MOBILE payment company PayByPhone has replaced Phone & Pay as the mobile parking payment provider in the Vale of Glamorgan.

The new system sees the parking payment transaction fee reduced from 50p to 5p per transaction.

The PayByPhone cashless parking system is available in approximately 1,000 off street parking spaces in five locations across the region, with further on- and off-street locations to be added.

The Vale is the fifth Welsh County to launch PayByPhone since the summer, joining Conwy, Denbighshire, Gwynedd and the Isle of Anglesey.

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Vale council operational manager engineering, Mike Clogg said: “We are always looking to make parking easier and more convenient for our many visitors and for those who live and work in the Vale of Glamorgan. "The new PayByPhone system will not only help motorists make significant savings while parking in our car parks, but also offer great flexibility by allowing drivers to start and to extend their parking sessions in a matter of seconds from the PayByPhone app.

"This means drivers don’t need to risk handling cash or to worry about rushing back to their cars if they want to stay longer than they had planned.”

To make parking even more hassle-free in Wales, in 2019, PayByPhone introduced a Welsh version of its app and refreshed all its signage across the country to include Welsh.

The PayByPhone app also includes a Maps feature that allows drivers to locate parking before they leave for their destination.

Drivers can pin their vehicle location onto the map once they have parked.

The Nearby Parking feature instantly provides drivers with the closest PayByPhone parking location number once parked.

Sales director for PayByPhone UK, Adam Dolphin said: “We are delighted to welcome the Vale of Glamorgan to the growing number of Welsh counties that have launched PayByPhone.

"We encourage drivers to download the PayByPhone app so they are ready to take advantage of the brand-new service.

"Registration is very simple and takes less than 30 seconds.”

When using phones to pay via contactless or via apps, it’s important to clean the device with alcohol-based wipes regularly.

Phones can pick up germs from surfaces on which they are placed, potentially then transferring them to hands or faces.

The PayByPhone app can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play Store and more information is available at www.paybyphone.co.uk