Visa, Honda Partner On Car-Based Commerce

Visa announced a deal with Honda and ParkWhiz that extends its Visa Token Service for auto manufactures to enable car-based commerce transactions.

Through this partnership, Visa is bringing a range of digital payment solutions — which consist of new standards for Bluetooth and QR codes — in order to expand the availability of mobile payments for merchants and consumers.

“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 for Visa. “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.”

Visa first showed off its card-based commerce plans last year at Mobile World Congress and has since evolved it over the past year over a series of tests as in-car payment tech has evolved.

Essentially, Visa wants to enable an ecosystem of payment partners to streamline purchases and payments any place an Internet connection exists. This includes everyone from auto manufacturers to a point-of-sale provider.

“This project demonstrates how apps can truly transform the in-car experience, while creating new opportunities for automakers,” said John Moon, developer relations lead for Honda Developer Studio.

The new options from Visa enable the following solutions:

• Car-Based Commerce: Developed by Honda Developer Studio and fully integrated into Honda’s head unit, the fuel and parking proof-of-concepts are aimed at streamlining the tasks and services that consumers do every day.

• Fuel App Concept: Enables consumers to pay for gas without leaving their car. The fuel app detects when the car needs gas and can even drive that consumer to the nearest gas station. Once parked, the app picks up how much the car needs and calculates the cost. This will launch in beta in northern California this spring.

• Parking App Concept: This feature enables consumers to park and automatically pay via mobile for the spot. It also eliminates the need to pay more or too little as the app only charges for the exact time used. This will launch in NYC this spring.

“At ParkWhiz, we are very focused on creating a frictionless and, of course, safe parking experience for drivers,” said Aashish Dalal, CEO of ParkWhiz. “Eliminating the need for drivers to take tickets or check out at pay boxes is a giant step toward a frictionless experience and a big win for drivers. ParkWhiz is thrilled to be partnered with Visa on this groundbreaking innovation.”