New Haven Introduces First Fully-Functional Comprehensive Parking and Local Merchant Smart Card Payment System In U.S.

NEW HAVEN, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 14, 2005--

Parcxmart Technologies(TM) and City of New Haven to offer convenient coin-free parking meter and garage parking, and multi-functional Smart Cards for retail purchases

“Not only will these cards make parking, commuting, and shopping easier for everyone”

New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, Jr. has officially turned on the United States' first fully-functional parking and local merchant smart card payment system. Beginning today, people coming to and living in New Haven can load up to $100 onto a Parcxmart(TM) card and use it to pay for parking at participating parking lots and garages, and for retail purchases at participating local merchants. In addition, New Haven's Traffic and Parking Department expects to replace its 2700 on-street meter inventory with Parcxmart compliant meters over the next year.

At present there are nine New Haven Parking Authority garages and lots, and 26 private garages and lots that will securely accept Parcxmart(TM) Card transactions. They account for approximately 12,000 parking spaces. There are 25 participating merchant locations in New Haven.

The new technology means the City of New Haven will collect 90 cents of every dollar spent on prepaid parking, with the remaining ten cents going to the vendor. This is an improvement from the previous system in which New Haven collected only 62 cents on the dollar. This change, along with the increased revenue expected as a result of the more convenient Parcxmart Card, could save taxpayers $250,000 a year.

"Not only will these cards make parking, commuting, and shopping easier for everyone," said Mayor DeStefano. "This technology will save taxpayer money."

As the nation's first fully-functional smart card parking payment program that involves both the city and its local merchants, the Parcxmart(TM) Card will be sold through local merchants who benefit from this new revenue stream.

"The ready access of the Parcxmart Cards through the merchants and garages will make using these cards to pay for parking and small dollar purchases convenient for people who park, work, or shop in New Haven," says New Haven's Department of Traffic and Parking Director Paul Wessel. "This is a practical and profitable example of how the city and its local businesses can work together to provide improved services to people who live in or who commute to and from New Haven."

"Our goal is to have other neighboring cities adopt the Parcxmart system so that over time there will be a convenient alternative for parking payments for New England's commuters and local travelers wherever they drive," said John Regan, President and CEO of Parcxmart Technologies, an electronic payments company. "The benefits of offering multi-functional smart cards to a parking system operator are that parking revenues increase while operating costs decrease. Merchants benefit because they can generate store traffic and income by selling the cards, reloading value on the cards and accepting them. The interoperability of these cards means that consumers can use the cards for parking and for purchasing items within participating local stores and in all participating cities."

The Parcxmart(TM) Card solution is a comprehensive payment platform that uses smart card technology to offer drivers and consumers a convenient one card alternative to coins and cash for small dollar transactions at on-street and off-street parking locations, as well as for retail purchases at participating merchants across the United States.