bp joins Mastercard and Daimler in supporting ryd pay’s efforts to expand its seamless in-car payment experience

by Jo Moorwood, Director, Product Marketing

Today, vehicle connectivity is nearly imperative. Automakers and technology providers are investing heavily into connected vehicle solutions, and offerings, as consumer demands grow. Last year, ThinxNet, the German based IoT/Fintech start up and parent company of ryd, secured investments from Mastercard and Daimler to power its scale-up ambitions. Now, bp joins these two brands as a strategic investor in the company and will adopt ryd pay for digital payments at bp locations across several European countries, with more to follow in the coming months.

In-car payment systems are one of the most prominent Human-Machine-Interface trends in the mobility industry with rapid growth in autonomous and connected vehicles. In addition, 5G and improved Wi-Fi connectivity are also expected to increase the adoption of in-car payment systems.

Connected car technology can also connect with secure commerce opportunities at the pump, where consumers can pay for not only fuel but also groceries, fast food and other convenience store items from their dashboard or in-app.

To truly reap the potential benefits, all players will have to focus on providing drivers, or passengers, with secure and seamless payment methods that use advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence and infotainment integration, to anticipate their upcoming needs. 

Mastercard is playing a central role in advising OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) on critical aspects of payment features available in the existing vehicles as well as future vehicles.

Data can be analyzed, which, in turn, will help create and maintain standards, such as authentication, risk modeling, and tokenization.

OEMs will have the opportunity to innovate future vehicles with additional features and attract customers by offering a seamless driving experience – for example, to make it easier to pay for things, like gas and parking.

The market for in-car payment solutions is expected to increase significantly worldwide with a rise in the number of connected cars. Various players in the traditional ecosystem are identifying different avenues that could help enhance their market share either through revenue generation, product expansion, or customer loyalty.

According to estimates, the in-vehicle commerce market holds >USD200 billion market opportunity, which is expected to grow significantly in the next 3–5 years. Some of the key activities among consumers include ordering coffee, searching for parking lots, ordering food /groceries, and searching for a gas station. Fuel/gas filling is expected to be the highest spend and most popular in-vehicle commerce activity among commuters, globally. (Source: FutureBridge Analysis)

As payment cards take on an increasing number of forms, including wearables and IoT devices, our personal vehicles represent the next step to extend card-on-file payments. With increased technological capabilities, OEMs have the potential to recommend services which are contextually relevant to consumers while traveling.

Payment security and consumer privacy must be the two pillars by which the payment factor is enabled. These payment systems can be protected with techniques and approaches quite like mobile security systems, such as multi-factor authentication, data breach prevention and fraud detection and prevention.

The future of in-car payments will be seamless, with the payments experience integrated to the point that it will be invisible. Gone will be the need for having to individually set up your payment source with a retailer or type of service. Your car will automatically be able to recognize which credit or debit card is used to gain loyalty points for gas.

Current development of in-car payments enables several new use cases. Yet, the true power of in-car payment and strong kick to the economy will come in place with proliferation of Machine-to-Machine payments, where the car (or better to say the on-board artificial intelligence) becomes an active economic actor.

Like navigation, in-car digital shopping experience with an integrated payment system will overtake mobile apps owing to providing more natural experience, taking all context and safety into consideration.