The first official coronavirus case in Hungary was reported at the beginning of March. A few weeks later, due to the increasing number of cases, the Hungarian government decided to introduce movement restrictions. The restriction brought the country’s usual operations to a halt for an entire month, causing some small and private businesses to close and tens of thousands of people to become unemployed. In response to the pandemic, Rollet, a Hungarian startup, began developing software for drive-through coronavirus testing by car, which they are now making widely available and free to use in order to support a rapid response to any potential next wave.

The technology for drive-through coronavirus testing was first launched in Budapest in April, where several hundred visitors were tested within just a few days with the help of the innovation. Drive-through testing had already been used in Asian countries before the Hungarian solution, but due to paper-based administration, these systems proved to be slow and, because of physical contact, also carried a risk of infection. The essence of the contactless solution developed by the startup is that patients arriving at the testing station must first register their personal details and vehicle information in order to become eligible for on-site coronavirus testing. The data recording process itself is also paperless and contactless, as the identity of those authorised to enter the testing station is verified through an application. During sampling, the sample labelled with a serial number and the patient are matched using a QR code through an app interface developed for the staff working in the sampling zone.

“From the very beginning of the planning phase, the team and I agreed that we would make the finished product widely available so that countries could respond immediately and effectively to the next crisis caused by an epidemic. By recording data in the cloud through an application, the capacity of the testing area can double compared to a paper-based administrative process, which can be extremely important during periods of mass testing. There is no unified position on whether the coronavirus will cause another wave of infections in the autumn; however, our application offers a very fast and efficient solution for identifying patients.”
— Andy Zhang, Founder and CEO of Rollet

The project, named “Noé”, is free to use and, thanks to the MIT licence, can be freely developed further by private companies or government organisations. It is available at Github.com/rollethu/noe. In addition to unrestricted use, according to the startup, the system makes it possible to launch a drive-through testing station at any selected location within just a few days. The source code, even without further development, is suitable for receiving and sampling several thousand visitors. The programme can be used not only for coronavirus testing, but also for the rapid detection of any virus where a vehicle provides a suitable environment for sampling or screening.

Rollet launched its contactless payment service in Hungary in 2017. Since then, it has made cashless, vehicle-based payment available to visitors at dozens of locations, including gated car parks, office buildings, factory sites, and business parks. In 2020, the international tech magazine The Next Web selected Rollet as one of Europe’s best Hungarian startup innovations, while last year the audience of the Vienna Property Forum voted it the “Most Promising Startup Company”. Hiventures, within the framework of the Széchenyi 2020 programme, has so far supported the expansion of the vehicle-based technology with HUF 310 million.

The free parking measure introduced on 6 April had a significant impact on traffic in Budapest over the past few weeks. In order to support more effective protection against the pandemic, the government introduced free parking in public areas of major Hungarian cities, which is expected to remain in effect until the end of the state of emergency.

In light of the epidemiological situation, the purpose of the regulation is to encourage people to use cars instead of public transport wherever possible, thereby increasing the opportunity for physical distancing. As a result, free parking led to increased car traffic in the days following the announcement.

In the weeks before the measure was introduced, car traffic in Budapest had already undergone an extremely significant decline. In the second half of March, the maximum daily traffic did not even exceed the level usually seen during the quietest period of the year. Traffic levels can be estimated using statistics from the Waze application, TomTom, and Budapest Közút. In the week following the announcement of the state of emergency and preventive restrictions on 11 March, the number of daily active Waze users fell from the average of 18,000 per day to 9,000. In the following week, this number dropped even further, with only 6,000 users actively using the application each day. Statistics from Budapest Közút, based on bridge traffic, showed even lower estimates: according to their data, traffic in Budapest fell by nearly 40% in the second half of March.

The decline in car traffic is also confirmed by statistics from the Rollet application, which enables drive-through vehicle payment and contactless parking. The number of parking sessions made with Rollet fell significantly in the second half of March: following the official announcement by the Hungarian government, the number of parking sessions in Budapest dropped by 65% compared to the period before the pandemic. This suggests that Budapest users only left their homes when necessary, thereby contributing to slowing the spread of the pandemic. Rollet and Star Park Group jointly offered an 80% discount in Star Park car parks in Budapest to help those who were unable to work from home.

As a consequence of the decision to introduce free parking, however, more people got behind the wheel again, leading to a 10–15% increase in car traffic during the first weeks of April, according to Wazestats, TomTom, and Budapest Közút statistics. Although traffic levels remained significantly lower than before the pandemic, reaching only 63–68% of average traffic levels, some parts of the city centre saw a much larger increase. According to TomTom’s locally segmented data, traffic rose more sharply in certain areas after the introduction of free parking: in some parking zones of the capital, traffic growth exceeded 50%.

The controversy surrounding free parking stems partly from the fact that the interests of local residents may be negatively affected. As a result of increased car traffic, fewer parking spaces are available for local residents, and the number of illegal parking incidents has also increased.

