SAN FRANCISCO—Visa announced that it is making the Visa Token Service available to auto manufacturers, helping to pave the way for easy and secure car-based commerce.
Visa said it is also offering a range of related digital payment solutions, including new standards for Bluetooth (BLE) and QR codes that could help expand enablement of mobile payments for both merchants and consumers in any environment.
“As payments shift from plastic to digital, technologies built with Visa Token Service provide an ecosystem of payment partners – from auto manufacturers to point of sale providers and beyond – a streamlined way to offer commerce and payments anywhere there is an Internet connection,” the company stated.
The company is also piloting apps that let drivers pay for fuel without leaving their car and feed the parking meter before stepping outside the vehicle.
The fuel app detects when the car is low on fuel and navigates the driver to nearby gas stations. Once parked next to the pump, the app knows the exact amount of gas needed to fill the tank and can calculate the cost to fill up. The driver can also purchase convenience store items with full integration of discount and loyalty/rewards programs, Visa explained.
With the parking app, drivers park their car, push the “park” button on the app, and go. Designed in partnership with ParkWhiz for off-street parking spots, the parking app helps a driver pay only for the time used and helps avoid under- and over-paying, Visa said. Once a parking session is ended, the elapsed time and amount paid are shown on the car’s dashboard, requiring the driver to simply press a button to complete the transaction.
Visa demonstrated car-based commerce at the Mobile World Congress 2015, when it showcased how in-car payments could simplify ordering food at a quick service restaurant.
Over the last year, Visa has continued to test and evolve in-car payments, including showing how to simplify the process of leasing or buying a car, or even managing services like auto insurance or road tolls, directly from the driver’s seat, Visa stated.
“The notion of transforming a car into a platform for payments is not as far off as some may think, and we have made a great deal of progress since first introducing the idea one year ago,” said Jim McCarthy, executive vice president of innovation and strategic partnerships, Visa Inc. “Working with Honda to test these prototypes gets us another step closer toward commercial reality, which we think provides exciting opportunities to everyone who plays a role in the payments and automotive ecosystems.”