The government has announced a "one app fits all" approach to paying for parking, to end what it calls the "scramble" to download multiple payment platforms that motorists currently face.
Drivers will be able to use any of the large parking apps to pay, rather than having to download new ones for each new car park, the Department for Transport says.
The National Parking Platform (NPP) has been in a trial phase, but will now be handed over an industry body to be expanded across the UK - though only to car parks and app providers which opt to sign up.
Motorists' association the RAC welcomed the move but said it needed to be taken on much more widely before it made a real difference to drivers.