The pandemic situation presents numerous challenges for urban transport. The consequences of the measures introduced in response to it may have a major impact on the future of transport in Budapest, as more and more major cities turn towards safer alternative mobility solutions.

Sources used in the article:

https://magyarkozlony.hu/dokumentumok/a67ce792810ae64f0fa5758c88c5876a95204b4e/megtekintes
https://www.portfolio.hu/ingatlan/20200409/megugrott-az-autosforgalom-az-ingyenes-parkolas-ota-425322
http://wazestats.com/active.php?city=7
https://www.tomtom.com/en_gb/traffic-index/budapest-traffic/

As drivers, we often experience that there are not enough parking spaces in the car parks of shopping centres, airports, or office buildings, while high-traffic destinations are becoming increasingly crowded. With its own software and hardware development, Rollet automates the parking process, increasing traffic flow and freeing up parking capacity.

At the beginning of March, Andy Zhang, CEO of Rollet, was invited to the Unisso Connect Budapest Series to present Rollet’s contactless vehicle-based solution to the audience of the online conference.

An urban driver spends an average of 17 hours per year on parking, queuing, payment, and other parking-related activities. Taking this into account, the European Parking Association has been encouraging service providers for years to integrate “invisible” products that make parking seamless. Thanks to technological development, we can already pay for services using a wide range of devices, such as our phones and smartwatches. But what about automatic drive-through payment by car, where the car essentially becomes a payment device?

Traditional drive-through payment solutions and licence plate recognition systems, also known as ANPR, are not new technologies. However, their implementation is costly, and they often have several reliability-related issues. The problems of traditional technology called for further development — and this is how automatic, contactless, vehicle-based drive-through payment was born: Rollet Pay.

For this concept to become reality, the system enabling vehicle-based payment has to be affordable, fast, and widely accessible. The innovation developed by Rollet serves exactly this purpose: the Rollet Pay payment service provides drivers with a seamless parking experience while helping service providers increase car park capacity.

How does it work? Rollet offers a “register and sit back” solution: the user simply downloads the application and registers their personal details, their car’s licence plate number, and the bank card they wish to use.

After registration, contactless payment becomes immediately available to the customer. At the service provider’s location, the payment solution is integrated by installing a Rollet Pay terminal. The implementation is very similar to putting a bank card terminal into operation.

“Instead of reading a card, we identify vehicles, making the process much faster and safer. After the system has been integrated, no further action is required.”
— Andy Zhang, Founder of Rollet

The technology is based on a vehicle recognition system that allows any car to become a payment device. This enables the user to pay for the given service with their own vehicle in a parking garage, at a fuel station, or at a drive-through fast-food restaurant. This solution makes higher utilisation possible while reducing operating costs.

The innovation holds great potential for urban mobility. The benefits of contactless payment include faster and more convenient drive-through access, which leads to higher traffic flow and increased parking capacity.

The experience gained from the first 50,000 Rollet parking transactions shows that Rollet’s technology can save an average of 4 minutes per parking session. In addition, the high usage rate measured among users has resulted in increased revenue opportunities for operators.

Rollet’s mission is to make the payment process simple and urban transport smarter and more seamless.

“We would like to invite other service providers as well to work with us and make urban driving more efficient through Rollet’s automated payment system.”
— Andy Zhang, Founder of Rollet

If the coronavirus pandemic has had one positive effect, it is undoubtedly the rapid growth of technological adoption. We have simply been forced to turn to new solutions that make our everyday lives safer and easier to manage. One such solution is contactless payment, which ensures that we do not have to pay with cash, especially as the virus has been proven to remain viable on this surface as well. Even if we use hand sanitiser, it makes little sense if we then pay for a product or service with banknotes.

A portion of the Hungarian population still does not like paying by bank card and continues to use cash wherever possible. However, this is not a sustainable payment solution for the economy — not for the state, not for merchants, and not even for customers — especially during a pandemic. In many ways, the coronavirus has opened new doors for us in the field of technology, whether we think of distance learning, remote work, or new opportunities in card-based payment. It is also impossible to ignore the fact that the currently unpredictable economic crisis will have a serious impact on banks as well. However, the instant transfer system introduced at the beginning of March could become a real trump card for the banking sector.

Financial technology has been experiencing unprecedented growth over the past 10 years. Contactless PayPass payment appeared as a development by Mastercard, naturally pushing competitors into the so-called “FinTech revolution” as well. One-tap PayPass payment has become part of our everyday lives because it not only saves customers time and money, but also makes purchasing as convenient as possible.

From 2 March this year, instant 24-hour transfers became available for retail and corporate customers through the Instant Payment System, known in Hungary as AFR. This system ensures the smooth, secure, and real-time flow of money between parties. Transfer transactions are completed in less than 5 seconds, with the exception of batch transfers, which remain subject to the usual transfer rules. According to experts, this may be the solution that measurably reduces the level of cash withdrawals, which in turn could clearly reduce the intensity of Hungarian forint banknote issuance by the Hungarian National Bank. Several banks have also made cash deposits available to customers through ATMs, which likewise supports the reduction of banknotes already in circulation.

