Transacting on the Go

Human beings tend to excel in many different areas, but if we are being honest, there is nothing we do better than growing on a consistent basis. This tendency to improve at every possible step has enabled us to hit upon some huge milestones, with technology emerging as quite a major member of the stated group. The reason why technology enjoys such an esteemed stature is, by and large, based on its skill-set, which ushered us towards a reality that nobody could have ever imagined otherwise. Nevertheless, a closer look should reveal how the whole runner was also very much inspired by the way we applied those skills across a real-world environment. The latter component was, in fact, what gave the creation a spectrum-wide presence, and consequentially, kickstarted a tech revolution. This revolution, in turn, will scale up the human experience from all conceivable directions, but even after achieving such a monumental feat, technology will somehow continue to deliver every right good in the book. The same has grown to become a lot more evident in recent times, and truth be told, a new development around the finance landscape should only make that trend bigger and better moving forward.

Car IQ Inc, the first ever payment network for cars, has officially signed off on a collaboration with BlackBerry Limited to introduce a whole new in-dash vehicle wallet, which is centered on connecting vehicles with different merchants, and therefore, let the customer make payments right from the comfort of their car. Powered by BlackBerry IVY™, the technology is expected to be of great utility in terms of tasks like paying for fuel, EV charging, tolls, parking, service & repairs and a lot more. However, flat out monetary transactions aren’t the only element in play here, considering the partners will further use the setup to help merchants and OEMs in pushing offers that incentivize both drivers and passengers. Now, while such a development is huge in its own right, it also carries an added significance because of Car IQ’s reach.  Car IQ’s payment solution, Car IQ Pay is currently accepted at over 21,500 fuel stations nationwide including Shell, Sunoco and Kum & Go etc. What’s more is that, following the latest update, the solution is now able to facilitate all payments without needing a credit card. But can a car-oriented payment network be a hassle in comparison to other methods? Not quite. In order to use Car IQ Pay for, let’s say, fuel, you just have to locate the nearest gas station, add the pump number to Car IQ Pay, refuel the vehicle, replace the pump, and it’s all done.

“Our strategic partnership with BlackBerry allows us to offer a simpler payment experience via BlackBerry IVY that lets car owners connect their vehicles directly to their bank accounts and automatically pay for services without needing to add a credit card,” said Sterling Pratz, CEO at Car IQ. “We believe the next generation of payments will center around the vehicle wallet, allowing auto OEMs to add wallets to their cars and enabling secure payment transactions.”

This enthusiasm was also evident when Vito Giallorenzo, SVP, General Manager of IVY and Head of Corporate Development at BlackBerry, was quizzed regarding the partnership.

“BlackBerry IVY is providing Car IQ customers the ability to transact seamlessly across a large network of merchants right from their vehicle without a physical credit card. The technology can connect to OEMs who can create custom commerce experiences for their customers without sending user data to the cloud and has the ability to add prepaid services to the vehicle at the time of sale.”