Darmstadt, September 21, 2006

Mobile phones set to become a universal means of payment in Darmstadt

In future, mobile phone owners in Darmstadt may be able to do a lot more with their phones than just make calls or send text messages, as they are set to replace parking tickets and travel tickets on local public transport services and will even serve as entrance tickets for events. A company based in Mühltal aims to offer a wide range of new mobile services.

At the moment this wonderful new world of mobile possibilities is still a dream. The Darmstadt magistrate has granted permission to the system supplier FunkTicket from the neighboring town of Mühltal to set up a pilot project in Darmstadt during which new mobile phone based services will be trialed. When asked for more information, a spokesperson for FunkTicket simply said that »the details are still being discussed by all parties involved«, but he declined to make any further comment.

In April, FunkTicket launched a new system in the regional capital Wiesbaden which allows parking fees in a multi-storey car park to be paid via mobile phone. After registering on the Internet, a barcode is sent to the mobile phone of the driver. A scanning device at the barrier then reads the length of time for which the car is parked in the car park, and the fees are automatically debited from a nominated account.

According to a proposal of the magistrate, the range of mobile phone services in Darmstadt is to be widened significantly. This will not only include the payment of car parking fees and ticket purchases for buses and trains, but the aim is also to enable mobile phone users to use their telephones to pay for purchases in shops or use them as customer loyalty cards on which to collect loyalty scheme points. According to the information provided, multi-storey car park operator Q-Park and the fashion clothing retailer Hentschel & Ropertz are among those involved in the trial project. According to plans, the necessary technology will be gradually installed during the course of the next year.

A positive impact on the image of the city
The magistrate believes that it is not just mobile phone customers who will benefit from the new services. According to the proposal signed by Lord Mayor Walter Hoffmann, head of department for traffic Dieter Wenzel (both members of the SPD party) and head of department for the environment Klaus Feuchtinger (Green party), »this type of innovation underlines the image of the city as a progressive city«.

Numerous companies offering mobile phone services have tried in the past to get the city on board as a partner. FunkTicket AG, which was founded in 2004, is part of the system vendor REA which has its registered office in Mühltal (district of Darmstadt-Dieburg). The REA Group is a specialist for cashless payment systems, data acquisition and barcode reading devices. As well as having many years of experience in the field, the city council felt that the company had a concept which offered multiple functionality and was not restricted to individual areas such as parking - unlike some of the rival systems that were on the table. The magistrate is hoping for regional networking, as FunkTicket are planning to incorporate the services of other companies.

Public transport provider Heag Mobilo welcomes these proposals. »This is a new way to sell tickets, and one that definitely would appeal to our younger customers«, said company spokesperson Silke Rautenberg. However, the project would be difficult to implement from a technical point of view as many different tariffs apply in and around the Darmstadt region. The transport provider also believes that it will be difficult to finance the proposal. »This is not something that can be done without additional costs.« Heag Mobilo definitely has no intention of helping with the financing, and Ms Rautenberg suspects that it will only be possible to make this concept become a reality in the long term.

Frankfurter Rundschau, Gert Blumenstock

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