How EasyPark Group keeps millions of users informed with SMS and RCS

With its digital parking apps, EasyPark Group has improved the parking experience for millions of users across more than 20 countries.

And Alex Keynes, Head of Product for the driver's experience, knows that people will only use EasyPark Group’s applications if they are secure and convenient — starting from the moment they log in. 

EasyPark Group was relying on multiple vendors to deliver SMS parking reminders and one-time passcodes (OTPs) across multiple markets. Their team found themselves spending a lot of time troubleshooting deliverability issues which varied from country to country.  

"We operate in thousands of cities — all with different rules, regulations, and complexity,” Alex said. “We had many different SMS providers in many different markets. Things like delivery rates varied by market, and it takes up a lot of the team’s time to optimize all of them.” 

While these messages are a small part of a customer’s experience and daily life, they are critical.  

As Alex puts it, “If users can't access our products, they can't park, and that impacts the whole business.” 

One communications partner to fuel every market 

Alex needed a technology partner with the same global reach as EasyPark Group and the ability to scale — and that's what led them to Sinch. 

By switching to one partner for all markets, EasyPark Group simplified their messaging infrastructure without sacrificing a high-quality driver experience.  

“Sinch is reliable, their delivery rates are high, and they’re not taking any shortcuts,” Alex explained. “For us, this is something that we can rely on and that we don't need to spend a lot of time on.” 

Creating a secure driver experience with RCS 

Although the verification API consolidation to send OTPs is critical to EasyPark Group’s success, their partnership with Sinch presented another opportunity to keep drivers safe. 

Alex said that Sinch’s team championed technology called Rich Communication Services (RCS) — an upgraded messaging protocol for Android users like Apple’s iMessage. 

According to Proofpoint’s 2024 State of the Phish report, 75% of respondents said they experienced SMS phishing (or smishing) scams. The magic of RCS is that brands can become verified senders, which provides visual cues that the incoming message is from a reputable company.  

With RCS enabled, drivers using Android devices will know that messages are coming directly from EasyPark Group. 

Right away, drivers will see that EasyPark Group is a verified sender, thanks to the blue check mark next to its logo. Plus, they can see brand information like phone number, website, and email address from the contact details. 

For Alex, this upgraded messaging experience could be the extra touch needed to turn drivers into regular users.  

"Once a customer downloads our app, they're someone that we want to hang on to for their driving life. Forming that trust early, making them feel secure, protecting their account information, is super critical. And I think that's where things like RCS can really help.” 

The best part: RCS through Sinch is easy to set up and maintain. 

“From a technical perspective,” Alex said, “it's been really simple and something that hasn't created any friction for users or for us. We didn't need a new integration. We're talking about a sprint's worth of work to get the MVP out. So, it was a bit of a no-brainer to try.” 

RCS gets the green light 

Alex and his team tested RCS in Germany. 

"Since we launched RCS, 40% of messages have been sent via RCS in Germany, and the delivery rates jumped up to 97.4%, which is pretty impressive,” Alex said. "From a proof-of-concept point of view, we've hit the goals we need to see, and we're going to roll it out to more markets.” 

In the future, Alex could see a use for RCS beyond one-time passwords and parking reminders. Drivers could chat with customer support and extend their parking time without needing to open EasyPark’s apps. 

“What's great about working with Sinch is that we can cover all of these use cases under one product,” Alex said. “I think that's what makes this relationship flourish.”