Payment service provider Concardis and IAV, one of the leading development partners for the automotive industry, will be presenting the Automotive Marketplace at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) from 5 to 8 January 2017 in Las Vegas. ‘The goal of our digital marketplace is to make time spent driving more productive – by arranging and making purchases at local shops without having to go out of your way, lose time or pull your wallet out,’ says Marcus W. Mosen, CEO of Concardis. Visitors to the CES can experience the Automotive Marketplace first-hand in a demo car at the joint stand of Concardis and IAV. The system compares shopping lists saved online with shops and merchants in the vicinity and along the route – and the driver is informed if anything matches up. The driver can also add spur-of-the-moment items using the voice-controlled system. The route is then automatically adjusted to head towards the nearest merchant. With the integrated payment function, the driver can make the purchase transaction even before arriving at the shop. Pickup and waiting times are minimised. The integration of the Automotive Marketplace into the vehicle guarantees safe, intuitive and legal use while driving. ‘Our solution combines the digital marketplace with the physical one. We bring the POS into the customer’s car, thus making the car a personal mobile shop, a wallet and an identification card to confirm your identity when making pickups. There has never been a system like this before,’ says Mosen. Christian Müller-Bagehl, head of the cockpit and interiors division of IAV, adds: ‘We have the right conditions for the system’s launch to be successful. We will get the merchants excited about it, take them along on the journey and get them connected technically – and we have no doubt that we can do this. Because we offer true added value for car manufacturers and retailers so that they can take advantage of their digital customer relationships.’ While IAV has the technical knowledge of automotive architecture and maintains the right relationships with the industry, Concardis brings with it the contacts with merchants into the partnership and provides the payment solution, which ensures that using the system is both easy and safe at the same time. In the next step, IAV and Concardis will have talks with potential partners, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and merchants. Over the coming months, work on the live pilot project will also be continued with selected premium partners.
UBS, innogy and ZF are developing a blockchain wallet for car-related payments. Electric vehicles are hampered by interoperability issues around varying charge card and payment systems. The Car eWallet allows users to pay as they go for road tolls, parking fees, EV charging and car-sharing fees. The system transfers money online via a PC or a mobile app into the Car eWallet, which can authorise payments up to a certain limit. Volkswagen's (VW) financial services arm has acquired Canadian mobile payments company PayByPhone, which has an app that allows users to pay for parking spaces in Paris, London, San Francisco, Seattle and Boston using their smartphone. VW is keen to have "proven" payment technology as it seeks to offer the interiors of vehicles to marketers. PayByPhone processes $300m in annual transactions. Payment service provider the Consumer Electronics Show is partnering with automotive architecture firm IAV to demonstrate the Automotive Marketplace at this year's CES in Las Vegas. The system aims to make the most of driving time by allowing users to arrange purchases at shops ahead of pick-up, use stored receipts to pinpoint special offers on the high street, and make spontaneous purchases using the voice-controlled system.