Car IQ Inc., which claims to be a pioneer in vehicle payments, has reportedly teamed up with Visa (NYSE: V), a world leader in digital payments, in order “to enable vehicles to transact directly with Visa’s global ecosystem of merchants and banks, and purchase fuel, tolls, parking, insurance, service, and repairs using the Car IQ Pay vehicle wallet.”
Car IQ Pay’s technology “enables vehicles to maintain their own payment accounts in order to connect and transact directly with merchants without using a physical card.”
Bringing this technology to the Visa network greatly expands its reach and will allow the two companies “to serve a large share of the connected vehicle payment market, which is expected to reach $600B by 2030 according to Ptolemus.”
Core to the collaboration is Car IQ’s ability “to add vehicle data to the transaction, which enables new contextual payment experiences such as real-time offers and personalized rewards that benefit fleets, drivers, and merchants.”
Working with Visa, Car IQ Pay “incorporates real-time connected vehicle data before, during, and after every payment.” The collaboration leverages Car IQ’s technology Know Your Machine, which “authenticates a machine’s identity to enable all types of vehicles to transact directly with merchants.”
Veronica Fernandez, North America Head of Visa Business Solutions, said:
“Cost management, transparency and a seamless experience are more important than ever for commercial fleet payments, with total spend reaching over $80B across cash, checks, ACH and traditional fleet card payments. Through this collaboration with Car IQ, we’re excited to drive growth of vehicle-based payments that allow users to take control of their fleet business through enhanced and timely data capabilities that allow for real-time business decisions.”
Sterling Pratz, CEO of Car IQ, said:
“Our collaboration with Visa allows us to accelerate the adoption of vehicle payments and make them a seamless part of the fleet experience today, and the consumer experience in the future. Our vehicle wallet allows banks and merchants to trust payments from vehicles, as well as any other IoT device, over the Visa network.”
Mark Vena, CEO and Principal Analyst at SmartTech Research, said:
“One powerful trend in the rapid migration to ‘smart’ vehicles is the ability for them to act as a form of seamless digital payment. Car IQ’s collaboration with Visa underscores the potential that this new ecosystem can offer, facilitating significant productivity benefits around routine vehicle-related charges.”
Car IQ is also working with auto OEMs “to embed these payments within consumer vehicles.”
Recently debuted at CES, the Car IQ Pay in-dash vehicle wallet connects vehicles to merchants on the Visa network, enabling payments directly from the car’s infotainment system.
Pratz added:
“While our first wallet initiative is focused on vehicles, our platform is designed to easily support any IoT device payment, and we are already seeing interest for connected ‘smart’ city applications and believe the connected home will be next. In the future, I believe everyone will have the choice of adding their cars, home appliances, and more, directly to their bank account to transact.”
