VW to purchase PayByPhone

• The mobility arms race is heating up in the auto industry. Volkswagen's (VLKAY) financing arm has acquired PayByPhone, a Canadian company that lets you pay for parking through smartphone apps, calls and texts.
• The terms of the deal are hush-hush, but PayByPhone handles about $300M in transactions per year across major cities that include Boston, London, Paris, San Francisco and Seattle.