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Car IQ Inc., a payment-platform provider for vehicles, has partnered with Visa Inc. to enable acceptance of its Car IQ Pay wallet for automobiles across the Visa network.
San Francisco-based Car IQ’s wallet can be used by fleet operators, car-sharing services such as Zipcar, and ride-sharing services such as Uber. Drivers can use the Car IQ wallet to pay for fuel, tolls, parking, insurance, services, and repairs without using a physical or virtual card. In contrast, Car IQ’s technology registers the vehicle to a bank account to facilitate payment. “Instead of a vehicle triggering a car to make [an in-car] payment, our technology triggers the vehicle ID to validate the transaction,” says Car IQ chief executive Sterling Pratz. “It’s a simpler, cleaner payment experience and we look like any other mobile payment.”
In addition to registering their vehicles to a bank account, drivers can set spending rules, such as what products and services can be purchased, which merchants within the Visa network where purchases can be made, as well as the days of the week of purchases can be allowed.
The partnership with Visa is expected to expand the reach of both companies in the connected-vehicle payments market, which is projected to reach $600 billion by 2030, according to Ptolemus, a Brussels, Belgium-based consulting firm.
A point of differentiation for the Car IQ wallet is that it adds vehicle data to the transaction, which enables merchants to provide so-called contextual-payment experiences, such as real-time offers and personalized rewards for fleet operators and drivers.
“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, [automated clearing house], and traditional fleet card payments,” Veronica Fernandez, North America head of Visa Business Solutions, says in a statement. “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.”
In addition to making its technology available to commercial-vehicle operators, Car IQ is also working with automotive-equipment manufacturers to enable payments from non-commercial vehicles through the Visa network using the vehicles’ infotainment system. Other card networks have expressed interest in Car IQ’s wallet technology, Pratz says.
In a statement, Pratz says, “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.”
