Another parking app for mobile devices is showing how mobile payments can make simple transactions even simpler. Flash Valet, an Austin, Texas-based company, said it will be launching an app soon that lets users get rid of paper tickets, long waits and scrambling for cash to pay for valet parking.

To use the tool, consumers simply install the app and use it to check in their vehicles at participating parking lots. They can then track their cars, request their cars for pick-up and even pay the bill, either through a credit card or PayPal.

"We saw an industry that could benefit from mobile technology, and knew its customers — all of us — would love the convenience," said Flash Valet CEO Juan Rodriguez. "So we created Flash Valet to bring an industry that is mostly cash and paper-based into the mobile space."

Along with making parking easier for consumers, Flash Valet said it helps parking providers manage their lots in real time, handle employees' time and attendance and offer customers a more convenient mobile payment alternative.

The app will be available for iOS, Android, BlackBerry and Windows devices.

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