BMW of North America Taps Stripe to Power Online Payments

BMW of North America has selected Stripe as its primary payments infrastructure.

The financial infrastructure platform will facilitate the automaker’s U.S. vehicle preorders and online purchases of extended warranties, maintenance and digital services, Stripe said in a Friday (Jan. 27) press release.

“Our primary focus at BMW is to create and provide the best premium customer experience for our owners,” BMW of North American Chief Marketing Officer Marcus Casey said in the release. “Stripe helps us offer BMW owners a secure and seamless payments experience across all channels.”

PYMNTS research found that 15% of consumer purchases are now made via eCommerce compared to 11% before the pandemic.

Another change to consumers’ shopping habits is that more purchases are being made on mobile devices. As the use of these devices has grown, the portion of non-grocery items purchased online with a desktop computer has dipped from 19% in the fourth quarter of 2021 to 13% in the third quarter of 2022, according to the November 2022 U.S. edition of “Digital Economy Payments.”

Stripe’s announcement of its selection by BMW of North America comes days after the news that Amazon plans to “significantly expand” its use of Stripe, with a new agreement making the payments platform a strategic payments partner for Amazon in the United States, Europe and Canada.

Amazon and Stripe have worked together since 2017 when the retailer tapped the payments platform to speed its market expansion in Europe and Asia and to support purchases during the heavy shopping days such as Black Friday and its own Prime Day.

BMW of North America will use Stripe Connect to enable customers to pay online with debit or credit cards, to facilitate the payments to the correct dealers and to gain faster access to revenue insights.

Dealers can use Connect to track revenue from purchases and see a full summary of payments from online sales.

“Stripe is helping BMW of North America enhance the premium automotive shopping experience,” Stripe Chief Revenue Officer Mike Clayville said in the release. “We’re thrilled to support their mission of providing the best possible customer experience.”