In what it’s calling a world first, Mercedes is debuting an in-vehicle payment system in partnership with Mastercard that allows fuel payments with a touch of the finger.
The embedded point-of-sale feature for fueling up is being rolled out first in Germany.
Users won’t need to enter a pin number or authenticate from their mobile devices, just tap their vehicle's infotainment center with their finger. The “pay+” feature will be available in current models with the use of Mastercard credit and debit cards. The infotainment center uses “biometric two-factor authentication” to enable payments.
Mercedes says it’s the first “use case for native in-car payments at the point of sale.”
"With Mercedes pay+, we are making everyday life easier for our customers. From now on, they can pay their fuel bill directly from their car using their fingerprint – simply, securely, and conveniently,” said Franz Reiner, board chairman of Mercedes-Benz Mobility AG, in a press release. “We are pioneers in native in-car payment and are already working on the integration of further services.”
When a driver pulls up at the more than 3,600 connected gas stations in Germany, the Mercedes Fuel and Pay feature will automatically engage on the infotainment system, which will even calculate the maximum fueling charge based on the current price and the volume of a full gas tank, Mercedes says.
The German automaker said a study commissioned by Mastercard showed that about half of 18- to 39 year olds would use such an in-car feature to pay for goods and services.
