KaChing, the startup that pioneered license plate recognition based ticketless parking in South Africa, has announced plans to cease operations on August 31, 2025, citing challenges in maintaining app performance and user growth amid rising competition.
Founded in 2015, KaChing was among the first companies in the region to digitize the parking experience, offering automatic entry, exit, and payment via vehicle license plate recognition. At its peak, the platform supported over a million parking transactions and more than 25,000 active users, positioning itself as a local leader in the smart mobility space.
But the company struggled to maintain momentum in recent years. Persistent app reliability issues and poor customer support feedback eroded user confidence, while newer entrants, most notably Admyt, scaled aggressively across major metropolitan areas. Admyt now operates in over 80 locations, supporting more than 400,000 registered vehicles and handling 10 million parking sessions monthly.
“KaChing was a first mover in a space that desperately needed innovation,” said a company spokesperson. “While we are proud of the product and market impact we have made, the time has come to step aside.”
The company is advising all users with prepaid account balances to request refunds by September 15, 2025 via its website.
Industry Consolidation Accelerates
KaChing’s exit underscores broader consolidation in the smart parking segment, where network effects and capital intensive infrastructure integration increasingly favor larger players. With real estate operators and mall groups now partnering with more robust solutions offering better uptime and user experience, smaller platforms are struggling to retain market share.
While KaChing’s shutdown closes a key chapter in South Africa’s digital parking evolution, it opens new ground for competitors aiming to scale beyond urban centers and into logistics, commercial real estate, and mobility as a service ecosystems.