The instant transfer system opens new doors in banking, as payment requests — already active in the Revolut application — may soon become widely available. To use them, all we will need is a secondary identifier, such as a phone number, email address, or tax number. This solution could become a perfect replacement for paying traditional yellow postal cheques — for example for electricity, water, internet, or TV bills — reducing the service provider’s payment collection process to a fraction of its current complexity. Payment request as a financial solution is currently only optional, but some financial service providers are already using this payment method.

Budapest is clearly one of the defining cities of the Central European startup world, providing an ideal economic environment and tech ecosystem for developing the financial solutions of the future. One example is Rollet, a company that turns the user’s car into a rolling bank card.

Rollet is an innovative service that enables drive-through payment by car. Thanks to Rollet’s vehicle recognition technology, the car essentially becomes a payment device, eliminating the need to queue at parking meters.

The contactless Rollet payment process:

1. The user registers their personal details, the licence plate number of their car, and the bank card they wish to use in the application.
2. Contactless payment becomes immediately available to the customer after registration, as the payment operation is completed through camera-based vehicle recognition and the car simply driving through. The automated payment process takes only 2 seconds.
3. At the end of a successful transaction, the user receives an electronic receipt for the paid service. Businesses can also request a VAT invoice through the application.

Drive-through payment is currently active in the parking sector and is available at more than 30 locations nationwide, including Budapest and several cities outside the capital, as well as Debrecen International Airport, where the internationally awarded payment solution was first applied in an airport car park.

The Next Web selected Rollet as one of Hungary’s most influential startups in 2020. In addition to exhibiting at the event, Rollet was given the opportunity to present its Hungarian innovation on the TNW stage to an international audience.

Thanks to Rollet’s mobility innovation, any vehicle can become a payment device, allowing drivers to pay for parking, refuelling, or drive-through restaurant services simply by driving through. Rollet’s vehicle-based payment solution requires no physical interaction from the user, as the entire payment process is fully automated—from vehicle recognition to the completion of the financial transaction.

“We are proud to join startups such as Codecool, Recart, Syncee, and Talentuno. The Budapest startup ecosystem has developed significantly in recent years, and this growth is essential for innovators to bring world-class, never-before-seen ideas to life in Hungary. At Rollet, we believe we are working on a unique solution that makes everyday life simpler, faster, and more seamless for drivers.”
— Andy Zhang, CEO of Rollet

Every year, TNW Tech5 showcases Europe’s most exciting startups based on their growth trajectory and future potential. The selection criteria include major investment rounds, team expansion, and the social impact of the solution. The five most innovative companies from each participating European country receive an invitation to present their ideas on the main stage of the TNW Conference.

The goal of TNW 2020 is to help startups reach the next level through networking opportunities and venture capital investment. Last year, more than 5,000 startups exhibited at the conference, and together they secured over €4 billion in funding from investors.

Rollet is a new payment service that enables drive-through payment with a vehicle. With the help of Rollet’s vehicle recognition cameras, the car becomes a payment device, eliminating the need for manual cash or card payments, as well as queuing at parking meters, fuel stations, or drive-through restaurants.

The idea of drive-through payment by car was inspired by an experience in Hungary in 2016: when leaving a parking garage, the ticket machine was not working, so the usual process of exiting, which normally takes only a few minutes, increased to 20 minutes. This raised a question for the founders: if cashless, contact-based mobile payments are already possible in shops, why should we not be able to pay for parking, refuelling, or motorway vignette purchases with our own car? The technology would not only make life easier for drivers, but also for service providers.

This innovation allows any vehicle to become the payment device of the person purchasing the service. As a result, users can pay for a given service in a car park, at a fuel station, or at a drive-through restaurant simply by using their car. The technology is based on vehicle recognition cameras, locally installed IoT devices, and a cloud-based payment system running in the background. In addition to drive-through payment, Rollet also develops traffic management systems that support the monitoring and control of vehicle traffic in industrial areas and office parks.

The contactless payment process with Rollet Pay:

1. The user registers their personal details, licence plate number, and the bank card they wish to use for payment in the application.
2. After registration, contactless payment becomes immediately available for the customer’s car, or even multiple cars. The automated payment process takes only 2 seconds.
3. At the end of a successful transaction, the user receives an electronic receipt for the given service. Businesses can also request an electronic VAT invoice through the app.

The number of partners in Hungary accepting contactless payment is continuously growing. Drive-through payment is currently active in the parking sector and is available at more than 30 locations nationwide, including Budapest and several cities outside the capital, as well as Debrecen International Airport, where the award-winning payment solution was first applied in an airport car park. The application of this innovation in other business segments is currently undergoing closed testing, while the existing services are also being continuously improved.