouver startup PayByPhone in scramble for technology – PayByPhone, which said it processes more than US$250 million in payments each year, allows its users to securely pay for certain parking spaces with their phones and be alerted when their time expires. The app has 12.5 million registered users and can be used in several cities in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the U.K. and France, the company said. PayByPhone has about 100 employees worldwide.

Cnet

VW adds parking prowess through PayByPhone acquisition – PayByPhone, a service that lets drivers pay for parking meters with their phones, will be acquired by Volkswagen Financial Services, a part of the Volkswagen Group. The acquisition will give Volkswagen parking payment services in the US, Canada, the UK, France, Switzerland and Australia. Volkswagen previously acquired a stake in Sunhill Technologies, which provides parking payment services in Germany. Volkswagen’s interest in parking payment services demonstrates a broader trend among automakers of investing in services connected to mobility.