Car IQ continues relationship building; this time with Visa
Car IQ is compiling quite a fleet of relationships to spread the use of its payment technology.
The company on Wednesday teamed up with Visa 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 can enable vehicles to maintain their own payment accounts in order to connect and transact directly with merchants without using a physical card.
Car IQ said that 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 $600 billion by 2030, according to Ptolemus.
In a news release from Car IQ, SmartTech Research CEO and principal analyst Mark Vena explained why this latest development is noteworthy for fleets, payments and beyond.
“One powerful trend in the rapid migration to ‘smart’ vehicles is the ability for them to act as a form of seamless digital payment,” Vena said. “Car IQ’s collaboration with Visa underscores the potential that this new ecosystem can offer, facilitating significant productivity benefits around routine vehicle-related charges.”
Core to the collaboration is Car IQ’s ability to add vehicle data to the transaction, which can enable new contextual payment experiences such as real-time offers and personalized rewards that benefit fleets, drivers, and merchants.
Working with Visa, Car IQ Pay can incorporate real-time connected vehicle data before, during, and after every payment. The collaboration leverages Car IQ’s technology Know Your Machine, which can authenticates a machine’s identity to enable all types of vehicles to transact directly with merchants.
“Cost management, transparency and a seamless experience are more important than ever for commercial fleet payments, with total spend reaching over $80 billion across cash, checks, ACH and traditional fleet card payments,” said Veronica Fernandez, North America head of Visa Commercial Solutions.
“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,” Fernandez continued.
Last month, Car IQ announced an agreement with PDI Technologies to utilize its mobile payment technology to process cardless payments via the mPAY application.
And Car IQ announced an agreement with HF Sinclair Refining & Marketing, a subsidiary of HF Sinclair, in May.
And last July, Car IQ aligned with Sunoco.
Car IQ chief executive officer Sterling Pratz explained why the relationship with Visa is critical.
“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,” Pratz said. “Our vehicle wallet allows banks and merchants to trust payments from vehicles, as well as any other IoT device, over the Visa network.”
Car IQ is also working with 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.
“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,” Pratz sad.
“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,” Pratz went on to say.