How your balance works at SimplePark

At SimplePark, you pay for your parking actions from your balance. You top it up whenever it suits you, and every parking action is automatically deducted from it. No invoice afterwards, no separate charges per parking action, and no surprise at the end of the month. In this article, we explain exactly how your balance works, why we deliberately chose this approach, and how to get the most value out of it.

What is your balance?

Your balance is the money you use to park with SimplePark. As soon as you stop a parking action, the parking costs are deducted from your balance right away. In the app, you can always see exactly how much balance you have left, so you're never caught off guard.

How do you top up?

Topping up is done directly in the app, through Mollie's trusted payment environment. You choose the amount yourself: a minimum of € 2 and a maximum of € 500. To make things easy, four amounts are ready for you to tap, usually € 2, € 5, € 15 and € 25. The first is always the lowest amount you can top up at that moment.

We charge a € 0.29 top-up fee per top-up. This is added on top of the amount you deposit. For example, if you top up € 25, you pay € 25.29 and € 25.00 is added to your balance. You'll find a clear overview of all costs on our pricing page.

Once your payment is completed, the balance appears on your account almost instantly. Only if your bank is experiencing a delay might it occasionally take a little longer. So you can even top up at the moment you've already parked your car.

Why did we choose a balance?

Simple: because it protects you. With pay-afterwards systems, we saw people regularly getting into trouble. You park a few times, the costs quietly pile up, and at the end of the month an invoice suddenly lands on your doormat that's higher than expected. If it can't be paid, reminders and extra charges follow, and nobody's happy about that.

With a balance, that can't happen. You decide in advance how much you spend, and as long as you pay from your balance, you cannot start a parking action that costs more than your balance. That way you stay in control and always park worry-free.

And let's be honest: it helps us too. Because we spend less time and money on payment reminders and debt collection, we can fully focus on making SimplePark better. In the end, everyone benefits from that.

Good to know: your balance is not a wallet

Your balance is a prepayment for our parking service, not a piggy bank or digital wallet. It stays on your account for your next parking actions, but not forever: balance you topped up yourself is valid for 24 months. You cannot send it back to your bank account yourself in the app. If you want a remaining balance paid out, contact support. The full rules are in the terms and conditions.

Our advice is therefore: top up with amounts that match how often you park. Which brings us straight to a handy tip.

Top up smartly

Since the € 0.29 top-up fee applies per top-up (regardless of the amount), you're better off depositing a slightly higher amount in one go.

A quick calculation: if you top up € 5 five times, you pay the top-up fee five times, € 1.45 in total. If you deposit that same € 25 in one go, you only pay € 0.29 once. So if you park regularly, feel free to choose a higher amount. That way, you end up paying as little as possible overall.

Even easier: automatic payment

Have you been parking with SimplePark for a while and built up a positive payment history? Then we may enable automatic payment for your account. You'll automatically receive an email as soon as it becomes available to you.

With automatic payment, you no longer need to top up yourself: we collect your parking costs afterwards by direct debit, around the end of the month or sooner once you reach your billing limit. Your balance may be negative in the meantime.

Parking without worries

With a balance, you always know where you stand: you pay in advance, see your balance in real time, and never face any surprises. Top up smartly, park worry-free, and leave the rest to us.

Don't have SimplePark yet? Download the app and top up your balance for the first time. You'll be parked within a minute.