There are indeed pay machines, and removing them is only a profit-squeezing play by the operators.
You also never need the QR code. It's only provided as a "convenience". And in fact they usually also provide a way to pay by phone (see illustrative picture in article).
So these are all issues created by bad engineering and operators trying to squeeze as much as they can without consideration for the users.
> You don't need an app to accept online payments.
Right, but does it matter if it’s an app or a website?
> There are indeed pay machines, and removing them is only a profit-squeezing play by the operators.
Yes, and?
> You also never need the QR code. It's only provided as a "convenience". And in fact they usually also provide a way to pay by phone (see illustrative picture in article).
Of course you don’t need a QR code specifically, but you probably need some kind of URL (which can then be imitated by the scammer) so everyone can pay.
> So these are all issues created by bad engineering and operators trying to squeeze as much as they can without consideration for the users.
I wouldn’t call it bad engineering, it’s a tradeoff. Either expensive machines for every parking space or a simple sign with a QR code.